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.
*Jesus was both fully man and fully God. That's why in Colossians 2:8-10, the Holy Spirit led Paul to warn Christians saying:
8. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
9. FOR IN HIM DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY;
10. and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
*Then in Acts 2, after Jesus rose again, ascended back into heaven, and was fully glorified, the Holy Spirit came in a new way on the Day of Pentecost. Now God's Holy Spirit comes to live in our spiritual hearts when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The Lord sitting down to lunch with Abraham also points to Revelation 3:20 where Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
*Rejoice Christians! And rejoice because Jesus Christ is coming back again! Until then, the Lord also comes in a special way to encourage us when trouble comes our way. For example, when the Apostle Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, Acts 23:10-11 tells us that "there arose a great dissension, (and) the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks. But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, 'Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.'''
*Later on in 2 Timothy 4:16-17, Paul was in Rome on trial for his life, and he wrote, "At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."
*Christians: The Lord stood by Paul, and He will surely stand by us! So we can say what David said in the 23rd Psalm: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
[2] GOD REVEALS HIMSELF BY HIS PRESENCE, AND BY HIS PROVISION.
*God surely provides for His people. He had already provided so much for Abraham and Sarah. Now, He was going to provide them with a son, but much more than a son. God was going to provide them a Savior! So in Romans 8:31 Paul asked these great questions, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Then Paul gave the answer in Romans 8:32, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
*God reveals Himself by providing for His people. That's why in Philippians 4:19 Paul could also write, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." On our darkest days, God will provide the strength and encouragement we need. Most of the time it is through His Word. Many times it is through His followers. But sometimes God even sends His angels like the two with Him here in Genesis 18.
*And those angels are still on the job somewhere in the world. We usually don't get to see the angels, but they are surely helping people today. I love what Jesus told His disciples about little children in Matthew 18:10. There the Lord said, "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." Hebrews 1:14 tells us that the angels are spirits sent from God to care for those who will receive salvation. And Hebrews 13:2 in the Living Bible tells Christians, "Don't forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!"
*Mattie Mercer has a wonderful testimony about help from an angel. Mary and I have known Mattie and Sonny for over 30 years now. He was the Chairman of the Deacons when we were at Emmanuel Baptist Church in West Monroe. She was an adult Sunday School Teacher and Church Treasurer for many years.
*In May of 1969, Mattie was heading home from work, when she heard the news about a terrible construction accident at the I-20 Bridge over the Mississippi River. Mattie started praying for the family of the man who had been killed and for the man who had been critically injured, not knowing that the injured man was her own husband, Sonny.
*To build the massive supports for that bridge at Vicksburg, they built huge forms out in the river to fill with concrete. The forms were anchored by long cables fastened to giant concrete blocks on the river bank. On that day, Sonny and the other man were standing on the river bank, when one of the forms in the river shifted. The cable whipped and the man in front of Sonny was instantly killed.
*Sonny was hit right above the knees and thrown 15 feet. Both of his legs were cut off. Sometime after Mattie got to the hospital, she was alone in a room next to Sonny's. He was not supposed to live. Naturally she was devastated. But as Mattie prayed, she felt something move her across the room and sit her down in a chair. Then she heard these words, not in her ears, but in her mind: "Sonny is going to live. You and your children are going to be okay."
*Mattie has no doubt that God provided an angel to move her over to that chair and give her the comfort she needed. It wasn't the end of their crisis. It was just the beginning. But God carried them through. Sonny spent the next year in the hospital, mostly up in Boston. And about two years later, he received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Two deacons carried Sonny down into the water to be baptized. Praise the Lord! God provided an angel to help Mattie, and I am sure they have helped us all much more than we know.
[3] THE LORD REVEALS HIMSELF BY HIS PROVISION, AND BY KEEPING HIS PROMISES.
*God promises things to His people, things that seem impossible, things that seem too good to be true. And that's what God did to Abraham and Sarah in vs. 10. There the Lord said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son...'' Yes, Sarah was 89 and Abraham was 99. But in vs. 14 the Lord said, "Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."
*God has made hundreds of wonderful promises to us, and here are a few well-known examples:
*Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
*In Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus promises:
7. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
9. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10. Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
*And in 1 John 2:25, the Apostle tells Christians: "This is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life."
[4] THE LORD REVEALS HIMSELF TO US BY KEEPING HIS PROMISES, AND BY FULFILLING HIS PLANS.
*God reveals His plans to His people. He has a plan for salvation. He has a plan for the end of time. And God has a plan for your life. If you are waiting on the Lord right now, don't give up. He will show you His plan for your life at just the right time in just the right way.
*In the Scripture today, God revealed His plan for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Please listen to vs. 16-21:
16. Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.
17. And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,
18. since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19. For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.''
20. And the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,
21. I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.''
*Why did God destroy Sodom? -- Genesis 13:13 tells us that "the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord." And we read about the sexual sin in Genesis 19, when the two angels went to rescue Lot and his family. But there was more, and God revealed this in Ezekiel 16:49-50. There He told the people of Jerusalem:
49. "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit."
*Sodom and Gomorrah were in full-throttle, open rebellion against God. And they had crossed the line that led God to plan their destruction. But God reveals Himself to His people by His presence, His provision, His promises and His plan.
2. WHEN IT COMES TO PRAYER, FIRST, GOD REVEALS HIMSELF TO US. THEN WE MAKE OUR REQUESTS TO GOD.
*This is what Abraham did starting in vs. 22, and there are 4 things to notice about Abraham's requests.
[1] FIRST, ABRAHAM WAS BOLD IN HIS FAITH.
That's in vs. 22-25:
22. Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.
