“The outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD.” Gen. 19:13. The torturous cries or shrieks; it was either the people within Sodom who were being abused or the people without who were crying out for God to do something. If Lot and his two daughters were the only ones spared then there were no other righteous people in Sodom. The age old question comes up again, “Does God answer the prayers or cries of anguish of the unsaved?” Psalm 65:2 says, “O Thou Who hearest prayer, unto Thee, shall all flesh come.” Like Jonah chapter one. I don’t believe it is a question of, “Does God hear the prayers of the unsaved heathen for salvation?” We know He hears their prayers for salvation, II Peter 3:9. In our text we are talking about outcries against sin!

Now God is omnipresent everywhere at once, and He is omniscient He knows everything anyway. Therefore, all speech, all cries and all prayers, are heard and noticed by Him. Hearing is one thing, answering is quite another! Whoever it was who was crying out against Sodom, it came up before the face of the LORD, Gen. 19:13, and He sent two angels to check it out, Gen. 18:20-22. In Gen. 19:19-20, Lot pleads for a mercy for a little city to flee to and the angels grant his request of intercession. Even in his sinful state God heard Lot’s cry for mercy and answered it. Abraham had interceded for Lot and his family and, “God remembered Abraham.” Gen. 19:29. If it wasn’t for Abraham, Lot’s uncle, Lot wouldn’t have made it. Does intercessory prayer work? Ask Lot when you see him or Abimelech, Pharaoh, Ishmael, Isaac, Hagar, or the Kings of the vale or even Melchizedek.

Lot lost his daughters, his sons-in-law, his wife, his testimony, all his possessions, “which were so great” Gen. 13:16, and almost his life. He then commits incest with both of his single daughters, how low can you go? But Lot’s family died, due to one word, ‘LUST’ and poor judgement. Remember, as far as we know Lot did not have a wife before he went into Sodom, so his wife was probably from Sodom and she didn’t turn around to look back, she turned around to go back, Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife.” But the prayers, the intercessory prayers of a friend, and a friend of God prevailed; 50-45-40-30-20-10. Praise God for, ‘Prayer-Warriors’ who will stand in the gap, v. 27 says, “Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD.” The place, Gen. 18:22, where he bartered with the LORD but ‘Stopped Short!’

When was the last time you stood before the LORD for a backslider, who was living in Sodom, who lost all he or she had, including their testimony? Gal. 6:1 fits in here like a piece of a puzzle. Let us learn a valuable lesson, ‘Prayer Principle’ from this, less we slip away, or worse, get lost and fail to intercede for one who has slipped away. 50-45-40-30-20-10-5-1; “Don’t Stop Short; Don’t Hang Up; Pray It Through!” Until you have your answer, Gen. 18:32. “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten!” God promises to answer prayer, Gen. 19:29, “And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow.” “God remembered Noah.” Gen. 8:1; “God remembered Rachael.” Gen. 30:22; Remember (zaw-kar – to mark, so as to be recognized). Does God remember you? Better yet, are you known in Hell as a man or woman of prayer? Acts 19:15? “Oh LORD, may we be intercessors for those who have pitched their tents outside of the gates of Sodom; for those who have fallen away and lost everything including their testimony. Help us LORD, to remember that prayer does make a difference, and that You Do Remember! Oh LORD, Remember Us, our prayers, and our Lots! Amen!”

“For he is a prophet and he shall pray for you and you shall live.” Gen. 20:7. I love this verse and this principle and promise from God, don’t you? God could have healed Abimelech without Abraham’s prayers, but He chose not to, Isa. 45:11, “Ask of Me things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands, command ye Me.” Now there is a principle to wrap your heart and hands around.

Abimelech was innocent, in the integrity of his heart and the innocence of his hands he took Sarah as his wife. Abraham and Sarah lied to him, they told him half truths, which is a lie. But God closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s house. Then God tells Abimelech, he is a dead man, he and all his house unless Abraham prays for him, because God calls him a prophet! Gen. 20:7, Interesting!

Unless Abraham prays, God will not heal! God has chosen to be somewhat limited by our prayers, (I say the reverently). In fact man’s blessings are dependent upon man’s prayers, we have already seen that. There is no such word as ‘FAIR’ in God’s vocabulary, only justice and mercy and He decides which is dished out to whom. So Abraham prays to God and God heals Abimelech, his wives, and his maid servants and then they bear children, v.17. Oh, how dependent the unsaved world is upon our prayers for their blessings and fruitfulness and they are not even aware of it, nor are we many times! To often we fail both God and the world because of our lack of and desire for prevailing intercession on the part of mankind in general. In church we are fortunate if we see 25 people come to Christ over the year, why? No prayer!

The costliest service and most fruitful a Christian can enter into is intercessory prayer. It means to judge, to entreat, to make supplication, to intervene or interpose. The traditional explanation of this word is to, “Invoke God as Judge;” “To break oneself, to be contrite, to pray;” “To act as a mediator, to seek assessment or consideration.” An interesting verse where this word is used twice, once for God and once for man is found in I Sam. 2:25, “If one man sins against another, God will judge (intercede) for him, but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?”

You could write a book on the word intercession, it is used 30 times in I Kings 8 and II Chron. 6 when Solomon dedicates the Temple. However, what is really interesting is how some writers view the origin of this word: One writer says it is an Arabic word, “To notch the edge of your sword” or, “to cut or wound oneself.” Such as the priests of Baal did on Mt. Carmel: Another writer said, “It meant to fall, emphasizing prayer or prostration:” Another said, “It comes from the word, to break or cut, to pass judgement.” I guess they are all right, as true intercessory prayer will take blood, sweat, and tears; it will require prostration of the heart, soul, and body at times; it is to call God into judgement; it does speak of estimating or assessing a situation at times; it does mean to intervene, interpose, entreat, intercede and to stand in the gap!

And, ‘Failure to do so is, SIN!’ I Sam. 12:23. John Knox cried, “Oh God, give me Scotland or I die!” Johnathan Edwards prayed for three days, “Give me New England!” and God did! We need to enter into, ‘Intercessory Prayer’ for our Pastors, our Churches, our Leaders, our Country, our Families, our Fellowmen, and our Enemies!  “Between The Lines”

“The LORD, needs intercessors today, gap-men and women, not just prayer- buddy’s and prayer- partners. Men and women to tarry, prevail, stand in the trenches and fight the good fight and stand in their places before God and not let go until He blesses them, and those they are interceding for. Want to sign up, there is still room for a few? The little hand is on the 12 and the big hand just left the 11 so we don’t have much time!”

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis” ‘More Brush Strokes-4’