Life of Abraham Series: Abraham’s Intercession
July 2025
“And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.”
—Genesis 18:23-33
In this story of Abraham and his petition before the Lord concerning the destruction of Sodom, we see the power of the righteous concerning their petitions before the Lord. Actually, this is a study in intercessory prayer.
Verse 21 speaks of the “cry” of Sodom and Gomorrah. We must understand that this was not the cry of the oppressed but the cry of evil and wickedness. The sins of the people had become so vile, so depraved, that God could no longer tolerate their sin. Of course,we understand that sin to be the sin of homosexuality.
The Bible makes it very clear that same sex attraction is a sin. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 states very clearly that it is an abomination for a man to lie with another man as he would with a woman. Paul, in Romans 1:26-27, makes it very plain that homosexuality is completely contrary to the plan of God.” Verse 27 pointedly states, “men with men working that which is unseemly.” First Corinthians 6:9-10 speaks of “abusers of themselves with mankind.” The word abusers in the Greek is arsenokoites, and it means one “guilty of unnatural sex offences; a sodomite; a homosexual.”
Beginning in Genesis 18:23, Abraham begins to petition or intercede before the Lord concerning sparing the cities for the sake of the righteous. Of course, we know his petition centered around Lot and his concern for his welfare.
Abraham begins with the question in Verse 24, “Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous thatare therein?” As the Lord responds positively, Abraham then begins to narrow down the number—45, 40, 30, 20, and finally 10.
In all of this we see that every believer has the spiritual and scriptural right to intercede on behalf of their needs.
The Lord has given to believers a great responsibility regarding God’s work and a great privilege regarding access to the throne of God to present our needs. For all who read this, there are probably many who have great needs. It may be the salvation of loved ones, healing, deliverance, or many other needs, and the Lord desires us to bring thoseneeds before Him and not just once but continually. I wonder how many prayers are not answered because we gave up; we didn’t make it a matter of intercession.
Our petitions, our intercession should not be limited to personal requests, but we should also be in constant intercession for the work God as a whole. There is power in prayer and there is power when the saints of God intercede on behalf of lost souls. You don’t have to know every detail of God’s plan. You just have to know that He has given to us a commission to reach the world. In this God raises up individuals to be His voice, but thenwhoever He has chosen must have the help of other believers in their faith, their giving,and most assuredly in their intercessory prayer for God’s work to go forward.
I want you to pay close attention to Verse 33: “And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.”
Abraham had stopped interceding before the Lord when he asked for the cities to be spared if there were ten righteous souls there. There is a great lesson here, and that is God didn’t leave until Abraham stopped petitioning. Here is the lesson—Abraham ceased asking before God ceased giving. How often do we stop too soon regarding our requests, missing out on more that the Lord will do for us?
Matthew 7:7 states, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” We are to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. If we persist in our prayers, Matthew 7:8 then states, “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
In closing, let Abraham’s petitions and his intercessions be an example for us to follow.