Example of Abraham | Part 3 - Waiting for God | Derek Prince

0:00 in my previous talks i've pointed out four benefits of waiting for god first waiting for god develops stability we saw how in the case of the psalmist first of all he said i shall not be greatly shaken then he said i shall not be shaken at all so we see a transition to complete stability out of waiting for god second waiting for god is a necessary part of the process by which we are made mature and complete

0:30 james tells us that this process requires perseverance and perseverance means holding on both when we're busy and when we've got nothing to do we still have to hold on and that's the hardest test third waiting for god produces serenity it's the answer to fretting anger and wrath and fourth waiting for god results in a supernatural transformation

1:01 isaiah tells us that those who wait for the lord will gain new strength but literally will exchange their strength in place of their own natural strength they'll receive god's supernatural strength so waiting on god is the way to receive god's infinite resources in my talk today i'm going to illustrate this principle of waiting for god from the life of abraham first of all we need to see that abraham

1:33 is both our spiritual father and our pattern consequently his experiences are particularly important for us as believers this is stated by paul in romans chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 where he says he that is abraham received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised so then he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised in order that righteousness might be

2:04 credited to them and he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father abraham had before he was circumcised we see then two important points first abraham is father of all believers second we need to walk in the footsteps of abraham's faith his life is a kind of pattern for us how does this apply then

2:34 to waiting for god it applies very specifically in the life of abraham in fact i would have to say that was one of his greatest tests possibly his greatest you see the fulfillment of god's purpose in abraham's life centered around the birth of his promised air he was told he was going to have an air and that through this air god would bring forth a nation through which all other nations would be blessed and that his his descendants would be

3:06 multiplied as the stars of heaven as the stand sand on the seashore and everything in his life ultimately depended on the fulfillment of the promise of an heir but for this he had to wait for god now as we study abraham's life we too we see two aspects to the example that he that he gives us one is negative the other is positive abraham didn't always do the right thing

3:39 in this respect he failed he made a serious mistake he was not prepared to wait for god let's look at the time frame of abraham's life it's interesting abraham was 75 years old when he left harren on his journey to the promised land after 10 years he got tired of waiting for the promised heir and so he did something to help god if i can put it

4:09 that way he did it in his own cleverness and in his own strength apparently sarah couldn't have a child so with sarah's full consent and in fact at her suggestion he took as a concubine sarah's maid hagar and he had a child by her who was called ishmael now abraham was 86 years old when hagar bore ishmael before ishmael was born the angel of god

4:42 foretold what his character would be this is stated in genesis 16 verses 11 and 12. the angel of the lord also said to her that is to hagar you are now with child and you will have a son you shall name him ishmael for the lord has heard of your misery ishmael means god has heard verse 12 describes the kind of son he will be a wild donkey of a man

5:15 his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers it's important to see what the product of our own impatience and carnal impulses is the result is a wild donkey that's very clear language about this son he will be a wild donkey of a man his hand will be against everyone everyone's hand against him

5:46 he will live in hostility toward all his brothers see that's a very vivid picture of what comes or not waiting for god of just going ahead in our own carnal impulse and doing what seems right in our eyes accepting somebody's helpful suggestion trying to help god the result is not that we solve our problem but that we aggravate our problem by doing that the descendant of hagar ishmael is essentially the father of the arab

6:18 nations of the middle east and the problem that started then has continued for 4 000 years and is more acute now than it was then because it's the descendants of ishmael who are the unrelenting totally opposed enemies of the state of israel and of the descendants of the promised seed isaac and jacob so if ever history has a lesson the lesson is it pays to wait for god it's dangerous

6:49 to lose your patience and go ahead act on your own initiative yield to your carnal impulses and other people's helpful suggestions and try to help god down and solve your problem your way because instead of solving your problem you're going to aggravate it now we'll turn to the positive aspect of abraham's example for us for the next 13 years after ishmael was born abraham had no further recorded

7:20 revelation from god he was 13 years out of harmony with god how had he got out of harmony with god by going ahead in his own impulse by not waiting for god you see waiting for god is essential to being in harmony with god however 13 years later and that must have seemed a long 13 years to abraham when he was 99 years old god gave him

7:51 the seed promised isaac born of sarah isaac was actually born when abraham was 100 years old so abraham had to wait 25 years for the fulfillment of the promise upon which everything that mattered in his life depended can you identify with abraham consider what it means to have to wait 25 years see your own body grow old see sarah your wife grow old realize

8:23 that in the natural all hope is totally gone but now notice what i emphasized yesterday the supernatural transformation that comes out of waiting for this we'll turn to hebrews chapter 11 verses 11 and 12 which describes the outcome by faith abraham even though he was past age and sarah herself was barren was unable to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise

8:54 and so from this one man and he as good as dead came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand of the seashore what was that the product of that supernatural miracle that transformed the physical condition of both abraham and sarah made it possible for them to have a child of their own what was that the outcome of it was the outcome of waiting for god

9:27 you see that's an endorsement of what isaiah says in chapter 40 those who wait for the lord will gain new strength and more literally will exchange strength in place of their own worn out bodies their own limited natural ability they will receive this divine supernatural strength and enabling let me make a final comment on this

9:57 god's supernatural purposes require what i call a gestation period they are not instantly fulfilled god's promises are like seeds dropped into the earth they take time to bring forth the promised result now during that period of gestation we are waiting for god so you see waiting for god is a necessary and logical requirement

10:30 for receiving the endurance of god's supernatural ability and power that alone can produce the result that we need