A week ago this past Friday we received a phone call that Mark’s mom’s health was failing, and that we needed to come quickly. So, we packed and made our way to Oklahoma City. She passed away just two days after we arrived. On the way, we listened to several Awesome August messages from two summers ago. One of the messages was by Rev. Jim Cymbala. It was so powerful, that we listened on the way there and again on the way home. He spoke of prayer and several times he repeated the phrase, “You have not, because you ask not.” His message was on Genesis 18, where Abraham is petitioning God on behalf of Lot. The conversation in Genesis 18 is a record of Abraham’s plea with God. In these verses, God informs Abraham of his plans to destroy Sodom, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I 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.”
Because the sin of those who lived in Sodom was so grave, God was going to destroy the city. Abraham spoke with God and petitioned him on behalf of Sodom, “Would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; would you also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be 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 from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” God responds, “So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”Abraham responds, “Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous.” So, Abraham continues to petition the Lord until he is down to ten, “Suppose ten should be found there? And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
God knew that what Abraham was asking, was on behalf of his nephew, Lot, and his family. What he was wanting of God was to save just six people; Lot and his family. God, who is gracious, didn’t get frustrated or angry with Abraham’s persistence, but answered his plea with a hearty, “Yes.”He was patient with Abraham as he persisted in his intercession on behalf of Lot and his family. “He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer.” Psalm 102:17
God’s word encourages us to keep on asking of God. We, in our flesh, grow weary in asking and tire of waiting on God. Satan tempts us to give up and tells us that God will not answer our petitions. But, Abraham didn’t give up, and we must not give up! For God, loves to hear His children’s voices and petitions. He loves to answer in accordance with His will.
So, if you are weary of asking, tired of waiting on God to answer, and Satan is tempting you to just give up, as he is me, let us be encouraged by these verses and keep on keeping on in our petitions to the Father:
“Pray without ceasing.” 1Thessalonians 5:17
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For, everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Luke 11:9
“But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give it.”John11:22
“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” John14:14
“And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
1 John 5:15
Dianne
*Awesome August is a summer crusade occurring each August at Bellevue Baptist Church where guest5 pastors are invited to preach