23. And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24. Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?
25. Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?''
*That was a bold request! -- Face to face with God, yet almost arguing with the Lord, almost accusing God. Abraham boldly made his case before the Lord.
*George Mueller lived in the 1,800s, and he was certainly one of the greatest prayer warriors of all time. George kept a prayer journal over his long life, and recorded 50,000 answers to prayer! Mueller dedicated his life to helping orphans. By faith he started orphanages that cared for 10,024 orphans. During his lifetime, Mueller received the equivalent of over 7 million dollars to support his children's homes. That's over 165 million dollars in today's money! And all of it came through prayer. He also provided educational opportunities for orphans by establishing 117 schools that offered Christian education to more than 120,000 students.
*One of my favorite testimonies about George Mueller happened in August 1877. George was crossing the Atlantic on the SS Sardinian. The ship ran into terrible fog, and Captain Joseph E. Dutton later gave this report: "I had been on the bridge for 24 hours and never left it. And George Mueller came to me and said, 'Captain, I have come to tell you that you must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.' 'It is impossible,' I said.
'Then very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement in 57 years. Let us go down into the chart room and pray.' I looked at that man of God and thought to myself, 'What lunatic asylum can that man have come from, for I never heard of such a thing as this?'
Mr. Mueller, I said, 'Do you know how dense this fog is?' 'No,' he replied, 'My eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of my life.'
He knelt down, and he prayed one of the simplest prayers. When he had finished, I was going to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray. 'As you do not believe He will answer, and as I believe He has, there is no need whatever for you to pray about it.'
I looked at him, and George Mueller said, 'Captain, I have known the Lord for 57 years and there has never been a single day when I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, Captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog has gone.'
*I got up and the fog indeed was gone, and on that Saturday afternoon George Mueller kept his promised engagement." (2)
*How did George Mueller learn to pray? -- Part of the lesson came from right here in Genesis 18. John Phillips reported that this chapter taught Mueller one of the most important secrets of prayer. It taught him to use argument in pleading his case before God. He would remind the Lord that the orphan boys and girls entrusted to his care were not his orphans, they were God's. Had He not declared Himself to be the Father of the fatherless? It was God's work, not Mueller's. He was just the instrument. If it were God's work, was not God bound to take care of it? Could God suffer His glory to be diminished? Was not a half-believing church looking on, and a wholly unbelieving world? Thus George Mueller prayed and thus he received truly astonishing answers from God. (3)
[2] GEORGE MUELLER WAS LIKE ABRAHAM: BOLD IN HIS FAITH. BUT ABRAHAM WAS ALSO HUMBLE.
*Listen to Abraham in vs. 27: "Then Abraham answered and said, 'Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord.'"
-Now in vs. 30: "Then he said, 'Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?' And He said, 'I will not do it if I find thirty there.'"
-Now in vs. 32: "Then he said, 'Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?' And He said, 'I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.'"
[3] ABRAHAM WAS HUMBLE IN HIS PRAYERS. AND HE WAS CARING.
*Abraham cared about other people. He especially cared for the innocent people who might be in those cities. He prayed for other people.
*Sometimes our prayers sound a little like this: "Lord please bless me and me and me and me and me." -- But God wants us to care about other people!
[4] ABRAHAM WAS CARING IN HIS PRAYERS. AND HE WAS PERSISTENT!
*Abraham kept on praying! -- In vs. 24, "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?" Then, suppose 45, 40, 30, 20, 10?
*Abraham prayed boldly, humbly, compassionately and persistently. That's the way God want us to pray!
3. SO IN THIS SCRIPTURE GOD SHOWS US HOW TO PRAY: HE REVEALS HIMSELF TO US. THEN WE MAKE OUR REQUESTS TO GOD. AND GOD ALWAYS GIVES THE RIGHT RESPONSE.
*What do you notice about the LORD's response here? First, God was patient with Abraham. God did not rebuke Abraham, not even once. Then God was most gracious in His answers. All the way down the line, God answered Abraham's prayers: 50, 45, 40, 30, 20 and 10. -- Every time, God said "yes."
*And God won't always say "yes" to our prayers. But we can be sure that according to His perfect will and wisdom, God will graciously answer us too.
CONCLUSION:
*Christians: Let's go to back to the Lord in prayer. But if you have never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you need to pray the most important prayer of all. Romans 3:23 tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." You may be the best person in this state, but Jesus is the only perfect man who ever lived. All of the rest of us have fallen far short of the glory of God. And Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin his death." that is talking about eternal death in hell, eternal death in a place more horrible than you can imagine. But that same verse goes on to say that "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
*God's Son Jesus Christ loves you so much that he died on the cross for your sins too. And 3 days later Jesus rose again from the dead. Now our crucified and risen Savior will give you His everlasting life, if you will put your trust in Him enough to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
*Romans 10:10-13 puts it this way: "For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For 'whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" Call on Jesus to save you now, as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) DAKE ANNOTATED REFERENCE BIBLE - Dake Publishing - https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/prayernew/222-prayers-of-the-bible/
(2) Sources:
-Adapted from Morgan, Robert J., On This Day, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 2000, c1997.
-Paul Lee Tan. Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations. (Rockville, Maryland: Assurance Publishers, 1979). # 1494 - Source: SermonCentral sermon "The Pathway of Faith" by John Hamby - Hebrews 11:1-7)
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Muller
-Eric W. Nye, Pounds Sterling to Dollars: Historical Conversion of Currency, accessed Thursday, January 04, 2024, https://www.uwyo.edu/numimage/currency.htm.
(3) EXPLORING GENESIS by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "The Praying Man" - Genesis 18:23-33 - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
