I Thessalonians 5:16-18 - '16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.'
When you read in the scriptures about the lives of different men and women of faith, you will find that one of the things they had in common is that they were all given to prayer. It can also be seen that the great miraculous acts of God’s intervention in the affairs of men were preceded by someone praying to God.
Prayer seems to have a pivotal role in what God does on the earth. We can rightly conclude that without prayer, that is without someone asking God to intervene in the affairs of men, it appears that God is limited in what he can do for mankind. Now let us turn to the word of God to understand why this is.
Prayer in the Bible
Prayer goes back to the beginning. The bible says in Genesis 4:25-26, '25And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Ē´nosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord .' From this scripture we can see that from the days of Adam, who was the first man, '...men began to call on the name of the Lord .'
Abraham
Abraham provides us with a clear example of prayer when he made intercession for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The bible records in Genesis 18:16-26, '16Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. 17And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord , to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 20And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” 22Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord . 23And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”'
From this passage, we see that God was ready to judge Sodom and Gomorrah because the outcry of their sins had come to Him. When people persist in sin and do not repent, that sin cries against them before God by calling for judgement. When this happens, the only hope for judgement to be averted is for someone else to stand in the gap between the ones who have sinned and the actual coming to pass of the judgement of God, by praying the prayer of intercession.
The prayer of intercession is the prayer that is offered to God on behalf of those who have sinned and have not repented, in order to stop judgement from coming upon them. This is what Abraham sought to do for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. After God revealed to Him that He was going to destroy those cities because of the gravity of their sins, Abraham stood in the gap for them in order to stop the Lord’s judgment from coming upon those cities. Notice the prayer Abraham makes in Genesis 18:23-26, '23And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”'
We can see in this passage that Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah and the Lord heard him, because God agreed not to destroy these cities if He found fifty righteous people living in them. Now we know from the full account of this story that Abraham continued with this prayer of intercession and asked God not to judge the city of Sodom if there were at least ten righteous people found within that city. God listened to Abraham and agreed not to destroy that city for the sake of ten righteous people. Genesis 18:32 says, '32Then he[Abraham] said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” '
You see God was not going to destroy Sodom if He found ten righteous people. These cities had called for the judgement of God because they sinned and did not repent. Abraham’s prayer of intercession was the only hope for averting this judgement, and as far as Abraham was concerned, because of his intercession, God was not going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten righteous people. The bible records that in those cities, there were not even ten people that were righteous.
In Sodom, only Lot, his wife and their two daughters were taken out of the city to be spared from the judgement of God. Only four people were found in Sodom and Gomorrah that were righteous. The condition in Abraham’s prayer of intercession was that for the sake of ten righteous people, the cities would be spared. It was not that God did not heed Abraham’s prayer; if there were at least ten righteous people the cities would have been spared. But because there were not found even ten, the conditions of Abraham’s intercession could not be fulfilled and therefore God’s wrath was poured out on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham’s prayer of intercession is a classic example of a man who called on God to intervene in the affairs of men; in this case to stop the destruction of entire cities.
Why Pray?
Prayer is a system that God gave to mankind so that His will can be consummated on the earth. If men don't pray that God would intervene in their affairs, then God is limited in what He can do on this earth.
Now why is this the case? If God is a good and all powerful God, why doesn’t He just bless people, save people, deliver the afflicted and perform His will on the earth without someone praying?
In order to answer this we must go back to the beginning, to the creation of man. In the beginning, God created the earth and He made it perfect. God then gave His man Adam dominion over everything that He created (Genesis 1:26).
Adam was in a sense the original god of this world. He had full dominion over the earth. He had dominion over finances, over health, over every living thing that was made on this planet. However, in the process of time, Adam lost that dominion when he disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam lost his dominion to Satan.
Did you ever stop to think about what Satan said to Jesus in one of the three temptations he tempted the Lord with? In Luke 4:5-8 the bible says, '5Then the devil, taking Him[Jesus] up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; FOR THIS HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO ME, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” 8And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”'
Notice that when Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, he said to Him, '...FOR THIS HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO ME, and I give it to whomever I wish.' Now who delivered to Satan all the kingdoms of the world? Let’s go back to Genesis and trace the origins of Satan’s possession of the world.
We just saw that God created the world and gave His man Adam dominion over the world He created. Adam therefore had possession of all the kingdoms of the world. It must follow then that if anyone delivered to Satan the kingdoms of the world it would have to be Adam, because God certainly did not create the world and deliver it to Satan’s dominion. It is Adam who delivered the kingdoms of the world to Satan by committing high treason against God and giving away his right to rule the earth to the devil.
Now notice also that when tempting the Lord, Jesus did not dispute this statement that Satan made about the kingdoms of this world being delivered to him. Jesus responded and said, '...“Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”' The Lord said nothing about the devil's dominion over the kingdoms of the world, and even more, the scripture tells us that this was a temptation to Jesus. You cannot tempt someone with something that you don’t have.
Satan therefore has dominion over the kingdoms of the world, having taken it from Adam. He will continue to have this dominion until Adam’s lease runs out. Because he has Adam’s dominion and lease, he has a legal right to carry out his plans down here on earth. God cannot legally move in and stop Satan’s dominion over the affairs of men unless someone down here asks Him, and this is why God gave to mankind the system of prayer.
We can readily see why prayer is so important, and why the devil will do everything to distract you from being a prayerful Christian. Prayer is inviting God to come on the scene and push back the forces of darkness from reigning havoc in the lives of people. Prayer is the only way that God’s will can be consummated on the earth, and without prayer, God is limited in what He can do for mankind.
