The bible refers to Abraham as the \u201cFather of Faith.\u201d He received a promise from God that he would be the father of many nations, yet despite the fact that it looked impossible for him and his wife to have children, he chose to believe God would honor His promise. Abraham is a great example for us! Read about his faith in Romans 4:13-21.<\/p>\n
Romans 4:13 (NIV)<\/strong> <\/p>\n Romans 4:18 (NIV)<\/strong> How could Abraham receive this promise? <\/p>\n What was the condition of Abraham and Sarah\u2019s body?<\/p>\n How did Abraham respond to the facts about their own condition? <\/p>\n What does this story teach us about faith?<\/p>\n How do we get faith? What are some things you can do to hear \u201cthe word about Christ\u201d?<\/p>\n How are we saved?<\/p>\n What do the righteous live by? <\/p>\n How can our faith be strengthened?<\/p>\n Miracles are meant to bring Glory to the Father and help increase our faith. What miracles have you seen that have increased your faith?<\/p>\n What is the perfect companion to faith?<\/p>\n What does the testing of our faith develop?<\/p>\n Has God given you a verse or promise from the Bible?<\/p>\n What do you need to do to receive God\u2019s promises?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a moment to ask God to reveal his promises to us, or think of a verse\/promise from the Bible that God has reminded you of recently. Take a hold of that word, stir up your faith and think of a way that you can act on it. Hebrews 11 is about some great people of faith and the great things they did through faith in God.<\/p>\n Lord Jesus, thank You that Your Word is true. I grab hold of it and believe that by Your mighty power You can make Your promises a reality in my life.<\/p>\n
\n(13) It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.<\/p>\n
\n(18) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, \u201cSo shall your offspring be.\u201d<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\n(20) Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, (21) being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\nAbout Faith<\/h2>\n
\n(9) not by works, so that no one can boast.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\n(7) rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\n(3) because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
\n(4) Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\nAsk<\/h2>\n
\n(36) You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
\n(37) For, \u201cIn just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.\u201d
\n(38) And, \u201cBut my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.\u201d
\n(39) But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\n(36) You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\nApplication<\/h2>\n
\n(2)This is what the ancients were commended for.
\n(3)By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God\u2019s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (4)By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
\n(5)By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: \u201cHe could not be found, because God had taken him away.\u201d For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
\n(6)And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
\n(7)By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
\n(8)By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
\n(9)By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
\n(10)For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
\n(11)And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.
\n(12)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 on the seashore.
\n(13)All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
\n(14)People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
\n(15)If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
\n(16)Instead, they were longing for a better country\u2014a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a
\ncity for them.
\n(17)By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,
\n(18)even though God had said to him, \u201cIt is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.\u201d
\n(19)Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. (20)By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
\n(21)By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph\u2019s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. (22)By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
\n(23)By faith Moses\u2019 parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king\u2019s edict.
\n(24)By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh\u2019s daughter.
\n(25)He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
\n(26)He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. (27)By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king\u2019s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.
\n(28)By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. (29)By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. (30)By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
\n(31)By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. (32)And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, (33)who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, (34)quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
\n(35)Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.
\n(36)Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
\n(37)They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated\u2014
\n(38)the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. (39)These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,
\n(40)since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\nPrayer Model<\/h2>\n
Key Verse<\/h2>\n