Date of message: 01 December 2002
Subject: Dare To Pray

Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
When I was a young Christian, I had always wanted to be able to pray like Abraham, interceding for Lot on the afternoon before the Lord departed from his tent and sent His two angels to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy those two cities. Genesis 18: 16 - 33 gives us an account of how Abraham took it upon himself and started to negotiate with the Lord to spare the two cities.

The Lord visited Abraham and Sarah with His two angels and after a hearty meal, as they were leaving, the Lord lingered on a while longer and was contemplating whether He should let Abraham His friend know the reason why He came to Earth. The Lord enjoyed Abraham's company so much that He was even willing to share with him what was on His heart.
"Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; an d if not, I will know," said the Lord. Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. (Genesis 18: 20 - 22)
And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" And he went further and asked the Lord whether He would destroy the city if there were fifty righteous persons to be found in the city. When the Lord replied that He would not destroy the city for the sake of those fifty, Abraham plucked up courage and started to bargain for a lower number and asked for forty-five. When the Lord promised him that He would spare the city for the sake of the forty-five, Abraham proceeded to seek a lower number of forty, followed by thirty, followed by twenty and finally he asked for only ten righteous persons to be found in Sodom. Each time the Lord gave His word that for the sakes of those numbers of righteous persons, He would spare the city. Of course, from the Bible and also from historical records found later, Sodom and Gomorrah were indeed destroyed because the Lord could not even find more than one righteous person in the two cities and He had the angels drag Lot out before they destroyed the cities.
Of course, there would be some critics who would ask why Abraham did not go lower in his request and ask for just one person and see whether the Lord would spare the cities. Well, I am very sure the Lord would spare the cities had Abraham really asked for that but he did not and I do not know why Abraham did not ask. I believe that the lesson for us is more that God do hear our prayers and meet us at our requests. Our God is not short on grace and mercy. Our shortfall in prayer does not and will not limit Him.
What made Abraham so special that the Lord permitted him to even negotiate the way he did and he was not struck dead? There are other records in the Old Testament where it is recorded for us that Moses, another righteous man of God, could not even see the face of God. Moses only got to view the back of the Lord from a cave and after He had passed through.
The key lie in the fact that Abraham was a friend of God, a very endearing term used by God to call him. Abraham spent a lot of time communing (having fellowship) with the Lord and you might say that he knew the pulse of the Lord. Consider the way he ran out of his tent to meet the Lord when He was still a distance away walking towards his tent in Mamre (Genesis 18: 1 - 8). Abraham knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the centre Person in that group of three who were approaching his tent was the Lord God Himself. The Lord is always first on his mind in whatever he did (although initially he was always thinking of himself first - saving his own 'skin' - in Genesis chapters 12, 16, 20). When he won the battle against the five kings (found in Genesis 14), he did not keep the spoils for himself (which is perfectly acceptable in the opinion of the world). Instead he made a tithe offering to Melchizedek, King of Salem, who came to him and brought him a blessing from the Lord. He knew that Melchizedek was sent from the Lord and he wanted to honour Him for the victory he received and so, because of his action of giving the tithe, we have the beautiful first example for our teaching and admonition.
The apostle James, in James 5: 16, exhorted us to pray for one another so that those who are sick may be healed. "Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]." (Amplified Bible).
There is power is the prayer of a righteous man. You and I can make a difference in the Kingdom of God. We have come to our positions of greatness when we believed in the Lord and received the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts and as a result of our positions in Christ, we can now therefore enter into His presence and be bold enough to ask of the Father. We dare to pray because the Father loves to hear us come to Him with our requests regardless of how small or how big our problems/ requests are. Remember for God the Father nothing is impossible. He created the world and nothing escapes His scrutiny. So righteous ones of the Lord, take up your positions of grace and go forth and make intercession for those whom you love. Pray for their health. Pray for their blessings from the Lord and above all, if they have yet to believe in the Lord Jesus, pray for their salvation that they would join us in our positions of righteousness in Christ.
Have you believed in Jesus as the One Who had died for you and taken away your sin? Why not take this opportunity to receive Him and join us as children of the Lord. The Bible tells us that we become children of God the moment we believe in Jesus and welcome Him into our hearts. Read John 1: 12 and be comforted. The Lord does not lie. For Him, whatever He speaks comes to pass and He had promised us in the Bible that those who have put their trust in Him will not be condemned but have passed from death into life ( Romans 8: 1 ). Pray this simple prayer of faith and invite Him into your heart and immediately you will experience the peace coming your way.
Our Heavenly Father, our daddy God, thank you for Your promises to us that You are not angry with us, Your children. Thank you that You loved us so much that even when we were still sinners, You sent Your Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, down into this world to die for all our sins.
Lord Jesus, thank you that You came, You obeyed the Father, You died for all on the cross, You conquered death and You rose again on the third day. And now, because of Your death and resurrection, we, who believe in You as our Lord and Saviour, will no longer have to die but we receive Your eternal life. Come into my heart, I pray, and make my heart Your home.
Thank you that because of what You have accomplished for us on the cross, I am now a child of God the Father. I am eternally forgiven, greatly blessed, highly favoured, deeply loved and completely protected because of You, Lord Jesus and in Your precious Name I pray. Amen.
If you have prayed that prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important that you are not alone facing your personal trials but that you can obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 - 26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
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