Hebrews 11:1 (NIV): Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

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Faith for the future

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Genesis 12:1–4 (NIV): The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him;

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Genesis 11:31–32 (NIV): Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there. 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

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Genesis 12:8 (NIV): From there [Abram] went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

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Faith when I falter

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Genesis 12:10 (NIV): Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

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Genesis 13:3–4 (NIV): From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.

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Psalm 84:10 (NLT):  A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.

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Proverbs 16:9 (NIV): In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

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Faith when I’m in the fog

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Genesis 15:1–6 (NIV84): After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

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Faith over feelings and fears

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Genesis 22:1–3 (NIV84): Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac.

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Set your heart on worship

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Genesis 22:5 (NIV84): [Abraham] said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

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Psalm 9:10 (NCV): Those who know the Lord trust him, because he will not [forsake; abandon] those who come to him.

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Speak in faith

Genesis 22:8 (NIV): Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

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See the Lord provide

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Genesis 22:13–14 (NIV): 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. 14 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.”

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Genesis 22:16–18 (NLT): This is what the Lord says: “Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. 18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”

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