Musings:1/9/09, Genesis 18:1 ff, Abraham Prayed for Them by John.

Genesis 18:1ff. Abraham talked to the Lord face to face...Isn't that prayer? Of course, it is! Having God present in the flesh does not affect prayer. He is present spiritually every time we pray, and in I John 5:14-15, He promises to always hear and answer the prayers of His children!

Abraham pled with God for people he didn't know. I'm sure he thought of Lot, his nephew and his family, but most likely he interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah because the idea of killing all those people appalled him. Death is not pleasant to any of God's people.

Abraham kept reducing the number required to save the city. God bore with him as he worked from 50 righteous people to just 10, and God agreed not to destroy the cities if there were 10 righteous people there. God doesn't just change his mind because we ask, do you think? I'm sure God did not change His plan, but He knew Abraham. Too often, we pray for what we consider reasonable when we should be seeking God's best. In II Kings 13:17-19, Elisha was dying when King Jehoash visited him. Elisha told him to take a bow and arrow and shoot out the east window. He did, and Elisha told him that was the arrow of God's victory over Aram. Then he told him to take the arrows and strike them on the ground. Jehoash struck the ground three times and stopped. Elisha was angry with him, and told him he should have struck the ground five or six times. The result would be that he would defeat Aram three times, but he did not annihilate them. He missed God's best.

I wonder if Abraham had reduced the number to six if God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah? As it was, Abraham's prayer resulted in the physical salvation of Lot and his two daughters. I believe the saving of those souls was one of the reasons the Lord went to Abraham before He destroyed the cities. I also think God wanted Abraham to intercede for those people. I would not pretend to know the mind of our Father. I admit I'm only going by what I see in all of the Scripture that I know.

Lot, his wife and daughters knew nothing of God's visit to Abraham either before or after the fact as far as we know. Today people frequently pray for those dear to them, the prayers are answered, and the recipients of blessing are unaware God intervened by laying concern on His children's hearts for their needs. God gives us a part in His work, and that gives those blessed another opportunity to get things straight with God. There is no mention that Lot was a godly man, and even though he may have been, it reminds me that ungodly people can live next to God's saints and never change even though they are blessed because of their neighbor's prayers for them. It is a sure thing, that the lost in this nation have no excuse for a lack of God in their lives. Countless prayers, sermons and Bible lessons lift up this country and it's inhabitants every day!