Reckless Prayer

This question may sound like the setup to a joke, but it isn’t: Who was the first Jewish lawyer? Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz answers the question in the title of one of his books: Abraham: The World’s First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer.

Dennis Prager reports in a book of his own that the title was inspired by a famous conversation between God and Abraham that is recorded in Genesis:

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[a] 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 the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:23-25 (NIV)

I had never looked at it that way, but Dershowitz is right. Abraham is making a vigorous legal defense on behalf of any righteous people who may reside in Sodom. Certainly, Abraham had in mind his nephew Lot, who resided there (and possessed a character far different from that of his Uncle Abe).

There is something else I never considered. Abraham’s conversation with God amounts to intercessory prayer, prayer on the behalf of others. Author James Stuart Bell makes that point in his devotional “Men of the Bible:”

“As Abraham pleaded with God on Sodom’s behalf, he showed his confidence that God loved him enough to hear him out. God didn’t want it any other way. Are you a (person) of persistent, passionate prayer? God loves it when you care enough to pray with passion for those who need his love and mercy. They may never know how zealously you prayed for them, but God and you will know.”

This was a major “aha” moment for me. I have always been shocked by Abraham’s willingness to challenge God in his way and even more shocked that God tolerated it! But Bell has it exactly right: God doesn’t just tolerate this behavior from Abraham (and us). He welcomes it! And Abraham prayed in this boldness for Lot, despite differences between the two we read about earlier in Genesis.

When someone has made or is about to make a life decision that you fear could be catastrophic, how do you react? Do you try to talk them out of it and then give up when you fail? Do you then say to them or yourself: “I will be praying?” And if you say that, do you really do it? Do you do it with the unfathomable passion Abraham had for his nephew? God wants you to!

Do I challenge God to save them from themselves? A few years ago, a woman told me that her husband use to listen to my radio show, but she didn’t. However, based on what he would tell her she began to pray for me. I met her after I heard the call to the ministry. She is convinced that life change was answered prayer. So am I.

Be thankful when others pray boldly for you. Remember when you pray for others God wants the same boldness from you. Then stand back and be prepared for God to show up and show off!

 

Pastor Jerry Bader

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