Genesis 19:15-22 (ESV)
15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Persistence in Prayer
The above story illustrates for us the need to be persistent in prayer. In this prayer of Abraham, we see him asking God to intervene in regard to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God had told Abraham that he was going to destroy S&G. But, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lived their. Abraham pleaded with God to at least save the righteous. Abraham whittles God down to save the city if at least there were ten righteous people in the city. As we read the rest of the chapter we discover that only Lot, his wife, and his two daughters were saved. Abraham doesn’t stay persistent in his prayer by asking God if He would spare the city if “four” people were found to be righteous. However, note that God does save these four. God went to the heart of Abraham’s prayer. He did not save the city, but He saved Lot, his wife and daughters.
Genesis 19:29 (ESV)
29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
God will answer our prayers. He wants us to be persistent. Notice what Jesus said about fervent and persistent prayer. In Luke 11 we are told about a persistent man who went to a friend in the middle of the night to ask for bread for his family. The conclusion Jesus stated was:
Luke 11:9-10 (ESV)
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
God wants us to be persistent. Jesus said:
Matthew 7:9-11 (ESV)
9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
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