Gen 15, 4-6 Abram put his faith in the LORD

(Gen 15, 4-6) Abram put his faith in the LORD

[4] Then the word of the LORD came to him: "No, that one shall not be your heir; your own issue shall be your heir." [5] He took him outside and said: "Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so," he added, "shall your descendants be." [6] Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.

(CCC 2570) When God calls him, Abraham goes forth "as the Lord had told him" (Gen 12:4); Abraham's heart is entirely submissive to the Word and so he obeys. Such attentiveness of the heart, whose decisions are made according to God's will, is essential to prayer, while the words used count only in relation to it. Abraham's prayer is expressed first by deeds: a man of silence, he constructs an altar to the Lord at each stage of his journey. Only later does Abraham's first prayer in words appear: a veiled complaint reminding God of his promises which seem unfulfilled (Cf. Gen 15:2 f). Thus one aspect of the drama of prayer appears from the beginning: the test of faith in the fidelity of God. (CCC 2571) Because Abraham believed in God and walked in his presence and in covenant with him (Cf. Gen 15:6; 17:1 f.), the patriarch is ready to welcome a mysterious Guest into his tent. Abraham's remarkable hospitality at Mamre foreshadows the annunciation of the true Son of the promise (Cf. Gen 18:1-15; Lk 1:26-38). After that, once God had confided his plan, Abraham's heart is attuned to his Lord's compassion for men and he dares to intercede for them with bold confidence (Cf. 18:16-33).