Part 2: God Shows Us The Process Of Prayer Series

Great Prayers of the Old Testament

Part 2: God Shows Us the Process of Prayer

Genesis 18:16-33

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared September 28, 2024)

BACKGROUND:

*Anyone who has spent time in God's Word knows that there are a lot of prayers provided for us in the Bible. The Dake Annotated Reference Bible lists 222 different prayers in the Bible: 176 prayers in the Old Testament, and 46 prayers in the New Testament. (1)

*But first today, think about the close relationships in your life: Your spouse, father, mother, plus other close relatives, and friends. None of these relationships would be possible without good communication. And all of these earthly relationships were designed by God to help us understand the kind of heavenly relationship that He wants to have with us.

*That's what salvation is: A close relationship with God the Father through faith in our crucified and risen Savior Jesus Christ, made personal through the presence of God's Holy Spirit in our life. This must be one of the main reasons why God put so many prayers in the Bible. He wants our relationship with Him to grow closer, stronger every day, and prayer is the key.

*God is also showing us that He wants us to pray, that prayer is important, and that prayer is powerful. He also uses these prayers to teach us how to pray. That's why we are going to explore some of the greatest prayers in the Old Testament.

*Today, we will start with Abraham's prayer to the Lord for Sodom and Gomorrah, so please open your Bibles to Genesis 18. In this wonderful chapter, the Lord, and two of His angels physically went to visit Abraham. The Lord wanted to reconfirm His promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah, even though it would take a miracle for it to happen, because they were both way too old to have children. But the Lord had another special purpose for this visit. He wanted Abraham to know about the terrible judgment coming soon on Sodom and Gomorrah. That's what prompted Abraham to pray, so let's begin by reading Genesis 18:16-33.

MESSAGE:

*In these verses God shows us 3 essential steps in the process of prayer.

1. FIRST: GOD REVEALS HIMSELF TO US.

*God reveals Himself to us. Any true conversation we have with the Lord must be based on God revelation of Himself to us. God always takes the first step. And in today's Scripture, God revealed Himself not only to Abraham and Sarah, but ultimately to everyone who believes that the Bible is God's Word. In these verses we see 4 ways the Lord reveals Himself to us.

[1] THE FIRST WAY IS BY GOD'S PRESENCE.

*The fact is that God the Holy Spirit is always here with us because His Spirit is everywhere at every time. King David made this truth clear in Psalm 139:1-16, where he said:

1. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.

3. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.

4. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

5. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.

6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.

7. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8. If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

9. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10. Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

11. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me,'' Even the night shall be light about me;

12. Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

13. For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb.

14. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.

15. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

*Wow! God's Holy Spirit is everywhere at once in space and time. But in Genesis 18, the pre-incarnate Christ also revealed Himself to Abraham and Sarah as a man. This Old Testament appearance points us to God's most important appearance on earth, and that was when Jesus was born as a mortal baby boy in Bethlehem. Jesus then lived the only perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and three days later He rose again from the dead.