Awesome God

Who is the most important person you have ever been around? Have you been in the presence of someone with a significant amount of authority? Maybe you work for a large corporation and the CEO sits at the top of the leadership structure. Not too many of us hang out with the corporate CEO. Have you ever been in the presence of a national leader – a King, or a Crown Prince, or even the President? We are probably not rubbing shoulders with that caliber of individuals. More than likely if we ever did gain an audience with a national leader it would be at their invitation not because we just decided to show up. Very few have access to such power and authority.

Elijah had access to King Ahab. Greater than Ahab is the access he had to the “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel” (1 Kings 18:36). He had direct communication with God through prayer! So do you! Why worry about earthly kings or princes or presidents when you can talk with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush He identified Himself saying “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:6). God instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” (Exodus 3:15). When David prayed, thanking God for all that had been given for the Temple, he used this same reference to God (1 Chron. 29:18). Peter and Stephen referenced this title in the sermons they preached (Acts 3:13, 7:32). This title is significant because it reminds us that God is a covenant keeping God. In the most simple of terms, God keeps His word!

There are three exciting qualities of God’s covenants that continue to give us confidence in our prayers even today

1) His covenants are unilateral. They are one-sided. The promises in the Bible are from God to us. That is great news. We may be prone to break our promises but God NEVER breaks His promises. We can count on Him!

2) His covenants are eternal. God does not change so we can trust in Him. The writer of Hebrews wrote: “When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee— God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. (Hebrews 6:17-18 MSG)

3) His covenants are gracious. All we have from God is because of His good favor. Nothing is a result of who we are or what we have done.

Elijah prayed to the one and only covenant keeping “God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel.” Today, because of Jesus we can call God “Father” and he is an Awesome God!