GENESIS 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
This verse is supposed to be a reference to prayers first being said. I never quite understood it that way but in any case nothing specific is said. It is noteworthy what is MISSING in the Antidiluvian era which is ANY reference to prayer at all; we don't even see anything stated for Noah a man of faith; perhaps this is why he silpped so easily into drunkenness after the event when he was tilling a vineyard.
IN the Believer's Portal (dot com) cite we find a list of 650 prayers in scripture. I would recommend that site to get a comprehensive overview of prayer in scripture. According to this cite Genesis 15 is the first prayer stated in scripture and involved Abraham's prayer for his offspring; with the next being Isaac's prayer for Ishmael; the third was Abraham's well known one involving God sparing 10 righteous if they existed in Sodom. This cite also gives the response; in the second prayer it wasn't according to God's will and hence wasn't answered.
Genesis 21 contains the first prayer of a woman (Hagar). This prayer expresses her concern for the immediate fate of her son; Ishmael born from Abraham's seed. She is given miraculous provision in the desert; then told of the future of her son in verse 12 to be a "wild donkey of a man". This sort of "sentiment" wasn't limited to her as others had less than favorable destinies in other familial "blessings".
These passages show that front and center was family posterity and generational blessings and cursings that were the result of prayers as well as frequent scripture themes of God's working with the early patriarchs. Since only a few families existed for God's righteous line it isn't unexpected these are prevalent subject matters of prayers at that time.
In the next post I will consider Abraham's prayer about Sodom and how he acted as intercessor.
This verse is supposed to be a reference to prayers first being said. I never quite understood it that way but in any case nothing specific is said. It is noteworthy what is MISSING in the Antidiluvian era which is ANY reference to prayer at all; we don't even see anything stated for Noah a man of faith; perhaps this is why he silpped so easily into drunkenness after the event when he was tilling a vineyard.
IN the Believer's Portal (dot com) cite we find a list of 650 prayers in scripture. I would recommend that site to get a comprehensive overview of prayer in scripture. According to this cite Genesis 15 is the first prayer stated in scripture and involved Abraham's prayer for his offspring; with the next being Isaac's prayer for Ishmael; the third was Abraham's well known one involving God sparing 10 righteous if they existed in Sodom. This cite also gives the response; in the second prayer it wasn't according to God's will and hence wasn't answered.
Genesis 21 contains the first prayer of a woman (Hagar). This prayer expresses her concern for the immediate fate of her son; Ishmael born from Abraham's seed. She is given miraculous provision in the desert; then told of the future of her son in verse 12 to be a "wild donkey of a man". This sort of "sentiment" wasn't limited to her as others had less than favorable destinies in other familial "blessings".
These passages show that front and center was family posterity and generational blessings and cursings that were the result of prayers as well as frequent scripture themes of God's working with the early patriarchs. Since only a few families existed for God's righteous line it isn't unexpected these are prevalent subject matters of prayers at that time.
In the next post I will consider Abraham's prayer about Sodom and how he acted as intercessor.
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