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TOUCHING THE HEART OF GOD

February 19, 2006

TEXT: Genesis 18:16-33

 

A testimony from the Edna Martin Christian Center appears in a recent children’s ministry newsletter. “A boy had to go to summer school but had no shoes to wear. ‘I’ve been praying for shoes, but I haven’t gotten any yet,’ he told Evelyn Stewart, assistant director of the Edna Martin Christian Center. ‘I told him to stay faithful and keep praying. I decided to ask the staff if we could buy size 16 shoes for him,’ says Stewart. A group from Evansville, Ind., came to the center as volunteers. The leader said, ‘I have gifts in the car for the children. By the way, a coach sent some tennis shoes.’ He brought in four pairs of shoes, all size 16! ‘I called in the young man,’ Stewart says. ‘I told him, Look what’s been donated! See, your prayer has been answered!’” (Wilda K. W. Morris, “Praying with Children: Lessons from Indiana and Puerto Rico,” The Pebble, vol. 4, no. 4, winter 2006-2006, p. 1) Prayer testimonies like this throughout the history of the Church demonstrate that God listens to the earnest prayers of His people. Skeptics would try to convince us that such events are merely chance and coincidence, but the volume of prayer testimonies like this push the notion of coincidence back into the realm of wishful thinking. God not only listens to the earnest prayers of His people; He actually allows His heart to be touched by the prayers of His people.

The Genesis testimony of Abraham’s conversation with God following the pronouncement of destruction upon Sodom and Gomorrah is another case in point about the power that intercessory prayer has in both the physical and the spiritual worlds. The visit of three messengers from God with Abraham was just about over. They had just announced that, in spite of their age, Abraham and Sarah would have a son in fulfillment of God’s promise that the lineage of Abraham would become more numerous than sand and stars. Before leaving, the Lord tells Abraham of His plans for Sodom and Gomorrah: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

With this knowledge, Abraham makes an unusual petition to the Lord. In fact, this is the first time in the Biblical record that man brings an intercessory request to the Lord. Previously, it was always God who initiated the intercession. Following the rebellion of Adam and Eve, God interceded on their behalf to provide forgiveness. We read in Genesis 3:21, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” This was the first animal sacrifice used for not only the provision of a garment, but also for a covering for their sin. In order to continue to have a relationship, even though now marred and imperfect, God initiated intercession and provided for Adam’s and Eve’s righteousness.

Following Cain’s murder of his brother, Abel, Genesis 4:13-15 tells us how God interceded on Cain’s behalf. “Cain said to the Lord, ’My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.’ But the Lord said to him, ’Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.”

The next major account of intercession is found in Genesis 6:5-8. “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth - men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air - for I am grieved that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” We know, of course, that God gave Noah the instructions to escape the coming destruction, and Noah obeyed. God interceded and saved Noah, his family, and the animal species from complete destruction.

Now we come chronologically to this intercessory event, and it is Abraham that initiates it on behalf of others. Genesis 18:23-24, “Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of fifty righteous people in it? Far be it for you to do such a thing - to kill the righteous along 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?’” God granted Abraham’s prayer by assuring him that “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Scripture then records that Abraham continued his intercessory plea until receiving assurance from God that, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

Does Scripture record that God was angry or impatient or annoyed by Abraham’s petitions? No, He was not. He was pleased to grant Abraham’s prayer. Through this intercessory prayer, Abraham had touched the heart of God. God had just indicated to Abraham His complete faithfulness by announcing that Abraham and Sarah would have a son. Abraham knew firsthand that God is completely trustworthy in all matters. He knew firsthand that God is completely just in all matters. He knew firsthand that God is compassionate in all matters. Because of his firsthand experience with the Lord, Abraham knew that he could approach God in humility and appeal to His justice and compassion.

