Present Your Requests to God

Genesis 18:17-33_(excerpts)  ¹⁷Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” ²⁰Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me.” ²³Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴What 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? ²⁵Far 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?” ²⁶The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ²⁸...what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? ²⁹...what if only forty are found there? ³⁰...what if only thirty can be found there? ³¹...what if only twenty can be found there? ³²...what if only ten can be found there? He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”  ³³When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

In the New Testament we are urged to present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6). How reassuring to know that God is patient with us even when our “requests” are not within His plan for us.  I have only provided excerpts from the Genesis account and I would encourage you to go back and read the entire passage. I have to imagine that Abraham must have hoped his requests would be honored by God—even  though reality revealed God’s infinite wisdom and planning—the consequence of complete destruction would soon fall on Sodom and Gomorrah for their grievous sins.  Quite possibly, Abraham was trying to estimate how many of his nephew’s family lived within the walls of the condemned city of Sodom; and more importantly, how many of those relatives would be found faithful to God?  Surely there must be at least ten faithful relatives!  Even though God knew full well that not even ten faithful would be discovered within the city, yet God remained ever patient and faithful to listen to Abraham’s earnest requests.

 

Gracious Heavenly Father, our LORD God Almighty,

Thank you for your patience with us. Thank you, too, for giving us what we need rather than what we think we want. And yet, help us learn a lesson from Abraham—may we be found faithful, and may we bring the news of salvation to those in our family so they, too, may be found faithful.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, our LORD and Savior, Amen.

 

The devotion Present Your Requests to God was originally written for Friday, February 21, 2013; for Maranatha Devotional Guide, an Advent Christian Publication https://acgc.us   As the original author of this devotion, I reserve the right to update and share it on my current devotional blog Write From My Heart at https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.