Dr Paul Allen

Prayer has always been the way God has chosen to show himself strong on behalf of those who called upon him. If prayer is powerful and has that kind of value, then the practice and habit of prayer ought to set a whole new direction for each of us.  The brief expositions that follow illustrate how three Old Testament prayers instruct us in this principle. As you continue reading, I suggest you have your Bible open to the appropriate passages, so you can refer to the text of each prayer.  Abraham (Genesis 18:22–23)  In many ways, Abraham’s prayer for his nephew Lot and the cities of the plain is one of the first formal prayers of intercession and serves as a model for how we, too, ought to pray.  The Lord himself reveals to Abraham that he is about to judge the cities of the plain (where Lot had gone to live) because a serious “outcry” of evil had come up to God (Gen 18:20–21). Abraham never doubts that the people’s wickedness is deserving of judgment. But, he argues, what if there were