Praying with the Torah
Growing in Prayer with God’s Word
by
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We come to the next prayer in Scripture at the end of Genesis 18 as God turned His sights on Sodom. God’s mercy and man’s sinfulness blow me away in this passage. God said He was going to see if things were as bad as the outcry to Him sounded and said, “and if not, I will know” (verse 21). God, from the start, indicated that He was going to punish only if the sin was really bad and that He would know whether it was or not (because He knows everything). Of course, He knew the sin was that bad, and of course He was planning to destroy Sodom because He knew it had come to this. But He made a special, bodily trip to Sodom and told Abraham He was investigating and only going to act if necessary. The only logical reason He would be doing this is for Abraham’s sake. He was showing He is a God concerned with righteousness and concerned for people. He knew Abraham’s beloved nephew was in Sodom and took Abraham to show him that He would be just and also merciful.
Abraham’s prayer with God starting in verse 23 is unexpected too. God said He would be just, and Abraham’s continual question was, “Well, exactly how just will You be?” You can see the fear of the Lord in Abraham’s questioning. He was faithful and humble but yet unsure of this God who was still fairly new and unknown to him. He started off with an obvious question and then probed a little deeper each time into God’s nature to see how He does these things (probably remembering the flood he had heard about with Noah). As he progressed through the questions (not questions of doubt or disobedience but of seeking to know and trust God), he stopped at ten righteous people.
Reading the passage, you would think he would ask about five and then probably one, but he stopped at ten. Verse 25 summarizes what Abraham was asking about. And seeing God’s patient love and justice up to this point, Abraham finally realized that, in fact, the Judge of all the Earth will deal justly with surgical precision. God isn’t cutting off hands because of hangnails. He is perfect in His justice and in His mercy but also in His wrath.
When was the last time we approached God with the pants-wetting fear that Abraham had here? In case it is unclear, we are the people of Sodom. Our sin is “exceedingly grave.” We are not the righteous who would spare the city but the reason the city would come to destruction. If we have received Christ, we are redeemed from that station, but only by Him, not because we are any different from the people of Sodom. Do we have this fear?
Let us come to the Lord in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Let us seek to know and understand the Lord in the way that Abraham does here. Let us trust in the promises that God makes to us. Let us pray for God to be just and merciful to a world that needs His justice and mercy, not because He won’t behave that way, but because we are called to be a part of the application of His justice and mercy. Let us pray for Him to glorify His name.
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About the Book
Prayer is one of those things. We know we should do it, and maybe we even want to. We see others do it, and maybe we do it ourselves. For some, it is a discipline or a habit, but for others, it is a struggle. But would any of us say we are great at it?
In this book, we will begin to walk through the Scriptures to learn the wisdom God has shown us about prayer. We are taking the examples given to us, reflecting on them, and becoming wiser in our own prayer lives. And what better place to start than the Torah!
I am inviting you into my exploration of the prayers in the Bible. My hope with this book is that we are able to see some beautiful prayers (and some cringe-worthy ones). I hope we are inspired and gain perspective. I hope we build habits. But most of all I hope that, by studying the prayers in the early books of the Scriptures, we grow a passion for encountering the Living God.
Praying with the Torah presents prayer in a way unlike anything else. Rather than leading readers in reiterating scripted prayers, this book explores how the Bible presents prayer, in both positive and negative perspectives. If you’re searching for a comprehensive look at the way the Bible presents how to pray—and if you want to learn from the earliest followers of God how the practice of prayer is intended to be used— then you’ll treasure Praying with the Torah as an essential resource.
Praying with the Torah is the first installment of the Praying with the Bible Series by R.A. Sweeney.
About the Author
R.A. Sweeney writes, not as an expert teacher, but as a tour guide of the Scriptures. After getting to know Jesus in his mid-twenties, he became a Hebrew scholar, began teaching Scripture, and started leading Bible study for nearly ten years. He strives to write in a way that helps others understand what the Bible is saying, rather than speaking for the Bible.
Sweeney has lived in Wyoming nearly his entire life. He enjoys exploring the glory of God’s masterpiece in the Wyoming outdoors.