One day long ago, God came to talk to Abram before his name was changed to Abraham.  Abram asked the Lord, "Who will have all my things when I die?  Will it be my relative, Eliezer who lives in Damascus?"   "No, it will be to your own son," replied the Lord.  You see, God had sometime before promised Abram and his wife Sarai that one day they would have a son, even though they were old and had no children.

That night God said, "Look at all the stars that are in the sky."   Abram looked up and the whole night sky was full of stars.  God said, "Can you count them?"  Abram must have stood there counting, "Ten thousand and one, ten thousand and two ... Oh, I can't count any more, there are just too many stars!"  And then God said, "That's how many children and offspring you will have!"

Quite a few years later when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God changed Abram's name to Abraham, which means "Father of many".  He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah, which means "Princess".  God again reminded them that they would would have a son.  This time Abraham laughed so hard he fell on his face!  It was too much!  He and Sarah were to have a child in their old age!

One day three visitors came to Abraham's tent and he hurried out to meet them.  "May I get you something to eat and drink?" asked Abraham, "Please come and rest under this tree."  The visitors agreed, so Abraham ran into his tent and asked Sarah to bake some bread while he got his servant to roast a calf.  When the meal was ready, Abraham set it before his visitors and then stood near them under the tree.

While the visitors were eating, they asked Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?"  Abraham replied, "She's in the tent.  Then the Lord spoke and said, "I will come back about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."

Now Sarah was listening at the door of the tent and started to laugh to herself and said to herself, "How can I have a child as I'm almost ninety and my husband is old?"  The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I realy have a child, now that I am old?'  Is anything too hard for the Lord?"  Later when the visitors had left, Abraham and Sarah realised their visitor was God.

A year later Sarah did have a son.  She and Abraham named him Isaac, which means "He laughs".  They were very excited, and remembered to thank God for Isaac.  His name must have often reminded them of how Sarah had laughed, but that the Lord always keeps His promises!

And God always keeps His promises to us as well.  This story tells us that God will answer our prayers, heal our sicknesses and do miracles for us, because He said, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"   Nothing is too hard for God because He is our Great, Big, Wonderful God and loves each one of us very dearly.

Whenever you are sick, feel sad or have a need, remember to ask God to answer your prayer and meet your need.  And then say, "Thank-you for answering my prayer, because nothing is too hard for You."

God bless.