Lesson 11 - Sodom and Gomorrah:
 God's Judgment on Society
 Read Genesis 18-19 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.18

In chapters 18-19 of Genesis we see two very interesting things in Abraham’s life. First, we see God’s faithfulness to His promises as He restates His promise to Abraham and Sarah that they will have a child even though they are now both nearly 100 years old. God keeps His promises even when things seem humanly impossible to make that happen.

From the joy that must have filled Abraham following this renewed promise, we see the power of faith-prayer in the life of a believer. God came to tell Abraham ahead of time about the judgment He was about to give to these two wicked cities – one of them the home of Abraham’s nephew, Lot.

As you read this conversation between Abraham and God about whether God would spare the cities if there were a certain number of faithful people in them, we see the power of prayer in action. Just as God talked with Abraham and agreed to spare the cities based on the number of righteous people living there, so God works with us through our prayers on behalf of others or for things happening around us.

But prayer at this level has a very important quality. Note that Abraham was asking nothing for himself, he was asking God on behalf of others. God had just supplied Abraham’s dearest need by promising this son that would be born. Now Abraham, by faith, is asking God for something on behalf of others. Prayer at this level is about God’s plans rather than ourselves.


Does that mean God changes His plans when we pray? No, it means He allows us, through prayer, to call on His grace and His mercy for certain situations. Here, God’s intention had been to destroy the two cities completely, but because of Abraham’s prayer, God saved Lot and his family from that destruction. But does that mean Abraham could have asked God to NOT destroy the cities? No, sin must eventually all be destroyed. But we are also told in Ezekiel 22:30 that God looks for faithful people to pray His grace and mercy into some situations so His destruction need not be complete. That's what happened here – God spared the lives of one family because of Abraham’s prayer.

Why didn’t God just move Lot and his family out anyway? Why did He talk to Abraham about it first? God gives us the high privilege of joining Him in His work through prayer. Yes, He can do it by Himself. But He chooses to involve us in the process so we can grow in faith in Him, and He can also bless us through this process. This is what it means to “seek Him first and His kingdom, and all [we need] will be provided to us” – Matthew 6:33.

*Tell about a time you prayed for someone else – for God to work in their life according to His will. What happened?