The power of prayer

Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."

Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."

Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."

Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." (Genesis 18:20-32)

It’s not smart to make God mad. Abraham knew this. His father had told him the story of Adam and Eve, how God had taken away their immortality because they broke His rules and tried to escape responsibility for their sins. Abraham had been taught the story of Noah and the ark, how God had drowned everyone in the world who ignored Him so that they could live in flagrant sin. Abraham knew about the tower of Babel, where God punished human pride by changing the one language common to all men into many different tongues, making it impossible for the builders to continue working together. The lessons of history were clear: it is not smart to make God mad.

Abraham also had a personal reason to avoid angering the Lord. Abraham and his wife Sarah were childless. God had promised them a son, but they were still waiting for this gift. It would be unwise of Abraham to provoke God and put the future of his family in jeopardy.

Sadly, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah had made God mad. The list of their sins is disturbingly impressive. The prophet Jeremiah said that the people of these cities committed adultery and reassured each other that what they were doing was perfectly acceptable (Jeremiah 23:14). Ezekiel described the citizens as arrogant and proud, overfed and unconcerned with the needs of the poor (Ezekiel 16:49). Isaiah said that they showed off their sinful behavior instead of trying to hide it (Isaiah 3:9). And Genesis chapter 19 illustrates their depravity, when a group of men wanted to rape the visitors in Lot’s house—visitors who, although appearing as men, were actually angels in disguise. It was for these reasons that God intended to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah—to remove their evil from the earth, and give warning to others who find pleasure in such behavior.

We don’t know how big Sodom was, but an educated guess might suggest a population of about 500 men, women and children. Of all these residents, there was only one family that Abraham was close to—Lot, his wife, and their two daughters. Abraham knew that his nephew’s family worshiped the Lord, even though they lived among people who loved sin and couldn’t care less about God. But now, the Lord was threatening to destroy Sodom; what would happen to Lot and his family?

Abraham was on the horns of a dilemma. Dare he risk angering God by asking for a change of plans? But with no way to get word to Lot in time, could he hold his peace and do nothing? It all came down to a matter of trust—did Abraham trust in God’s loving and merciful nature? The answer was yes—Abraham did trust God. He trusted the Lord to be patient with him as he made his request. He trusted God to temper judgment with mercy. He trusted God to forgive him if his prayers were out of line.

And so Abraham prayed. He said, Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? What audacity, suggesting that God listen to human advice on how to act! He dared ask God to spare the city if just 10% of the population were God-fearing people.

God is the Creator of the universe. He is the giver of perfect Law and the final judge of human behavior. Yet astonishingly, He agrees to Abraham’s request! If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, God says, I will spare the whole place for their sake. But the surprises don’t stop there. Abraham dares push the matter further, bargaining with God until the Lord finally agrees to spare the entire wicked city for the sake of just ten believers. Regrettably, the only believers in town were the four members of Lot’s family, who alone were given the opportunity to flee before disaster struck.

Why did God listen to Abraham so patiently and agree to change His plan of destruction? We can find the answer in the second letter of Peter chapter three, where he writes: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God was willing to be patient because his justice is tempered by mercy.

The cross of Calvary is proof of this. On the cross, God’s judgment and mercy are displayed side by side, without either one diminishing the other. The cross shows God’s anger at sin—an anger that burns so fiercely that the sun was darkened and Jesus cried out, my God, my God, why have You forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46). God’s anger at sin resulted in bloody, agonizing death—suffering so intense that it ended the life of God’s own Son. But the cross also shows God’s tremendous mercy. By all rights, that suffering and death on the cross should have been ours, the consequence of the way we lead our lives. Our willingness to break promises and bend the rules to suit ourselves. Our quickness to make excuses for inexcusable behavior. Our unjustified pride in ourselves and our tendency to ignore those who need our help. Our unwillingness to admit our wrongs and change our ways. Our love for pleasures that harm the body and degrade the soul. We act like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah; if God treated us as our sins deserve, we would share their unhappy end.

Thankfully, He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him (Psalm 103:10-13). On the cross, God’s own Son suffered our hellish punishment in our place. Isaiah says, He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). The cross shows us the full extent of God’s love for us, that He would sacrifice His Son to spare us from the terrible judgment we deserved.

Abraham knew that in God, judgment is tempered by mercy. And so Abraham dared to ask God for a change in plan, a change that would be consistent with His merciful nature. Abraham trusted God to listen to Him patiently, consider his request, and forgive him if he had overstepped his bounds. Abraham prayed because he trusted in God’s mercy.

Jesus tells us to pray in the same way—confident in the Lord’s merciful nature. He says, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:9-13). James tells us that our prayers should come from confidence and not be wishy-washy; he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does (James 1:6-8).

Let’s go back to the Old Testament lesson for a moment. God was willing to spare Sodom for the sake of ten righteous people. But who is righteous? Scripture says, there is no one who does good, not one single person (Psalm 14:3). We are all sinners in thought, word and deed; no one can claim to be righteous in God’s sight. So how could it be that Lot and his family were spared dying in the flaming city?

Romans chapter one says, in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." This verse tells us two important things. First, righteousness comes down to us from God; it is a gift from heaven. Second, we receive this gift by faith; God’s righteousness becomes ours when we trust in His love for us. This is what Isaiah meant when he wrote, He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). Lot and his family were declared righteous by God because of their faith in His mercy, and so they were spared.

You and I are righteous in God’s sight because of Christ. 2^nd Corinthians chapter five says, God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might share in the righteousness of God. When this is the case, when we love and trust the Lord and share in His righteousness, then we can pray to God boldly as Abraham did. James tells us, The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16). The Lord listens to our prayers and is willing to consider our requests, just as He was responsive to Abraham’s pleas on behalf of a city that was drowning in sin.

Abraham was respectful, but he did not fear going to God in prayer; he was confident that God would be patient with him, give his ideas a fair hearing, and forgive him if Abraham’s request was out of line. You can and should pray in the same way. Peter says, The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray (1 Peter 4:7). Paul says, pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17). There is much trouble in the world today. All around us, people need our prayers on their behalf. So be like Abraham; pray to the Lord to show His mercy. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.