Everybody in life has a gift and it takes personal effort and desire to discover it. One of the greatest gifts of time is arbitration. There has always been the need for someone that can stand in the gap, but over the years, few have been found.
One man that had this great gift in Bible times and used it greatly was Abraham. As much as he is mostly known as our Father of Faith, he was a great arbiter and diplomat in his time and was referred to even after his time.
Imagine God calling Abraham to the negotiating table as he was looking at the extreme wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. Because of the gravity of their iniquities, he decided to pour out judgment in its full measure upon them; But guess what, he consulted Abraham first: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” (Genesis 18:17)
Abraham in his entire righteous walk should have supported God’s well deserved judgment upon the two cities but of course, Lot and his family lived in Sodom and as a good uncle (though wronged) he did not want them destroyed. He could have asked God for the deliverance of his nephew and his family from the judgment, but the compassion in him moved his to ask God for ANY righteous that might be in the land that would ultimately perish with the wicked.
Abraham’s negotiated intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah definitely qualifies as one of the great prayers of the Bible. This is one prayer that has been recorded for us where we get the full gist of the discussion between God and man (Abraham).
In the first place, Abraham was aware of God’s just nature and he used it to his advantage. He said: “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:23). Abraham knew God and His character because of his intimate relationship with God, and the more intimate we are with God, the more we get to know his qualities and attributes and incorporate them into our prayers.
One thing caught my attention here - At no point did Abraham doubt that God would disregard his opinion. He confidently made his case for ANY righteous in the land. If we can ride on our knowledge of God and His character, we will be able to build on our faith and call upon His mercy, patience, loving-kindness, faithfulness and greatness.
Another striking thing here is that Abraham was persistent. He started by negotiating for fifty righteous people and God agreed “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account”. I can imagine the wheels turning in Abraham’s head trying to calculate the number of righteous people he knew in Sodom only for him to discover that they would not be up to fifty. He proceeded to plead for forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and finally ten and the Lord answered him “I will not destroy it on account of the ten”.
This dialogue goes a long way to show us the heart of Abraham and how serious he was about his desire/request. Our persistence and perseverance in the place of prayer is a key indicator on the success of our lives and our submission to God’s will and purpose.
Come to think of it, God moved Abraham to negotiate for Sodom and Gomorrah. Why else would he have discussed with Abraham before meting out the punishment He had already planned? Sometimes God places on us a burden to pray for somebody and we most times take it for granted or ignore it altogether. Imagine if Abraham had told God he wanted to think about the situation or was too busy and would talk about it later. What would have happened then? Whenever we feel a prayer “burden”, God is moving us to take action and plead on someone’s behalf.
God has always searched for someone to stand in the gap. He found someone like that in Abraham, but over the years, there has been a cry “And I sought for a man among them, that should make the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30). What sad words coming from the LORD.
The truth remains that there is judgment to be poured out on individuals, families, communities, nations and God is looking for someone to plead on their behalf, to negotiate for their salvation because deep down “The Lord of the promise is not slow, as some deem slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not having purposed any to perish, but all to come to repentance”. (2 Peter 3:9)
I can almost hear someone asking that "did not Christ die for that reason, that through His Blood there might be salvation?" But of what use is the blood if it has not been appropriated? After all, one has to accept the presence of the Blood, its potency and its possibilities before it can work in ones life.
Can you and I be found standing in the gap today even if it is just for one to acknowledge the Blood? How would you respond if God decided to tell you about every judgment He is about to pour out? Can our prayers be reckoned with in heaven?
