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Abraham Trusts God's Promise

Reference: Genesis 12, 15, 21

Big Idea: God always keeps His promises, even when we have to wait a very long time.

Teacher Quick Reference

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Lesson: Abraham Trusts God's Promise
Scripture: Genesis 12, 15, 21
Big Idea: God always keeps His promises, even when we have to wait a very long time.
Three Main Points:
  1. God told Abram to leave his home and go to a land He would show him.
  2. God promised to make Abram's family into a great nation.
  3. Abram and Sarah were very old and had no children.
  4. God promised Abram's descendants would outnumber the stars.
  5. After 25 years of waiting, God kept His promise and Isaac was born.
Activity: Counting the Stars (Visual Challenge)
Memory Verse: Genesis 15:6
Take-Home Truth:
"Even when I have to wait, I can trust that God keeps His promises."

Teacher Preparation

Before class:

  • Read Genesis 12:1-4, Genesis 15:1-6, and Genesis 21:1-7 (BSB).
  • Note that Abram’s name was later changed to Abraham, and Sarai’s to Sarah. For simplicity with children, you can use Abraham and Sarah throughout, or explain the name change briefly.
  • Prepare the jar of salt/sprinkles and black paper for the Counting the Stars activity.
  • Write the memory verse on the board.
  • Decide which age adaptation will work best for your classroom.

Opening Activity: The Longest Wait

Ask the children: “What is the hardest thing you have ever had to wait for?” (Examples: A birthday, a trip to a theme park, Christmas, waiting for a baked good to come out of the oven). “How does it feel when you are waiting? Do you ever worry that the day will never actually come?”

Explain: “Waiting is really hard. Sometimes a few days feels like forever. Today we are going to learn about a man and a woman who had to wait for something they wanted more than anything in the world. They didn’t wait a few days. They waited twenty-five YEARS.”

The Bible Story

1. The Call to Leave

A long time ago, a man named Abram lived in a city called Haran. He was 75 years old. He had a wife named Sarai, but they had a deep sadness in their lives: they had no children.

One day, God spoke to Abram and gave him a massive command and a beautiful promise:

“Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation…” (Genesis 12:1-2, BSB)

God didn’t even give Abram a map! He just said, “Go, and I will show you.” Abram had to completely trust God. So, Abram packed up his tents, his animals, and his family, and he started walking.

2. The Promise of the Stars

Abram obeyed, but as the years went by, it became harder to trust the promise. He was getting older. Sarai was getting older. Still, they had no baby. How could God make him into a “great nation” if he didn’t even have one child?

Abram was feeling afraid and discouraged. But God came to him in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield.”

Then, God did something beautiful. He took Abram outside into the dark desert night.

“Then the LORD took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” (Genesis 15:5, BSB)

God was saying, “Abram, your family is going to be bigger than the sky.”

3. Believing the Impossible

It was a crazy promise. Old men don’t become fathers to millions of people. But look at what Abram did:

“Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6, BSB)

Abram didn’t argue. He didn’t say, “Show me the proof first.” He just believed God. And because he believed, God called him righteous (right with God). Later, God changed his name to Abraham, which means “Father of Many Nations,” and Sarai’s name to Sarah.

4. The Long Wait

Believing God didn’t mean the baby came the next day. Abraham and Sarah had to wait… and wait… and wait. Sometimes they messed up. Sometimes they tried to fix things their own way because they got tired of waiting. But God never gave up on them, and God never forgot His promise.

5. The Promise Fulfilled

Finally, twenty-five years after God first spoke to Abraham, when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old, the impossible happened!

God kept His promise. Sarah had a baby boy. They named him Isaac, which means “he laughs,” because Sarah was so full of joy and laughter that God had done this impossible miracle. God’s timing was much longer than Abraham expected, but God’s timing was perfect.

The Deeper Meaning

Genesis 15:6 is one of the most important verses in the entire Bible. It says, “Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”

Why is that so important? Because it tells us how a person gets to heaven! Abraham was not perfect. He made a lot of mistakes while he was waiting. He lied about his wife. He tried to have a baby with someone else because he didn’t want to wait for God. But God didn’t save Abraham because he was perfectly well-behaved. God saved Abraham because Abraham believed God’s promise.

