Pentecost 10 August 5, 2007

“Pray with Persistence”

Genesis 18:16-32

16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. 20 Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 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.”

22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 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? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26 Then the LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

27 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, 28 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.” 29 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.” 30 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.” 31 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.”

32 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.”

Something amazing happens at my home virtually every afternoon. As soon as she hears even the slightest hint that the front door is opening, little Marissa immediately crawls or walks as fast as she can to find her Daddy, however she can get there the quickest. When she finds me, she grabs my knees with all her little strength (she’s figured out that I can’t walk if she grabs my knees), looks directly up at me and shouts like a foghorn. Again and again. Louder and louder. I may be trying to walk into the kitchen, I may attempt to see how my wife’s day has been going, I may want to simply sit down in the comfy recliner. But I cannot go anywhere or say anything until I pluck Marissa’s white-knuckle grip off of my knees one finger at a time and pick her up. Only then will she stop shouting and allow me to go somewhere else and do something else – with her safely in my arms, of course.

A child tugging on her father’s knees, demanding that he pick her up - isn’t that a picture of persistence? On occasion, it may be a little frustrating that I have to drop everything to listen to persistent Marissa. But if you think about it, beneath the persistence of kids, there’s actually something beautiful. Children have joy and confidence as they approach their parents with a request. Wouldn’t it be worse if children were silent, if they ran and hid in the corner, if they were terrified at the sight of their parents so that they didn’t dare to ask them anything? But instead children rush to their parents confidently, tug on their knees persistently and give the parents the joy of responding.

A little girl tugging on Daddy’s knees with persistence is a good picture for prayer. Our heavenly Daddy wants us to tug on his knees…and he wants us to tug with persistence.

Today we will be encouraged to Pray with Persistence. We will listen to a captivating account of one of God’s children tugging at his knees and the Savior responding in compassion. Here’s the background to this account from the life of Abraham. One day, Abraham was visited by three men. He didn’t know it right away, but the three men were two angels and the LORD himself. The three visitors had important business to conduct. They wanted to share with Abraham that, even though he was 99 and his wife Sarah was 89, in one year they would have the miracle son they’d been waiting for. This miracle son would ensure that Jesus would come from Abraham’s own family.

But that wasn’t the only promise that would come true. The LORD guarantees blessing and forgiveness for the repentant – like Abraham. But the LORD also guarantees punishment and horror for the corrupt and unrepentant. There was another reason that these men visited Abraham. The LORD wanted to let Abraham in on a promise that did not have a happy ending. What was the LORD promising for the corrupt towns of Sodom and Gomorrah? Listen to verses 16-22. (read v.16-22)

The LORD was promising absolute destruction for Sodom and Gomorrah. Rebellion had wrapped up this entire town and it was appalling. These people were notorious on earth and offensive to heaven because of their homosexuality and their refusal to repent. Notice that they were ripe for judgment not only because of their homosexuality and other sin, but because they repeatedly refused to repent. The LORD longed to forgive all of their appalling sin, and had they repented he would have forgiven them…but they would not listen. They were a train wreck of a town, they refused to change, and the time had come for God to punish them.

God told Abraham what he had in mind for Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham had relatives that lived in Sodom – his nephew Lot and his family. He did not jump up and down for joy that this town would be destroyed. He didn’t say, “Oooh, can you wait until tomorrow so I can walk over to the hill and watch?” Abraham was heartbroken that unrepentant sinners had earned a fast, one-way ticket to hell. He knew how dangerously close he had come to that same destiny - that the same arrogant heart that was beating in the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah was beating also in his own chest. He knew it was only by the grace of God that he had repented and was kept safe from God’s anger over sin. So he boldly fell before the LORD in prayer. (read v.23-32)

Abraham was tugging on the LORD’s knees six times, begging him to spare the towns. There are some points about his prayer that are worth noting. The prayer was based on God’s grace, that God would spare the people just like he had spared Abraham. The prayer was bold – again and again, Abraham approached the LORD who lives in unapproachable light not in terror, but as a dear child approaches her dear father. The prayer was very unselfish, as he was praying for people who didn’t deserve to have someone praying for them. Fifty…forty-five… forty… thirty… twenty… ten.

The LORD loved Abraham tugging on his knees. With longing eyes, he bent down to listen to Abraham’s requests. He picked him up in the promise to answer the prayer in the best possible way. He even went beyond what Abraham was asking. The end of the story is that there weren’t even ten believers found in the towns, yet even so God spared Abraham’s weak-faith nephew named Lot as well as Lot’s family before he destroyed them.

So what about our personal prayer life? We know the LORD is always available, we know he wants us to pray, we know he loves to answer…but how well do we tug on our Lord’s knees and beg him persistently on behalf of someone else? When we evaluate the number of times we tug – we see that unless we are in a bind or pinch, we aren’t tugging on Daddy’s knees much at all. When we assess the “confidence in prayer meter” how far to the right does the needle go? Too often we tug with a “like-this-is-gonna-change-anything” attitude rather than with a confident Amen. And what happens if we do manage to tug on his knees and pray confidently – but the prayer isn’t answered within five minutes? We let go of those knees way too fast, or get angry that our prayer isn’t answered on my timetable.

When our Lord commands us to pray persistently, he doesn’t make it optional. He is angry because of our distracted prayers, and he promises to rain fire and brimstone down from heaven on us for our lack of love and trust. But he rained fire and brimstone down on Jesus instead. Jesus took the punishment we deserved. He died on the cross. We are forgiven for eternity. And with the relief of forgiveness deeply embedded in our hearts, we are ready once again to talk to our Daddy and tug on his knees.

We can ask him for whatever – and whatever really means whatever. We can praise him for how awesome he is. We can thank him for good times and bad times. We can tug on his knees, persistently demand that he give us his undivided attention, and boldly trust he will answer in the very best possible way.

Maybe on occasion I grow tired of Marissa doing what she does every late afternoon. But really, is it a hardship that she is so persistent? No, I love it and one day I will miss it. And I am just a frail, sinful, selfish human being. How much more does our heavenly Father love you tugging on his knees? How much more does our heavenly Father enjoy you telling him everything on your heart? How much more does our heavenly Father thrill to see you taking the time to ask him? Infinitely more. So tug on God’s knees with confidence. Tell Him everything on your heart in simple, honest words. Know he will answer in the very best way. Dear Christian, pray with persistence! For if you don’t, the devil is persistent in helping you do the opposite. Amen.