Chapter 18 provides a fascinating insight into the intimacy of Abraham’s relationship with his Lord. The Lord himself, and his angels, make a house call, and sit and eat with him, enjoying his hospitality. If we stop to think about that, it is an incredibly awesome moment.

It is perhaps this intimacy between the Lord and his faithful servant that explains what happened next. God determined to let Abraham in on his plans for Sodom, and what follows is an audacious intercessory intervention from Abraham as he bargains for the lives of the people of that city.

Can we imagine speaking to God in that way? Would we even have the guts to ask that first question, never mind to go on pressing God himself again and again? And yet 1 Timothy 2:1 urges us to make “petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving” for all people. We are called to intercede for others.

How can we dare to approach the almighty God in intercessory prayer? We dare because of the relationship he has made available to us. See how he comes to Abraham in this chapter. See how he has come to us through Jesus Christ to make that relationship possible.

We do not approach God with an inflated sense of our own importance. We approach him boldly, and with confidence, because of Jesus, our High Priest who ascended to heaven. It is through Jesus that we have access to the throne of grace, and because of him that we are able to petition God on behalf of others.

Let us then, like Abraham, commit to intercede for others, and to call on his just nature, his grace and his mercy on behalf of those who would be lost without him.

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NEWBOLD COMMUNITY CHURCH