Today, God makes us a promise too: If we believe in Jesus, He will forgive our sins and give us eternal life. Just like Abraham, we aren’t saved by being perfect; we are saved by believing the Promise.

Three Things to Remember

1. Waiting is Hard, But God is Faithful

Abraham waited 25 years! When we pray for something and it doesn’t happen right away, it doesn’t mean God is ignoring us. He might just be saying, “Wait.” Teacher Question: What should we do when God makes us wait for something?

2. God Can Do the Impossible

A 100-year-old man and a 90-year-old woman having a baby is biologically impossible. But God is the Creator of biology! Nothing is too hard for Him. Teacher Question: Why does God sometimes wait until a situation is “impossible” before He fixes it? (So that everyone knows it was a miracle from God, not just good luck).

3. We Are Saved by Believing

Abraham was called righteous because he believed God. Teacher Question: What is the most important promise God wants you to believe today? (That Jesus loves you and saves you from your sins).

Age Adaptations

Preschool (Ages 3-5)

Younger Children

For younger children (ages 5–7), focus on the joy of the baby finally arriving and the sheer impossibility of counting the stars.

Simplified concepts:

  • Abraham and Sarah were very, very old (like grandparents!) but they had no kids.
  • God told Abraham to look at the stars. God said, “You will have a huge family, just like the stars!”
  • They had to wait a very long time. Waiting is hard.
  • When they were 100 and 90 years old, God gave them a baby boy named Isaac.
  • Sarah laughed because she was so happy! God always keeps His promises.

Developmentally appropriate questions:

  • Can you count all the stars in the sky? (No, there are too many).
  • Did God keep His promise to Abraham? (Yes).
  • Does God keep His promises to us? (Yes).
Upper Elementary (Grades 4-6)

Older Children

For older children (ages 8–11), focus on the theology of justification by faith (Genesis 15:6) and the reality of their struggles while waiting.

Deeper discussion: Pre-teens need to know that heroes of the faith weren’t perfect robots. Abraham and Sarah had serious moments of doubt. Sarah literally laughed in disbelief when an angel told her she would have a baby (Genesis 18).

Discussion Scenarios:

  • Scenario 1: Have you ever doubted one of God’s promises? Did your doubt cancel God’s promise? (No, God is faithful even when we struggle to believe).
  • Concept: Read Genesis 15:6 again. Imagine if the verse said, “Abraham did 100 good deeds, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” What would be the problem with that? (We would always worry we hadn’t done enough good deeds. Because it is based on belief, we can rest in what God has done).

Discussion Questions

Understanding

  1. What did God ask Abraham to leave behind?
  2. What did God tell Abraham to do when he took him outside at night?
  3. What did Abraham do that caused God to credit it to him as righteousness?
  4. How old were Abraham and Sarah when the baby was finally born?
  5. What did they name the baby, and what does his name mean?

Thinking

  1. Why do you think God made Abraham wait 25 years?
  2. If God already knew He was going to give them a baby, why did He have Abraham look at the stars?
  3. How does the story of Abraham help us understand how we are saved today?

Personal Application

  1. Have you ever felt like God was taking too long to answer a prayer?
  2. When you are tired of waiting, what is a promise from the Bible you can remember to help you trust God?
  3. Are there any stars in the sky that God doesn’t know about? How does that make you feel about your own life?

Activity Time

Activity Resource: Counting the Stars View Standalone →

Type: Visual / Interactive Challenge
Time: 5 minutes
Group Size: Any
Materials:

  • A clear jar filled with something tiny and numerous (e.g., salt, sugar, sand, sprinkles, or hole-punch confetti).
  • A dark piece of construction paper.

Purpose

To visually demonstrate the absolute impossibility of counting the stars, helping children understand the massive scale of the promise God made to Abraham.

Setup

Place the jar of tiny items and the black paper on a table in front of the children.

Exact Instructions

  1. Call a volunteer to the front.
  2. Say: “I have a very important job for you. I will give you 30 seconds, and I want you to count exactly how many pieces are in this jar.”
  3. Pour a large pile of the salt/sprinkles onto the black paper.
  4. Start the timer. Let the child try to count them by poking them with their finger. They will quickly realize it is impossible.
  5. Ask the rest of the children: “If I gave them all day, could they count them perfectly? What if I gave them a whole year?” (No, there are too many, they are too small, and they get mixed up).

