PRAY-ERS OF THE BIBLE
Abraham
Genesis 18:16-33
Every person can improve their prayer life by including the elements Abraham used when speaking to God.
Introduction:
Driving down a country road, I came to a very narrow bridge. In front of the bridge, a sign was posted: "YIELD." Seeing no oncoming cars, I continued across the bridge and to my destination. On my way back, I came to the same one-lane bridge, now from the other direction. To my surprise, I saw another YIELD sign posted. Curious, I thought, "I’m sure there was one posted on the other side." When I reached the other side of the bridge I looked back. Sure enough, yield signs had been placed at both ends of the bridge. Drivers from both directions were requested to give right of way. It was a reasonable and gracious way of preventing a head-on collision. When the Bible commands Christians to "be subject to one another" (Ephesians 5:21) it is simply a reasonable and gracious command to let the other have the right of way and avoid interpersonal head-on collisions.
Stephen P. Beck.
Much of the time we pray and think of it as our way to getting God to do something for us. Sometimes I believe that through our prayer God is trying to get us to do something or to become something. I want to look at the elements of the prayer of Abraham and learn how we can be submissive to God’s will in our prayers.
Element I. It was personal
A. When I read this section of Scripture I find these men who came to Abraham where a group of travelers. Out of hospitality Abraham makes them a nice dinner and invites them to stay for some time. He was just being a good host. It seems like later in the conversation he realizes that who he is talking with is more than just a group of men. The LORD lets himself be known when he tells of the child Abraham and Sarah are about to have. Abraham now realizes that this is more than a mere man. In v. 3 when Abraham initially addresses the men he says lord with a small “l”. Later his address indicates the realization he is speaking to God.
B. It seems that in many places in the Old Testament, men like Abraham speak to God when God appears to them. I find in my own life there are a lot of times when I am just going through the motions of praying. I have not really gotten to the point of speaking to God. It is more of an exercise than a personal experience. When we see Abraham speaking to God it is a personal experience. He is speaking to a living breathing being. It was personal.
C. If we go back to 18:1 the Lord came to Abraham. In v. 33 he left Abraham. When we have our times of prayer we need to realize it is a personal experience. It is not an exercise where we speak to the walls or to the ceiling. In church or in a group it may be perceived as a performance. Our prayers are not going to be times of performance or exercise, but it is a time of speaking with our Lord. Abraham was able to converse with God like this because he knew God. This personal experience will not happen tomorrow, but it will take time. Realize Abraham was around 100 years old when this took place.
D. We need to work on getting to know God better. And we need to make our prayer times more personal.
Element II. It was conversational
A. I think probably the most common description of prayer is “talking to God”. This is how it is described, but is this the way in which it is practiced? Rather than talking to God it is easy to get caught in a trap of telling God. When we talk to someone we listen to what they have to say, but when we talk to God we just unload what we want Him to hear from us. Much of the time our prayer does not look like a conversation.
B. In the passage we are reading today I see Abraham talking to God and God speaking to Abraham. It is not just a one sided conversation. We can see that Abraham has an agenda he is trying to communicate, but he also takes the time to listen to God and hear what God has to say to him. It is through Abraham’s listening that he is able to learn of the coming destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. There is more to the prayer of Abraham than just telling God. He is also listening to God.
C. As we spend time in God’s word and we pray from God’s word we will begin to hear from God as well. Abraham knew the heart of God and so he was able to say, "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” He knew God was not the kind of God who would wipe out the wicked with the righteous. So the prayer of Abraham includes the longing for the righteous people of these cities. It is important for us to know God, through His Word, so we can converse with God. We have a great tool in the Bible.
Element III. It was bold
A. Imagine going to your boss and asking for a raise. When he agrees to that raise you continue by asking if he could make it a little more, maybe something like $5 more. Probably most people would feel satisfied to have the boss give the raise. To ask for still more would be pushing your luck.
B. That is what I see Abraham doing in this passage. He is not dealing with money, but instead he is dealing with people. He is looking at life and death. He asks for God to preserve the city for the sake of 50 people. When God agrees, Abraham goes on and asks God to preserve the cities for the sake of 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, and finally 20. He boldly asks God to preserve the city six different times. He was bold in his request, but he was also wise in his approach. He comes to God humbly, asking permission to speak each time, but when permission is granted he becomes very bold in his request.
Element IV. It was open ended
A. I find it interesting that even though Abraham is very passionate about his request he does not communicate to God this is the only way. Instead he make an open ended request. He leaves it in God’s hands to take care of the situation in the best possible way. In v. 25 Abraham twice uses the phrase, “far be it from you.” What he is saying is it would not be in your nature to act in this way. I really don’t see Abraham trying to pigeon hole God. He does not force God into a corner.
B. I would like to make some observations about this conversation. Abraham obviously knew God fairly well to be able to converse with him on the level they were speaking. He knew God well enough to predict the actions of God. He also recognized his limited knowledge. God possessed information, which Abraham did not have. While Abraham has an agenda he is trying to promote he is also humble enough to realize God is God and he is the ultimate authority.
C. So much of the time when we come to God we do not have a problem with the boldness. We can ask God for anything and everything. Where we tend to stray from Abraham’s example is in our failure to understand God. We have not taken the time to develop a basic understanding of God, so we cannot come to God and say, surely you would not. . . I believe that we also fail to allow God to be the authority he is. When we don’t really know God then we fail to trust him to be the expert. Instead we become the expert and God becomes more of our Gene in a bottle. We believe we know what is best, we request what is best and God grants that request. God is not really God.
Conclusion:
The challenge for us today is to develop that bold submission which Abraham had. That means we need to take time to get to know God. We are not going to learn about God from books or other people. The most reliable source for us to learn about God is from the Bible. That is where we find God speaking to his people. So here is where we need to begin. As we learn about God then we can perceive what his will might be, and we can also ask God to act.
