From Praying the Names of God Week Five, Day Four
The Name
The Hebrew word raah (RA-ah, from which yireh is derived) means "to see." In this case, it is translated as "provide." Since God sees the future as well as the past and the present, he is able to anticipate and provide for what is needed. Interestingly the English word "provision" is made up of two Latin words that mean "to see beforehand." When you pray to Yahweh Yireh, you are praying to the God who sees the situation beforehand and is able to provide for your needs.
Key Scripture
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." (Genesis 22:13-14)
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Thursday
PRAYING THE NAME
I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me. (Genesis 22:16-18)
Reflect On: Genesis 22:15-18
Praise God: Because he delights in blessing his people.
Offer Thanks: For the blessings you have received because of Abraham's obedience.
Confess: Any tendency to attribute God's blessings to yourself.
Ask God: To help you experience the connection between obedience and blessing.
Abraham was one of the Bible's most successful men, blessed with a long life, many children, great personal wealth, and a profound spiritual legacy. What was the simple secret of his success? Obedience. Because of it, Abraham didn't need a bull market in order to prosper. He only needed to do God's will. His obedience was the capital he invested, the principal that yielded an enormous return.
Without obedience we will never experience the provision God intends for us. Alexander MacClaren, a nineteenth-century Scottish preacher, reminds us that God's provision is not automatic: If we wish to have our outward needs supplied, our outward weaknesses strengthened, power and energy sufficient for duty, wisdom for perplexity, a share in the Sacrifice which takes away the sins of the world, we receive them all on the condition that we are found in the place where all God's provision is treasured. If a man chooses to sit outside the baker's shop, he may starve on its threshold. . . . And if we will not ascend to the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place by simple faith, and by true communion of heart and life, God's amplest provision is nought to us; and we are empty in the midst of affluence.
If you have been "sitting outside the baker's shop," hungry for God's blessing, ask him to help you to move inside by giving you the grace to obey even the smallest command. Before long your small steps of obedience will lead to larger ones and then your steady habit of obedience will lead to deepened faith, enabling you to experience God as Abraham did, as Yahweh Yireh.
For more from Ann Spangler, please visit her blogspot on Christianity.com. And be sure to check out Ann's newest books on AnnSpangler.com.
Meet your spiritual ancestors as they really were: Less Than Perfect: Broken Men and Women of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them.