Discussion

Ask: “Have you ever tried to count the stars in the sky at night? What happens?” (You lose your place, there are too many, some are too faint). “If someone told you they were going to give you as many dollars as there are pieces of salt on this paper, would you believe them?”

Connection Back to the Bible Story

Explain: “Abraham was an old man, and he didn’t have a single child. Not one! But God took him outside, pointed at the night sky, and told him to do exactly what we just tried to do: count the stars. God promised Abraham that his family would be as massive and impossible to count as the stars in the sky. And even though it sounded completely impossible, Abraham chose to believe God.”

Craft Time

Activity Resource: Starry Sky Promise Craft View Standalone →

Materials:

  • Black or dark blue construction paper
  • White, yellow, or silver paint (or white crayons)
  • Q-tips (if using paint)
  • Star stickers (optional)

Purpose

To give children a visual representation of God’s massive, impossible-sounding promise to Abraham.

Setup

Finished Starry Sky

  1. Pour a small amount of white or yellow paint onto paper plates to act as a paint palette.
  2. Hand out Q-tips to each child.

Instructions

  1. The Night Sky: Give each child a piece of black or dark blue construction paper. Tell them this is the dark night sky that Abraham was looking at.
  2. The Stars: Have the children dip their Q-tips into the paint and dot it all over their paper to create stars. They can make big stars, little stars, or even shooting stars! (If you don’t have paint, they can use star stickers or white crayons).
  3. The Challenge: While they are painting, ask them to try and count exactly how many dots they have made. As they keep adding dots, they will eventually lose count!
  4. The Promise: Have older children write (or help younger children write) “God Keeps His Promises” at the bottom of their starry sky.

Discussion While Crafting

  • “Why did God tell Abraham to look up at the stars?” (Because God promised Abraham he would have as many children and grandchildren as there are stars in the sky).
  • “Was it possible for Abraham to count them all?” (No, there were too many!).
  • “Did Abraham and Sarah have to wait a long time for this promise to come true?” (Yes, they waited 25 years!).
  • “Whenever you look at the stars at night, remember that God’s promises are bigger than we can imagine, and He always keeps them.”

Memory Verse

Genesis 15:6 (BSB)
“Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”

Practical Way to Teach:

  • Break it into two actions:
  • “Abram believed the LORD,” (Point to your head, then point up to heaven).
  • “and He credited it to him as righteousness.” (Make a checkmark in the air, like a teacher marking an answer correct).
  • Explain that “righteousness” is a big word that means “completely right with God.”

Knowledge Check

Knowledge Check

Question 1 of 5

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Application

When you are waiting for something this week—whether it is waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for a friend to call, or waiting for a prayer to be answered—use that time to practice trusting God. Say in your head, “God, I don’t like waiting, but I know Your timing is perfect.”

Take-Home Challenge

Sometime this week, go outside at night when it is dark and look up at the stars. Try to count a patch of them. Let the stars remind you that the God who made them is massive, powerful, and always keeps His promises to you.

Closing Thought

Abraham had to wait 25 years for one promise. But because he believed God, his family eventually became the nation of Israel. And out of the nation of Israel came Jesus Christ! God’s promises are always bigger and better than we can imagine. Even when the wait is long, God is faithful.

Closing Prayer

“Heavenly Father, You are so faithful. You never forget a single promise You make. Forgive us for the times when we get impatient and want things our own way. When we have to wait, give us the faith of Abraham to believe Your promises. Thank You for sending Jesus, the greatest promise of all. In His name, Amen.”

One-Minute Teacher Quick Reference

ABRAHAM TRUSTS GOD’S PROMISE
Genesis 12, 15, 21

Big Idea

God always keeps His promises, even when we have to wait a very long time.

Memory Verse

“Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” — Genesis 15:6 (BSB)

Three Points

  1. Waiting is Hard, But God is Faithful
  2. God Can Do the Impossible
  3. We Are Saved by Believing

Opening

The Longest Wait (Discussion about the hardest things the children have ever had to wait for).

Activity

Counting the Stars (Visual challenge showing the impossibility of counting tiny items).

Take-Home Truth

Even when I have to wait, I can trust that God keeps His promises.

Closing

Pray for the patience to wait on God’s timing and the faith to believe His promises.