In our first reading today from Genesis 18, we see an amazing story of Abraham negotiating with God. In the Gospel reading, we read about two interesting encounters that Jesus has with some of his disciples. To both, Jesus talks about the cost of following Him.
God was sick of all the wickedness that He saw in Sodom and Gomorrah. It was time to clean house. But the thought of innocent people being wiped out with the guilty really bothered Abraham. So Abraham begins to negotiate with God. He asks God if He would spare the city if God were to find fifty innocent people there. God says He would spare the city if He found fifty innocent people. And so Abraham goes on, lowering the number with each request. And God relents each time, saying that He would spare the cities if He found innocent people.
Imagine Abraham’s boldness! It must have taken some guts to get into a negotiation with God. But I’ll bet that you have done something similar. In fact, each time we pray and ask God for something, it is a sort of negotiation, trying to work out a “deal.” And just as Abraham was able to negotiate and change God’s mind, so, too, are we. Through prayer in the name of Christ Jesus. You see, God is not this big, inflexible bully. He wants to work with you! So go ahead, start the negotiations. Just always make sure that you do it like Abraham did…humbly.
Father, thank you for hearing us and wanting to know the desires of our hearts. As you are willing to work with us, make us more willing to work with you. Amen.
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