THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
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When we pray, we should pray honestly, as a child asking God.
"Dear God, Do you get all the angels to do your work? Mommy calls us her angels, and we have to do all the work."
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Gen 18:20-26
20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
KJV
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The Lord makes the announcement, and His two angels go on to do the work.
However, Abraham detains the Lord Himself with pleading.
Now THERE'S a thought! God STOPS to hear his praying servants, but the work goes on according to His plan!
Now, the text tells us Abraham continued to plead with God until he got down to "ten" righteous. We can learn some valuable lessons from Abraham's prayer.
Look carefully at HOW Abraham prayed.
First, he boldly stood before the Lord and made his request.
How could he DO that? He KNEW God! And he KNEW his prayer would be accepted. Heb. 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
When we are saved and washed in the blood of Christ, we are given HIS righteousness. We may not stand brashly before our Lord, but we do have ACCESS to the throne and heart of God.
Second, Abraham was very humble in his pleading. To have access to God's throne and heart is a blessing; but let us never come arrogantly as a spoiled child!
Let us come humbly as the servants we are!
Third, Abraham was very persistent in his prayer. We should continue to pray, because God is willing to listen! In fact, believing God is merciful and gracious causes us to persist in prayer for the lost. 2Pet. 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
God desires that all should be saved. It is our duty as Christians to pray for those we know are lost.
TODAY there is still time for them to be saved.
There may BE no tomorrow. Therefore let us boldly approach
God in genuine humility and PLEAD for the lost!
Love ya,
Bruce