“But Abraham stood YET (od – longer, still, more, yet) before the LORD.” Gen. 18:22-37; One of the greatest prayers of intercession between man and God in all the Bible, for mankind takes place right here. Here is a ‘Gap-Man’ of the rarest sort. Oh, if God would only raise up more ‘Gap-Men like Abraham, “Father of a multitude.” America might even stand for another hundred years if we had more Abrahams. The two angels left for Sodom but Abraham stands before, “The Judge of all the earth” and levels with God in Gen. 18:23, “Would You destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Obviously not! Here we see the importance, the supreme importance, of the righteous, in contrast to a wicked, sinful world or family! Like Abraham we need to be honest with God in our prayers, Phil. 4:6, “In everything…let your requests be made known unto God.” As Josh McDowell said, “Get it in the light or be honest with God.” He knows your heart, your desires, your wants, and your intentions anyway.

Abraham answers his own question or reason in v.25, he also recognizes one of God’s eternal attributes; “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Can you imagine for a moment the relationship this man had with the, “Judge of all the earth?” To enter into this kind of a dialogue? Pure, unadulterated friendship! These two, Abraham and El Shaddai were more than intimate friends, they were (ahav – lovers). God willingly, lovingly, directly answers Abraham’s question in v.26. He will spare the city for the sake of the righteous, “America Take Note!” Now Abraham realizes he has God’s undivided attention, but he also realizes Who he is talking to and humbles himself in v. 27, “I am but dust and ashes.” Humility is the key to intercessory prayer. We need to be open and honest yes, but we also need to be humble. These two go hand in hand in prayer, ‘Humility and Honesty.’

We must not only recognize who God is; sovereign, supreme, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and omnificent, etc. But we must remember who we are, “Dust and Ashes.” Gen. 2:7 says, He created us out of nothing (Ex-Nihilo – Latin). We like Abraham need to remember Heb. 4:16, that God’s throne, is a throne of GRACE! And that we have access only because of Heb. 10:19, the blood of the supreme sacrifice Yeshua/Jesus. And we must come humbly before Him remembering the only way up to God is by being down on our knees and faces. I Peter 5:5-7. There can never be true intercessory prayer without true humility, true holiness, of our spirit and true honesty. Humility is the first essential element of intercessory, efficacious prayer and honesty is the second.

This is beautiful, Abraham continues to intercede with the LORD and the LORD continues to concede to his requests. I am speaking reverently here, please don’t misunderstand me! God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, II Cor. 5:18 – He has made us ambassadors, II Cor. 5:20- and He has declared us righteous because of what Jesus Christ has done, II Cor 5:21. Therefore, let us still stand before the LORD, before, “The Judge of All The Earth” and intercede for our wicked cities, towns, nations, and continents and leaders! God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and intercessory prayer and we squander it.

Listen, the only time you are in perfect unity with the Tri-Unity of the God-Head is when you enter into intercessory prayer. Then you are praying to the Father, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Only three individuals have the privilege of the ministry of intercession on behalf of others; The Spirit, Rom. 8:27; The Son, Heb. 7:25; and The Saints, I Tim. 2:1. “LORD help us to see how vital our ministry really is on this dirt ball spinning in space, to oblivion. LORD, call the righteous to their knees before it’s to late, and teach us to pray for America, for Israel and for the world before we destroy ourselves.” In Jesus name, Amen!

Suppose there were five less than fifty righteous, would You destroy the city for the lack of five? v. 28. Abraham is desperate now, his nephew Lot and his family are in that city. If you knew that God was going to destroy the city your family lived in, would you become desperate and intercede?  Listen carefully, ‘God does not answer prayer!’ Let that sink in…. In fact let me say it again for emphasis, ‘God does not answer prayer!’ He answers, Desperate Prayer! Determined Prayer! Destitute Prayer! He answers Prayer that sweats, prayer that moans, prayer that cries, prayer that bleeds! And Abraham was at that point, desperate, destitute, despairing, determined to save Lot and his family; 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10… He thought he was safe, why not?

Surely, there was saved Mr & Mrs Lott, his two saved married daughters and their two saved husbands and his two saved single daughters who were dating two saved God fearing men and that would make 10! Surely, none of them would be unequally yoked, right? Wrong! Listen, even if he went to five, threw in the milkman and mailman it still would not have been enough! We don’t ever want to stop short in our intercession with God, NEVER! This is definite, determined, detailed, demanding, desperate, PRAYER! The key to ‘Intercession’ is, “Don’t Stop Short!” If you are going to go for it, “Go For It!” God wants to know, just how serious you are about a certain person or need. How bad do you want your loved one saved? How bad do you want that revival? How bad do you want unity? How bad do you want that healing? How bad do you want that job? How bad do you want that …….?

This kind of prayer, intercessory prayer, ‘COSTS,’ blood, sweat, tears, sleep, and pleasure. We have lost the concept of “Praying Through” in prayer and in intercessory prayer that is vital. We must never stop pleading until the guilty party is acquitted. Now either Abraham thought there were at least ten righteous people in Sodom or God stayed his hand from praying any further. When God finally decides to destroy a place, He forbids it to be prayed for anymore, Jer. 7:16; 14:11. Jeremiah was forbidden to pray, cry or intercede for Judah anymore. Now, we don’t know His determined will many times unless we pray or study His Word. We know it is not His will for any to perish (apollumi – die and go to hell). So we can plead for anyone.

The telephone company used to have a slogan, “Don’t hang up!” Jer. 33:2-3 tells us to, “Call on Him and He will answer.” That’s His promise and God can’t lie anymore than a rock can swim or a duck can chew gum, it’s against His nature. Our problem is we hang up to soon, we cut Him off before He is done talking. We need to cultivate a principle in our prayer life, our intercession to, ‘Pray Through,’ and, ‘Don’t Stop Short,’ and ‘Don’t Hang Up.’ Got it? Why am I not so sure?   “Between The Lines.”

“Oh LORD, make us ‘Gap-Men and Gap-Women’ for America, for Israel, for the World, for our Churches, and for our Families. Oh LORD, Take us, break us, fill us, remold us, and use us to never stop pleading with You the ‘Judge of All The Earth’ until the guilty are acquitted.” In Your Son’s holy name we plead. Amen!

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis” – ‘More Brush Strokes-3’