God does not take pleasure in destroying what He has created. I don’t believe that we can find in all of Scripture any record of any expression of joy when God divinely punishes a wicked person or a wicked nation. On the contrary, we can find examples from Scripture where God is pleased to not carry out judgment. In fact, Hosea 11: 8-10 teaches that sometimes God withheld His wrath for the very sake of the people He loves. “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not man - the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.” God relented from the destruction of His people, Israel. Because of their persistent sinfulness, they were later punished, but they were not destroyed. God’s revelation in the New Testament, such as 2 Peter 3:9, is no different. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

The heart of God is mercy, compassion, and salvation. That is what God wants for His people. God is therefore delighted when His people bring prayers of intercession before Him. He is always ready to stay His hand of wrath on behalf of the request of His faithful. I do not imply that we manipulate or coerce God in any way. That, we should not attempt for we cannot do it. There comes a point at which God can no longer abide creation’s willful disobedience. God is holy, and unrighteousness brings Him pain. I do not know how or why that is, but it just is. Consider this from Genesis 6:6, which we have read: “The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” I know that those writing God’s words used language that, in order to be understood, included anthropomorphisms; that is, they described God in human terms. Those ultimately have their shortcomings, but they do serve their purpose of descriptive language. Wickedness hurts God. It brings Him pain. Any of us do what we can to relieve pain. Pain is just not something that we desire deeply to live with. I suspect that God has no desire to live with pain, either. He desires to relieve His pain as well, and He can do so. But that involves destroying sin. In spite of injunctions such as “hate the sin, but love the sinner,” ultimately it is the unrepentant sinner who is cast out of God’s presence, thus removing the pain that unrighteousness brings God.

Human experience demonstrates to us that pain can also have its redemptive purpose. Even though it is our natural inclination to avoid or relieve pain, humans also discover that pain can be endured when it delivers redemption. Colts’ coach, Tony Dungy, spoke at the Athletes in Action breakfast on February 4^th of this year. It was as powerful a Christian testimony as anyone can ever hear outside of Scripture itself. He spoke of the lessons he has learned from his three sons. In the report I heard read first by Peter Heck, then found at the Colts’ website, Coach Dungy said this about his son, James, who committed suicide three days before Christmas:

“It was tough, and it was very, very painful, but as painful as it was, there were some good things that came out of it,” Dungy said. Dungy spoke at the funeral of regretting not hugging James the last time he saw him, on Thanksgiving of last year. “I met a guy the next day after the funeral,” Dungy said. “He said, ‘I was there. I heard you talking. I took off work today. I called my son. I told him I was taking him to the movies. We’re going to spend some time and go to dinner.’ That was a real, real blessing to me.” Dungy said he has gotten many letters since James’ death relaying similar messages…. Dungy also said some of James’ organs were donated through donors programs. “We got a letter back two weeks ago that two people had received his corneas, and now they can see,’’ Dungy said. “That’s been a tremendous blessing.” Dungy also said he received a letter from a girl from the family’s church in Tampa. She had known James for many years, Dungy said. She went to the funeral because she knew James. “When I saw what happened at funeral, and your family and the celebration and how it was handled, that was the first time I realized there had to be a God,” Dungy said the girl wrote. “I accepted Christ into my life and my life’s been different since that day.” Added Dungy, “That was an awesome blessing, so all of those things kind of made me realize what God’s love is all about.” (Thanks to Peter Heck for bringing this to listeners’ attention on WIOU, Kokomo, February 13, 2006. Article cited from www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=3577)

When Abraham brought this petition to the Lord because of his concern for the righteous in Sodom, he touched the heart of God. If there had been as few as ten righteous people, maybe even one, God would have relented and spared Sodom and even endured the pain that unrighteousness brings Him. “The judgment which fell upon the wicked cities immediately afterwards, proves that there were not ten ‘righteous persons’ in Sodom; by which we understand, not merely ten sinless or holy men, but ten who through the fear of God and conscientiousness had kept themselves free from the prevailing sin and iniquity of these cities.” (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament Vol. I: Pentateuch, Electronic Edition STEP Files, 2000, Findex.Com.)

The answered prayer of the young man at the Edna Martin Christian Center for shoes is a wonderful testimony of answered prayer. There is certainly everything right, and nothing wrong, about asking God for shoes and any other needs. But prayer that goes deep to touching the heart of God - prayer that makes enduring pain worthwhile even to God - is prayer that intercedes on behalf of someone else to bring the redemption and salvation of and from God’s love.

Intercessory prayer is one element of our church-wide outreach ministries being initiated this year. During the time designated for those making outreach visits, others who are called and touched by God to pray for the outreach teams and for those being visited will gather and pray for them. They will be prayers that touch the heart of God.

 

Rev. Charles A. Layne
First Baptist Church
Bunker Hill, Indiana

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