Genesis 19:22
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Imagine the finite keeping the infinite from doing what the infinite can do. Imagine weakness stopping omnipotence from doing what omnipotence can do. It seems impossible for flesh to render Deity powerless, but the Scriptures show that God was rendered powerless and could not do anything.
What was it that rendered God powerless? The prayer and intercession of Abraham is what kept God powerless. God had determined that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He sent angels to retrieve Lot and his family from this city so that they would not be destroyed with the city. As God told Lot where to go, Lot asked God not to send him to the mountain, but to a small city, and God granted that request. However, God said that Lot needed to haste his escape from Sodom and Gomorrah because He could not do anything until he was in the city.
What kept God from doing anything until Lot got to the city where he was to go? When you go to Genesis 18, you see Abraham interceding for Lot. You will see in this passage that God and Abraham were having negotiations. Abraham was praying for Lot that he would not be destroyed with the cities. It was Abraham’s intercessory prayers for Lot that kept God from destroying the city until Lot was in the place where he was to live. In other words, Abraham’s intercessory prayers rendered God powerless because he had negotiated with God to save Lot, and God was going to honor His commitment to Abraham’s prayer.
One of the greatest needs of today are people who have the power in prayer that dictate what God will do with His power. It is not that God did not have the power to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah while Lot was in it, but it was the intercessory prayer of a saint that withheld God’s power. The intercessory prayers of God’s people are as powerful as God’s omnipotence, for those prayers move God to answer them.
What you think is impossible can become possible if you learned to have power in prayer with God. Now, you will not have power in prayer if you are not praying. Imagine what would have happened had Abraham quit praying after God spoke the first time; Lot and his whole family would have been killed. Just because God has seemingly not answered your prayer does not mean you should give up.
You will never know what your intercessory prayer can do if you don't pray and continue to pray until God comes through. One of the vital elements of intercessory prayer is that it does not give up until God answers it. Intercessory prayer continues to pray even when the present answer seems to be “no.” Many lives have been changed because someone interceded in prayer until God finally answered the request. If you are quick to give up on a prayer, you will never know the power of intercessory prayer.
Who is it, or what is it that needs you to intercede in prayer? My friend, never give up praying for the salvation of a lost loved one. Never give up praying that a loved one will come back to God. Keep on praying for God to use your church or ministry mightily. The power of prayer to render God powerless because He gave His Word to answer it ought to challenge you never to give up praying for what you need until God comes through.
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