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Abraham is a fascinating individual in the Old Testament that is often not given the credit he deserves for laying a framework of how to live a life surrendered to God. Abraham was a man of persistence. He never let his prayer life be superficial and always took it to the next level. In some ways, he pushed God to the limit in prayer. Sometimes he got his way. Sometimes he did not. It did not mean he was perfect, but he continued to turn to the Lord in prayer. Abraham’s prayers were specific and intentional. What if we could pray like Abraham? The good news is that we CAN pray like Abraham. The book of Genesis shows us two examples of who Abraham prayed for and how he prayed.
Abraham prayed for those with whom he does not agree: In Genesis 20 we see where Abraham lies and convinces his wife to lie about who she is because he is fearful. Abimelech becomes angry when God reveals the truth (because God always reveals truth) and confronts Abraham. Abraham prays for Abimelech and God heals Abimelech due to Abraham’s intercession and even grants the ability for Abimelech’s wife and maidservants to have children. Abraham did not allow his relationship, or lack thereof, with Abimelech to prevent him from praying for him.
We all have those people who have hurt us, we disagree with or perhaps on opposite political spectrums, and maybe even those that scare us. We have people in our lives we dislike and those who are perhaps bitter enemies of ours. Let us pray for them as Abraham prayed for Abimelech.
-Pray for God to bless their health
-Pray for God to bless their family
-Pray for God to show mercy on them
It may not be something we want to do. Praying for those who have hurt us or have become some kind of enemy of ours is difficult. It is not meant to be easy but even Jesus prayed for those who were killing him on the cross.
“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
Abraham prays for a whole nation: One of the greatest prayer lessons we can learn from Abraham, however, is how to pray for our country. Even though Abraham did not reside in Sodom, his prayer certainly reflects how we can all pray for our country as well as other countries.
Abraham did not restrict his prayers to those of his direct circle. Abraham was not living in Sodom, yet, he becomes a powerful intercessor for the judgment God eventually pours forth upon it. It was not, however, a lack of Abraham’s power in prayer that caused Sodom to still be destroyed but it was the evil that resided among those in Sodom. Abraham bargained with God. He begins by asking God “what about those who innocent?”
“Then Abraham drew nearer to him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there were fifty innocent people within it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to make the innocent die with the guilty, so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike! Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?” The Lord replied, ‘If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake” (Genesis 18:23-26)
Abraham realizes how sinful Sodom is and reconsiders his request. He does not settle for God finding 50 innocent people, he even goes back to God in prayer and intercedes again. He asks God if he would spare Sodom if there were 45 innocent people found and God agrees. This bargaining back and forth in prayer goes on until Abraham asks the Lord to spare Sodom if only 10 people were found in Sodom to be innocent. The Lord agrees.
Sadly, we all know in Chapter 19 the Lord destroys Sodom. He does not destroy Sodom because he goes against his promise to Abraham. He destroyed Sodom as judgment of the sinfulness and wickedness of Sodom and God could not even find 10 innocent people in the entire city. His prayers, however, were not fruitless because Lot is eventually saved from the destruction of Sodom because of Abraham's prayers. His prayers may not have prevented the wickedness of Sodom from receiving judgment, but they did bring protection for Lot. How can we pray for our city and our country like Abraham prayed for Sodom?
We can all pray more like Abraham. May we all seek to rise up and be Abrahams in our city, culture, society, and country. It starts with you and
Amelia Monroe Carlson graduated from the University of North Alabama with a Bachelor’s Degree in journalism. Being raised as a Methodist during her early years, it was not until she entered college where she began to take her faith seriously. She was baptized as a Southern Baptist in Muscle Shoals, AL and began immediately serving in international missions and in the church.
During college, she became the Co-founder of an International Ministry, where she spent time traveling and speaking to church groups and in large conferences. She authored a Bible study and traveled abroad on mission work. She sat on the Mid-South Interfaith Conferences in Mississippi, where she defended the faith and discussed beliefs with leaders of various religions.
After a business trip to Washington D.C., where she was introduced to a former Baptist who converted to the Catholic Church, she was placed on a journey to enter into the Catholic Church.
Amelia is a military wife and currently residents with her husband and daughter in Tennessee. She is a nine time award winning journalist, receiving press awards for various categories including investigative journalism, best news coverage, and best single feature. It is her desire to help Catholics, particularly Cradle Catholics, see the beauty in their faith which converts see and appreciate the fullness of truth which the Church has held and guarded throughout history. It is her desire all Catholics fall as much in love with Jesus as she is, and love the Church to a greater capacity than they could imagine.
Amelia taught PRE for 4-6 grade at St. Mary Catholic Church in Bolivar, Tennessee from 2014-2016. She served as Youth Director at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church in Somerville, Tennessee in 2017-2018. She now teaches 7th grade (1st year Confirmation) PRE class at St. Philip. She's also a writer and frequent podcast guest on Our Warpath.
She has a strong devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Francis de Sales, St. Padre Pio and St. Maximilian Kolbe.
To contact Amelia for speaking inquiries at conferences, retreats, or parishes contact her via social media on Facebook (Amelia Monroe Carlson), Twitter (@2_catholic ) or send a text to: (731)518-6923.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ameliamcarlson
Twitter: @2_catholic (Catholic ministry account)
Twitter personal account: @ameliamcarlson
