«THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON IS POWERFUL”
«Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective» (James 5:16, NIV).
THE RELATIONSHIP between God and Abraham was so close that the Lord understood there were no secrets between Him and His good friend; therefore, when He decided to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, He asked Himself, «Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him» (Genesis 18:17, 18, NIV). Then He explained to His friend that it was necessary to destroy both cities «because their sin is so flagrant» (verse 20, NLT).
If Abraham was to be a blessing to «all the nations on earth,» would he not also be a blessing to those cities that were so wicked and corrupt? When the patriarch was given the news of what God would do, he immediately began to intercede for both cities. Abraham did not rejoice over the ruin of these large cities; instead, he asked the Lord whether He would forgive the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah if fifty righteous people were found in them, out of love for those people. God assured Him He would.
Abraham then asked again, then again, reducing the number to forty-five, then forty, then twenty, and finally ten people. Just ten righteous people is what Abraham asked God to consider in order to forgive all the inhabitants of the cities in the plain! In every case, the Lord assured him the cities would not be destroyed out of love for them. But why did he stop at ten?
According to one argument in rabbinical tradition, Abraham assumed those ten would be Lot, his wife, their two unmarried daughters, their two married daughters and their four sons-in-law. However, it seems that the two married daughters and their husbands were not righteous, because the Bible doesn’t mention them getting out.
The main point is that Abraham prayed, interceded, and begged for those cities. He lifted up his voice and hands, in order to avoid thousands of people from being consumed by fire. The old patriarch would not rest in peace until he had done everything he could to prevent a single individual from being lost.
And what about us? Are we praying for those who are on the verge of imminent destruction? The apostle James invites us to «pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective» (James 5: 16, N IV). Your prayer is so powerful that you could help save many from destruction.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2023
“I AM WITH YOU”
From: J. VLADIMIR POLANCO
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Angelica Cuate