Title: Prayer saves people / Genesis 18:22-33
Content Prayer saves people/Genesis 18:22-33, 1 Thessalonians 5:17
To do so, in a day or two, the son climbed the hill to see who was playing the flute. After a while, there was a man kneeling and playing the flute. The son came closer and discovered that he was his father, lifted him up, hugged each other, wept, repented, and became a completely different person. The father's prayer saved his dying child from the swamp of corruption and debauchery.
That's right. It is not power, wealth, or honor that saves humans. Only prayer can save people. Our family's difficulties and failures are because we did not pray, and only God has the power to save us. To live is to receive the life of God from God and live by that life.
“And he is not served by human hands, as if he lacked anything, for he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things” (Acts 17:25). “In him we live and move and have our being. As some of your poets have said, we are his offspring (Acts 17:28)” The very existence of our life is what God has given us to live. Therefore, we must realize that it is God who saves us and gives us life. The same is true of spiritual things. You can do anything because God has given you grace and helped you. The God who gives life to spirit and body works through prayer.
Prayer is a way for humans to live. “Seek the Lord. Then you will live... … (Amos 5:6).” Whatever the circumstances, those who come to God and pray can be saved. The way a believer lives is through prayer. He says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). What we must do without rest is to breathe, so if we do not breathe we die, so believers cannot live without prayer. Those who pray can foresee success.
The text was the place where God saw the pervasiveness of sin in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah and decided to judge with fire. There Abraham is interceding. The reason was that Lot, his blood relative, lived in that region. Abraham prays that if there are only 50 righteous people, do not destroy them. However, it was difficult to find even 10 righteous people. In the end, Sodom and Gomorrah were judged, but the family of their nephew Lot was spared. When we say we pray for others, God will save them too, but He also saves the family of those who pray. Then, let's see how to save life through prayer.
1. Anyone can come before God if they pray.
“They departed from there and went to Sodom, and Abraham stood still before the Lord” (Genesis 18:22). The great thing about prayer is that anyone can come before God if they pray. It is very difficult for us to meet even the president of a country, but no one dares to go out before the God who created the universe. However, those who pray can go to God at any time. God does not turn away from those who pray. “You cry out to me. I will answer you, and I will show you great and mighty things that you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).
In the story of the prodigal son who returned to Luke's Gospel, "Then he turned to himself and said, 'How many workers my father has enough bread, and here I am dying of hunger' (Luke 15:17). The prodigal son only needs to go to his father. Because there is no father who refuses to visit his son. Prayer is for a prodigal son to return to his father. There are those who suffer for many years from what would be solved by just returning.
If anyone comes to God, he saves them and gives them grace. It is only prayer that saves lives. “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).” If you pray even now, you can save yourself and others. I hope that the work of saving people through prayer will happen.
2. When we pray, God's wrath turns into mercy.
“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their iniquity is very serious, says the Lord, so I will go down now and see if all they have done is like the outcry that I have heard or not, and I will see and tell you” (Genesis 18:2021). God decided to judge Sodom and Gomorrah. Nevertheless, we can see that the standard of judgment is changing through Abraham's prayer. God's wrath is gradually turning into grace and mercy. If you pray for fiery wrath, God will turn it into mercy.
Augustine began to fall at the age of 17 and gave birth to illegitimate children. However, God did not turn away from his mother's prayer for the son of Monica, and showed His wrath in mercy. As a result, he became a saint. Augustine said, “And you know this time, that it is already the hour to awake from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is deep and the day is near; therefore, let us put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:1112). Through Mother's prayer, you will come into contact with the grace of the Word. Such a saint did not come naturally and was made possible by the prayer of his mother to save him. Indeed, prayer can bring a dying person back to life.
3. When we pray, He gives us the power to come out of evil.
“At dawn the angel urged Lot, saying, Arise, take your wife and your two daughters here. lest they perish together in the iniquity of this city” (Genesis 19:15). A person cannot free himself from evil as he pleases. God must give you a heart of determination. But it is possible through prayer. The ability to make a decision must be given by God.
An angel went to judge Sodom and Gomorrah in the text. But with Abraham's prayer, angels pulled Lot's family out of evil. When God fails to come out of evil, He takes it out by force. This is God's work that takes place through those who pray. Also, Esther was able to go to the king when she died because she was led by an angel. When we pray, we have the power of resolution that comes out of evil and lead us to walk the path of righteousness.
For that to happen, we must become daily prayers. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). It is God who saves the soul and body. It is God who guides us even in difficult and difficult situations. It is God who gives us the power to come out of evil. Be a person who prays to God. Prayer saves people. Amen.