(Christian Living Sermon) Hillside 8/97
Filename: Bible Prayers (1) (Series on Bible Prayers)

PRAYERS OF THE PATRIARCHS

INTRODUCTION-- It is my desire, largely for my benefit, but also for yours, to examine the prayers of various men of the Bible. The lessons we may glean from this study can help us to be more effective in Prayer.

LESSON--

1. When God determined to save righteous Lot out of the wicked city of Sodom, before its destruction, He was represented by two angels in the form of men. Genesis 19:15-23 "When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, 'Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.' 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that He (the Lord) said, 'Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.' 18 Then Lot said to them, 'Please, no, my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.' 21 And he said to him, 'See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.' Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar."
   
   1. Abraham had previously petitioned God to save the city, if ten righteous souls could be found in them. A generous God had granted the petition (Genesis 18:23-33). In this instance, three men met with Abraham, one of whom was God in an angelic disguise.
      
   2. In Lot's prayer, the reluctance to leave some children behind in the city may have made his steps very slow.
      
      1. In Verse 19, he said, "I cannot escape to the mountain." (Clarke says, "He saw the destruction so near, that he imagined he should not have time sufficient to reach the mountain before it arrived. He did not consider that God could give no command to his creatures that it would be impossible for them to fulfil; but the hurry and perturbation of his mind will at once account for and excuse this gross oversight."
         
      2. Lot pleaded to be allowed to alter God's directive, and was mercifully granted his request. The Lord, through the angel, said in Verse 21, "See, I have accepted thee." (Clarke comments) "How prevalent is prayer with God! Far from refusing to grant a reasonable petition, he shows himself as if under embarrassment to deny any."
         
      3. One reason for God's willingness is shown in the Angel's statement in Verse 22. "I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither." (Clarke says) "So these heavenly messengers had the strictest commission to take care of Lot and his family; and even the purposes of Divine justice could not be accomplished on the rebellious, till this righteous man and his family had escaped from the place. A proof of Abraham's assertion, 'The Judge of all the earth will do right.'"
         
   3. Lessons to be learned from Lot's prayer.
      
      1. Even the prayer of a reluctant servant can sometimes be granted.
         
      2. God is merciful beyond what we deserve.
         
      3. Testing God in the pattern of Lot is not be a good precedent to follow. Deuteronomy 6:16 "You shall not tempt the LORD your God."

2. The prayer of Abraham in behalf of Abimelech illustrates the generosity of God toward those whose lives are pleasing to Him. Genesis 20:1-18 "And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, 'She is my sister.' And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, 'Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.' 4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, 'Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? 5 Did he not say to me, `She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, `He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.' 6 And God said to him in a dream, 'Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.' 8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. 9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, 'What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.' 10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, 'What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?' 11 And Abraham said, 'Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. 12 But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, `This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, 'He is my brother.'" 14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, 'See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.' 16 Then to Sarah he said, 'Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.' Thus she was rebuked. 17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; 18 for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife."
   
   1. It is strange to read that God told Abimelech that the prayer of one who had told a half-truth would be effective in healing.
      
      1. Abraham had nothing to fear from any source, since God had previously promised safety, and therefore had no need to deceive the king. Genesis 15:1 "After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.'"
         
      2. His unnecessary deception caused much grief, and should have met with the disapproval of God.
         
   2. Clarke gives an interesting insight to God's ratification of Abraham's prayer. He says, "I have, in a discourse entitled 'The Christian Prophet and his Work,' proved that the proper ideal meaning of the original word is to pray, entreat, make supplication, &c., and this meaning of it I have justi-fied at large both from its application in this place, and from its pointed use.....from the case of the priests of Baal, 1 Kings xviii., where prophesying most undoubtedly means making prayer and supplication."
      
   3. Clarke also writes, in additional application of his findings, "As those who were in habits of intimacy with God by prayer and faith were found the most proper persons to communicate his mind to man, both with respect to the present and the future, hence, aybn nabi, the intercessor, became in process of time the public instructer or preacher, and also the predicter of future events, because to such faithful praying men God revealed the secret of his will. Hence St. Paul, 1 Cor. 14:3|, seems to restrain the word wholly to the interpreting the mind of God to the people, and their instruction in Divine things, for, says he, he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort."

3. Jacob's prayer on his return to Canaan (our last example), is offered in fear of his meeting with Esau, but is less troubling than the other two of this lesson. Genesis 32:9-12 "Then Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, `Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you': 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. 11 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. 12 For You said, `I will surely treat you well, and make your des-cendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'"
   
   1. Jacob returns home full of substance and representing the choise of God for blessing, but he has some apprehension about the attitude of Esau, who, at their last meeting 20 years before, had pledged to kill him.
      
   2. His prayer calls on God in a spirit of humility to fulfil his promises. Clarke says, "This prayer is remarkable for its simplicity and energy; and it is a model too for prayer, of which it contains the essential constituents:-

1. Deep self-abasement.
2. Magnification of God's mercy.
3. Deprecation of the evil to which he was exposed.
4. Pleading the promises that God had made to him.
5. Taking encouragement from what God had already wrought."

APPLICATION--

1. In prayer, we must always remember that we are dealing with a benevolent, merciful, loving, generous God. James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

2. In contrast, our prayer will not be heard, unless, like Abraham, we have an "intimacy" with God that can make it effective. James 5:16-18 "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit."