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July 6 “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from Thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from Thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.” Genesis 18:24-26. It would appear that Abraham is trying to bargain with God. Yet in reality he has discovered one of the secrets of prayer. If we are have answered prayers we are to appeal to the character of God. Abraham proceeds to discuss the attributes of God and to appeal to His righteousness. Of course God is being honored throughout all of this, and He even responds directly to Abraham. Oh we know that Abraham finally gets down to mentioning just ten righteous men, but that is not the point. Abraham has found a key to prayer—approaching God on the basis of who He is! Often we may find ourselves asking for God to respond to our needs, or even wants. But that is to reverse the priority of prayer. We are to worship Him first for His character and His ways, and then place our burden at His feet. He alone will decide how to respond, and all praise and honor will go to Him. We need not ever consider that we know how to fashion a self-centered request that will be answered. We are to be in the will of God, which is equivalent to being in worship of Him. Heavenly Father, it is at your feet that we worship and praise You. We do not wish to impose any of our will—instead we seek Your will in all matters. You are ever mindful of our limitations, and You know exactly how to fashion Your response to all of our prayers. Everything must flow from Your being and nature. We thank You. Amen.
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