Romans 4:17-21 reads, “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”
Abraham, this faith hero, this father of faith, ENDED UP this way – but he didn’t start out this way. Let’s go back to the start of Abraham’s miracle and see his process of learning to contend for the faith.
Genesis 12:1-3,7 tells us, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy SEED will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.”
God’s will and promise is given to Abram.
Genesis 13:14-16 states, “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy SEED for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.”
God declares the promise again, but gives more detail this time.
Genesis 15:1-3 reads, “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.”
Abram is not saying what God is saying – he’s calling himself childless, and he’s saying that God has given him no seed.
Also, Abram is offering God options of how His Word can be fulfilled – through the son of his servant. Abram’s own plan would have robbed him of his future. But God corrects Abram. Verse 4 reads, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” God lets Abram know that He rejects Abram’s plan. God became very direct and graphic to emphasize that Abram would have his own son.
Verses 5 & 6 tell us, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
In these verses, Abram declares 2 things – “seeing I go childless” and “thou hast given no seed.” There is nothing in these statements that God can fulfill. Verse 6 tells us that Abram believed in the Lord. Abram BELIEVED a thing – but he wasn’t SAYING it – and it wasn’t coming to pass either.
Genesis 16:1 & 2 reads, “Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing….” Sarai is not saying what God said either – she’s saying that “the Lord has restrained her from bearing.”
Verse 2 continues, “...I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.” Abram had presented his own plan – now Sarai presents her own plan.
God doesn’t fulfill His Word through OUR plans, but through HIS. Until they stopped creating their own plans, God’s plan couldn’t be fulfilled. Our own human, mental planning hinders the fulfillment of what God has said to our hearts. Our plans delay His plans.
God was speaking to Abram Himself. He wasn’t leading Abram through Sarai. By allowing Sarai to lead him, Abram delayed God’s plan and caused unnecessary hardship.
Genesis 16:16 states, “And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.” Eleven years after God first told Abram that he would have a son, Ishmael is born. After Ishmael is born, God is silent toward Abram for 13 years. It doesn’t nurture our fellowship with God to implement our own plan.
Genesis 17:1-6, 15 reads, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.”
When God first spoke to Abram, he was 75 years old. Now he is 99 years old, and what God promised still hasn’t come to pass for 24 years. The Word tells us that Abram believed what God said, but he never put it in his mouth – he didn’t speak it.
God saw that Abram wasn’t getting it – he wasn’t speaking it – so He helped Abram’s faith to be effective by getting his faith in his mouth through a name change for both Abram and Sarai. Abram means "exalted father"; Abraham means "father of a multitude." Sarai means “princess”; Sarah means “queen of princes.”
Genesis 21:1-5 tells us, “And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.”
For 24 years, Abram BELIEVED something that HE NEVER SAID, but within ONE year of a lifestyle of saying it, he had a son. By changing their names, God was implementing a LIFESTYLE of calling and saying the right thing. Sarah was pregnant within 3 months, but conception is not manifestation. If they would have quit using their new names, the devil could have stolen what was conceived but not yet manifested – through miscarriage. Their name change was for the rest of their lives so that what was manifested would not be stolen from them. They never again went back to the use of the old names. They had to call themselves by those new names and those meanings for the rest of their lives. That’s how that word from God was not only manifested for Abraham, but it was carried to the next generation and is still being fulfilled.
It took 25 years for God’s Word to be fulfilled. Not because it takes GOD a long time to fulfill something, but because it can take US time to change our thinking so that we cooperate with Him. Wrong thinking blocks fulfillment.
Do you know how we are going to move from where we are today into the fullness of what God has for us – laying hold of everything He made ours? We must put what we believe in our mouth – it must become a LIFESTYLE OF SAYING WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT US! Make your mouth do its work! We will never just float or drift into God’s best – we will only arrive there on purpose.
What has God spoken to you? What has He put in your heart? How about that business you have in your heart to start? Or that house you dream of owning? You have to SAY IT! It’s not enough to BELIEVE that God has more for us, but we have to make SAYING it a LIFESTYLE.
In Mark 11:23 Jesus stated, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall BELIEVE that those things which he SAITH shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” What are we to believe? That what we say will come to pass. If we aren’t “saying,” then how will our believing be effective? “Bible believing” is incomplete without saying – believing only works when adding saying to it. Abraham proved that – his believing produced nothing until he started saying. “Bible believing” contains the action of saying.
Abraham ended up “...calling those things which be not as though they were.” He ended up calling and saying what God said, but he didn’t start out that way. You have to CALL what God says is yours into your life. If you speak wrong things, you’re calling wrong things into your life. But if you call right things, then right things come into your life. Find out what the Word says about you and your situation, then call yourself that and call your situation that. What you call is what will come to your life. It’s not about calling it once, but it’s a lifestyle of calling. If Abraham hadn’t CALLED himself the father of many nations, he wouldn’t have become that, even though GOD called him that. God needs us to agree with what He says so He can bring it to pass. When we believe and call, we are agreeing with God.
The word God put in my heart for 2021 is “SAY & SEE.”
When Abram started calling, what hadn’t been fulfilled in 24 years was fulfilled within ONE year!
What has God said to you? What is in your heart? Things which have been in your heart for decades can be fulfilled and come into manifestation in 2021. Pick up and stir up things that may have laid dormant and unfulfilled for decades. Make a list of things God has said to you and say those things – call them! Put it in your mouth daily. Make it a lifestyle of calling. Call SPECIFICALLY what you’re believing for – not just generally – but specifically.
Make a specific list regarding the different arenas of life that you want to see changed and of the things God has spoken to you: spiritually, mentally, physically, and materially. It can be fulfilled in a very short time if we will make specific “calling” and “saying” a lifestyle. Then line your actions and your doing up with your saying. Our saying is to direct us in our doing. Saying without doing is not effective, but our saying sets us up for success in our doing.
If we will make SAYING a priority, we will see much come to pass THIS YEAR! SAY & SEE in 2021!
