God HONORS your prayers

 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?... ²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”…but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.^[d] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  Genesis 18:17,20-23

 Abraham interceded with God to save Sodom if there were at least 10 righteous people.  There were not, but God rescued Lot and his family before destroying the cities.

 God desires to include us in His work on earth through our prayers.  We must recapture the incredible privilege and honor that God bestows on us to allow us to participate in His work.  Our prayers MATTER!

 God is sovereign and can do whatever He desires without us.  But He, also, honors us by listening to our cries of intercession before him.  This is not just for pastors or those in authority.  God invites us to participate in His work on earth.  When we pray in accordance with His will, it opens avenues for his work to be manifest.

 Let me illustrate.  Suppose you have an employee at work that is unsaved.  This person may also be offensive, rude, vulgar, and distasteful.  He lies and has offered false reports about you and others repeatedly.  Many people would be praying….for him to get fired and leave the job, so that peace would come to the work place. 

BUT, you have a still small voice that is urging you to pray for his salvation.  If you are talking about the employee negatively with others and continuing to judge his short comings…nothing seems to change.  But when you begin to intercede in agreement with the still small voice for his salvation, two things begin to change.

 Your words of cursing have stopped, now God can move freely over the guy’s life, because you are releasing blessing.  Your former words inhibited God from freely speaking and bringing conviction for this guy.  Secondly, God’s unconditional love begins to saturate your heart.  You will start to become this expression of God’s pursuit for this person that is in need of salvation.  You may not be the person to lead him in a sinner’s prayer for salvation, but God begins to move when our prayers are in alignment with His work.

 I don’t know how to say what I am feeling any bolder.  GOD HONORS OUR PRAYING!  He responds and moves when we pray…not just the pastor or spiritual leaders… when his children bring their concerns to him.  I know the answers may seem slow and hard for us to see their impact.

 Let us not LEAVE prayers unspoken.  We have the privilege to intercede NOW this side of heaven.  Can you imagine getting to heaven and we look at all of our wasted time and missed opportunities to pray for those who needed OUR intercession? God has given you a voice for good and to help others, not to judge and become bitter.  We have this treasure in an earthen vessel to share with God what concerns us…He listens and moves in our behalf.

Don’t only “think” your prayers, but whisper them aloud to God.  Your voice is needed.  Your voice helps direct your own focus and reveals what lies within your heart.  If you need a closet for focus and privacy…go to the closet.  The important thing is to start voicing your prayers.  Then watch to see how the movement of God occurs through your intercession.

 Let’s see what happens when we begin to share with God what is important to us…perhaps someone’s salvation is in the balance.