“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his
wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife
Rebekah became pregnant.” [1]
(Gen 25:21)
There are
many responsibilities to being a father, but there are also certain joys that
only that office provides. Any father
who cares for his child can tell you that one of their greatest joys is
watching their child model their behavior.
That might first be seen in something as subtle as the way they walk, or
as innocuous as the way they hold a book. Yet perhaps the greatest of joys is seeing
them do right in their adulthood the way you did right when they were much
younger.
Before Isaac
was even born, Abraham prayed for Abimilech - and his household was healed from
barrenness. Where, when, and how he told that story to his
son Isaac we are not told. But surely he did tell him, and the idea that God could heal from barrenness stuck in Isaac's mind.
Decades later, when Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Certainly it would’ve been at least a year or
two until Isaac and Rebekah realized there was a problem in starting a
family. Again, we are not told the exact
details of this matter, but only that when Isaac realized his wife was barren,
he prayed for her. The Word immediately
records, “The Lord answered his prayer,
and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.”
The Bible
does not tell us if Rebekah prayed, though it seems impossible to imagine her
not. It would’ve been a felt need she
had even before it became Isaac’s felt need. It matters not. The point here is that Isaac did what his
father had taught him – he prayed to the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of
earth – the same Lord who had provided him with his wife Rebekah to start with.
And note that this is the first time the
Scripture records Isaac praying – so perhaps it took more than 40 years, but
Abraham’s faith has at last made the jump to another generation. The Lord answers. She is pregnant – with twins. In the next verse we read – for the first
time – of Rebekah making inquiries of the Lord.
The Lord answers her too. The faith
of Abraham is proven real beyond his own life - not only through generational teaching, but through
the power of prayer.
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