'16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.'
When you read in the scriptures about the lives of different men and women of faith, you will find that one of the things they had in common is that they were all given to prayer. It can also be seen that the great miraculous acts of God’s intervention in the affairs of men were preceded by someone praying to God.
Prayer seems to have a pivotal role in what God does on the earth. We can rightly conclude that without prayer, that is without someone asking God to intervene in the affairs of men, it appears that God is limited in what he can do for mankind. Now let us turn to the word of God to understand why this is.
Prayer in the Bible
Prayer goes back to the beginning. The bible says in Genesis 4:25-26, '25And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Ē´nosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord .' From this scripture we can see that from the days of Adam, who was the first man, '...men began to call on the name of the Lord .'
Abraham
Abraham provides us with a clear example of prayer when he made intercession for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The bible records in Genesis 18:16-26, '16Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. 17And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord , to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 20And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” 22Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord . 23And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”'
From this passage, we see that God was ready to judge Sodom and Gomorrah because the outcry of their sins had come to Him. When people persist in sin and do not repent, that sin cries against them before God by calling for judgement. When this happens, the only hope for judgement to be averted is for someone else to stand in the gap between the ones who have sinned and the actual coming to pass of the judgement of God, by praying the prayer of intercession.
The prayer of intercession is the prayer that is offered to God on behalf of those who have sinned and have not repented, in order to stop judgement from coming upon them. This is what Abraham sought to do for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. After God revealed to Him that He was going to destroy those cities because of the gravity of their sins, Abraham stood in the gap for them in order to stop the Lord’s judgment from coming upon those cities. Notice the prayer Abraham makes in Genesis 18:23-26, '23And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”'
We can see in this passage that Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah and the Lord heard him, because God agreed not to destroy these cities if He found fifty righteous people living in them. Now we know from the full account of this story that Abraham continued with this prayer of intercession and asked God not to judge the city of Sodom if there were at least ten righteous people found within that city. God listened to Abraham and agreed not to destroy that city for the sake of ten righteous people. Genesis 18:32 says, '32Then he[Abraham] said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” '
You see God was not going to destroy Sodom if He found ten righteous people. These cities had called for the judgement of God because they sinned and did not repent. Abraham’s prayer of intercession was the only hope for averting this judgement, and as far as Abraham was concerned, because of his intercession, God was not going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten righteous people. The bible records that in those cities, there were not even ten people that were righteous.
In Sodom, only Lot, his wife and their two daughters were taken out of the city to be spared from the judgement of God. Only four people were found in Sodom and Gomorrah that were righteous. The condition in Abraham’s prayer of intercession was that for the sake of ten righteous people, the cities would be spared. It was not that God did not heed Abraham’s prayer; if there were at least ten righteous people the cities would have been spared. But because there were not found even ten, the conditions of Abraham’s intercession could not be fulfilled and therefore God’s wrath was poured out on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham’s prayer of intercession is a classic example of a man who called on God to intervene in the affairs of men; in this case to stop the destruction of entire cities.
Why Pray?
Prayer is a system that God gave to mankind so that His will can be consummated on the earth. If men don't pray that God would intervene in their affairs, then God is limited in what He can do on this earth.
Now why is this the case? If God is a good and all powerful God, why doesn’t He just bless people, save people, deliver the afflicted and perform His will on the earth without someone praying?
In order to answer this we must go back to the beginning, to the creation of man. In the beginning, God created the earth and He made it perfect. God then gave His man Adam dominion over everything that He created (Genesis 1:26).
Adam was in a sense the original god of this world. He had full dominion over the earth. He had dominion over finances, over health, over every living thing that was made on this planet. However, in the process of time, Adam lost that dominion when he disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam lost his dominion to Satan.
Did you ever stop to think about what Satan said to Jesus in one of the three temptations he tempted the Lord with? In Luke 4:5-8 the bible says, '5Then the devil, taking Him[Jesus] up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; FOR THIS HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO ME, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” 8And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”'
Notice that when Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, he said to Him, '...FOR THIS HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO ME, and I give it to whomever I wish.' Now who delivered to Satan all the kingdoms of the world? Let’s go back to Genesis and trace the origins of Satan’s possession of the world.
We just saw that God created the world and gave His man Adam dominion over the world He created. Adam therefore had possession of all the kingdoms of the world. It must follow then that if anyone delivered to Satan the kingdoms of the world it would have to be Adam, because God certainly did not create the world and deliver it to Satan’s dominion. It is Adam who delivered the kingdoms of the world to Satan by committing high treason against God and giving away his right to rule the earth to the devil.
Now notice also that when tempting the Lord, Jesus did not dispute this statement that Satan made about the kingdoms of this world being delivered to him. Jesus responded and said, '...“Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”' The Lord said nothing about the devil's dominion over the kingdoms of the world, and even more, the scripture tells us that this was a temptation to Jesus. You cannot tempt someone with something that you don’t have.
Satan therefore has dominion over the kingdoms of the world, having taken it from Adam. He will continue to have this dominion until Adam’s lease runs out. Because he has Adam’s dominion and lease, he has a legal right to carry out his plans down here on earth. God cannot legally move in and stop Satan’s dominion over the affairs of men unless someone down here asks Him, and this is why God gave to mankind the system of prayer.
We can readily see why prayer is so important, and why the devil will do everything to distract you from being a prayerful Christian. Prayer is inviting God to come on the scene and push back the forces of darkness from reigning havoc in the lives of people. Prayer is the only way that God’s will can be consummated on the earth, and without prayer, God is limited in what He can do for mankind.
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