Prayer is a mystery to most of us.
So let’s join Abraham, a seasoned veteran of prayer, to learn a few priceless principles.
Principle Number 1:
God desires to reveal to us what He is about to do (Genesis 18:17).
Isn’t that amazing? The Lord truly wants to reveal His plan to us! He says it over and again in His Word:
“And the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?…For I have chosen him…in order that (I) may bring upon Abraham what (I have) spoken about him” (Genesis 18:17-19).
“Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants” (Amos 3:7).
“The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant” (Psalm 25:14).
And yet:
“God’s secrets, councils and cause have never been committed to prayerless men” (E.M. Bounds).
Principle Number 2:
Even righteous men need intercessors praying for them.
Lot was considered a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7). And evidently, Lot was also a praying man. After all, when Lot asked the angel to allow him to escape to a smaller city, the angel responded, “I will grant you this request also” (Genesis 19:21). Lot had already been requesting of God. And God granted both of Lot’s requests.
Yet, Lot still needed the prayers of Abraham. As we read through the narrative, it seems that when it actually came to saving Lot’s life, it was Abraham’s prayers that clinched the deliverance. “God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow” (Genesis 19:29).
How many times have we been embarrassed or ashamed to ask someone else to pray for us? We have earnestly sought the Lord on our own, but been hesitant to ask for reinforcements. God places great value on corporate prayer and may be waiting to answer until you bring others with you to pick up the request. Don’t delay. Ask for intercessors!
Principle Number 3:
Sometimes, it seems that the Father has not answered our prayer. Usually, however, we will find out differently (Genesis 19:27-29).
You know the story. Abraham appeals to God’s love of the righteous. Surely if there were fifty good people in Sodom, Abraham reasoned, God wouldn’t wipe out the city, right? And then, when he remembered the morality of the place, Abraham adjusted his requirements. “How about forty-five righteous? Wait…Forty? Thirty? Twenty? Umm….Ten?”
Surely, Abraham thought, if you include Lot, his wife, his two daughters, their fiancées, and Lot’s sons (yes, evidently he had sons….Genesis 19:12) that would make up for ten people.
But when Abraham “arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah,” all he could see was smoke. And lots of it (Genesis 19:27-28).
It seemed that God had answered Abraham’s prayer with a resounding, “No!”.
But what Abraham didn’t know was that somewhere in one of the neighboring caves, Lot and his two daughters were safe (Genesis 19:30). God indeed remembered Abraham and been compassionate to Lot. He didn’t give him his request just as Abraham asked for it, but He did reward the fact that he prayed. If we could peek into Abraham’s heart, I’m sure we would find his request all boiled down to the life of his precious nephew, Lot. And that request was miraculously answered, sometimes against Lot’s own will (Genesis 19:15-17).
Prayer is the only way to release the heavenlies onto the earthly. Let’s go together today and begin knocking on the gates.
Photo by Sara Jeng Grewar. Follow her on Instagram!
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