[Genesis 18:20-32] Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 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?” The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

Lie low and Aim High! Those could well be last-minute instructions of a general rallying his troops before battle. Certainly, those may well be wise words of advice for such a situation, but they also work well in a very different situation. They aren’t battlefield strategy so much as they are prayer theology. They are a fitting motto for prayer: Lie Low and Aim High. In prayer, we approach God humbly, lying low before His majesty, yet boldly, aiming high with our petitions. It’s the posture of a saint before the throne of grace. It’s the Bible’s prescription for prayer: Lie Low and Aim High. Our devotion explores Abraham’s prayer and how he Laid Low but Aimed High. We at Crean Lutheran High School strongly believe in the power of prayer, so let’s consider Abraham’s…

Prescription For Prayer

1. Appeal to God’s Justice

Abraham, often called the Friend of God, once entertained the Lord Himself as a house guest. He shared a meal with his Friend and two angels. On that occasion, they brought Abraham some good news and some bad news. The good news was that Sarah’s long wait was over, and she would have her promised son in one year. The bad news was that Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed because of their wickedness. There was no denying or debating that Sodom and Gomorrah were sin cities. But it was still bad news for Abraham because he had stock in those cities: his nephew Lot and his family lived there. And so, Abraham goes to bat and intercedes for Lot and all the righteous, God-fearing people living in those cities. Saints, this morning, let’s observe Abraham’s approach to prayer.

First, he appeals to God’s Justice. As Abraham launches into his famous prayer, he does so confidently. He has absolute confidence in the Lord’s justice and justness: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?... Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Surely a just God will not punish the righteous alongside the wicked. That wouldn’t be fair, and he believed that God was eminently fair. He was confident in the Lord’s Justice and Justness.

That’s the kind of confidence we can carry into our own prayers. Not one of our prayers goes unheard. Not one of our prayers goes unanswered. Each one will be answered in the way that God sees fit to answer it. What that means, though, is that we may not always get exactly what we want, but we will get exactly what we need. Abraham didn’t get exactly what he wanted – Sodom wasn’t spared – yet he got something far better: Lot and his family were spared, and the godless city of Sodom was wiped off the map; the evil was purged. So our confidence in God’s Justice and Justness will prompt us to conclude our prayers with Jesus’ words: “Not my will, but thine be done.”

Abraham was confident, but he wasn’t cocky. He prayed with deep humility: “I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes.” Abraham knew that by nature he could never stand before a holy God, yet we are told: “Abraham believed and it was credited to him for righteousness.” Because of his faith in God’s promises of a Messiah, coming to take away his sins, his sins were actually taken away. Abraham never forgot he was an unholy man in the presence of a holy God.

We can emulate that humility. The truth is that we have no right to pray to God. Our sins caused us to forfeit the privilege of prayer. They effectively built a soundproof barrier between God and us. So often His voice gets drowned out by the voices of the world that tell us how to act, what to buy, who to love, and what is good. If we often don’t listen to Him, how could we ever expect Him to listen to us? We can’t. Yet He does. Not because of us, but because of Jesus. Jesus tore down the barrier and restored the lines of communication through His life and death. Grace reopened the door.

Before we appeal to God’s Justice in our prayer, we must remember and realize that if justice were to be served, we would all be condemned for our sins: “The wages of sin is death.” That is why Abraham didn’t just appeal to God’s Justice. He also needed to… 

2. Appeal to God’s Love

Abraham continues his humility, but steps up his initial confidence and courage into a definite boldness and persistence. He appealed to God’s mercy and compassion for His believers, as well as pleaded for an extension of the time of grace for the unbelievers living in the city. In so doing, Abraham haggled with God and bargained Him down from 50 to 10 righteous. Not out of defiance, but out of desperation.

What amazing love God showed by His willingness to spare the city for the sake of just ten faithful. For our world, His love is even more amazing. God was willing to spare us for the sake of one, and because our world couldn’t even muster up the one righteous person, God sent that One.

1. God sent His own Son from His throne in heaven into our world, so that our world could have that one righteous person for whose sake the world could be saved.
2. God sent Him to be hated, yet to love those who hated Him.
3. God sent Him innocent, yet to bear the guilt of the world.
4. God sent Him to die so that we might live.

It was into that great love that Abraham tapped. In appealing to God’s great love, he prayed boldly. He banked on God’s love for sinners and begged for His patience with them. He exercised boldly the tool that God had given him in prayer. Abraham appealed to God’s ever-loving heart, knowing that the Lord “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 

We can also pray boldly, appealing to God’s big, love-filled heart. We can bank on His love for sinners, a love so great that He sent His own Son to hell for us. We can bet on His patience in dealing with our shortcomings and weaknesses of faith. We can lay claim to the grace He freely offers. God’s got a big heart, and nothing appeals more to His big heart than a sinner boldly laying claim to that free grace.

We can pray big. Sometimes we are too polite with God that we don’t want to push Him too hard. We ask for small blessings, afraid to inconvenience Him. Our God just happens to be the God who created the world with a Word. Why hold back? Let’s not be bashful in asking God to pour out big blessings. Let’s attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God. Few things tickle God more than saved sinners begging God to help them save other sinners. Just watch God’s blessings roll in as we go about His business in a big way. Just watch and pray! And work!

We can pray persistently. Abraham reduced God’s countdown to ten by the power of persistent prayer, but Christ reduced it to one and then offered Himself as the One for whom the world could be spared. Jesus absorbed the blow of God’s Justice, so that it wouldn’t land on us. That blow will never reach us now. Let’s make sure of that by persistently praying for the Lord’s forgiveness. Let’s trust that God hears and answers.

And God has four answers to prayer, doesn’t He? Yes, YES!, No, and Wait. 

1. Sometimes, He gives us exactly what we want when we want it and in the way we want it (Yes).
2. Sometimes He gives us far more than we asked for, more even than we could have ever dreamed or imagined (YES!!). 
3. Sometimes God says ‘No’ because He can see the whole picture, and we can only see a portion of the picture, and what we asked for might hurt us spiritually. 
4. And sometimes He says, ‘Wait, not yet.’ He wants to use that waiting period to test and build our faith.

Finally, we can pray intercessorily. Look at Abraham’s Intercessory Prayer. He didn't hand God a shopping list or dictate demands of things he wanted, but he prayed on behalf of others. It is essential for us not to get so wrapped up in our own needs that we forget the needs of others and pray for them also. Let’s love them as God loved us. Let’s stand in the gap as Abraham did.

Abraham Laid Low and Aimed High. Though a sinner, he humbly laid low as he approached the mighty God. Yet he aimed high confident in the merciful God’s promises. Abraham prayed humbly; he prayed boldly; he prayed persistently; and he prayed intercessorily. Saints, we have that same privilege of prayer. Let’s use Abraham’s Prescription for Prayer: Lie Low and Aim High. Amen.

Rev. Timothy A. Unke, Campus Pastor

Crean Lutheran High School

campuspastor@creanlutheran.org