Praying in The New Year

How many of you when you read about Abraham arguing with God for Sodom have thought, just do away with the place? Why save it? Or have you looked at it from a different perspective and asked. . .are you arguing with God? You're trying to tell God what to do? Have you ever marveled that God didn't strike Abraham down for having the guts to speak to him that way? In fact, he's not the only one in the Old Testament who argued with God.

Perhaps you've been told that you shouldn't be so demanding or argumentative with God. That you shouldn't be angry with him or tell him your true feelings. But we must remember he is our heavenly father not our heavenly CEO. When we speak with him we can approach him about anything and everything we deal with. We can come before him as a child who speaks to a loving busy father, which sometimes means we have to ask more than once.

And after reading Listening to the Language of the Bible, by Lois Tverberg, I have a better understanding of the necessary need to repeat our requests to God. And that in arguing with God it can be seen as a righteous heroic thing to do, with no worries of being punished for our disapproval.

She speaks of Chutzpah (HOOTS-pah) which is a persistence in asking God for whatever we want. Some of our Biblical examples include Abraham arguing with God in Genesis 18 for Sodom; Moses pleading for Israel after they sinned in Exodus 32; the Gentile woman wanting healing for her daughter in Mark 7. I'd also like to point out Jonah, who though he argued with God and tried in his own way to change what God was asking of him did not sway God but did not die from what he did either.

It's true when many of us pray, we look to our own needs, our wants and desires. Lois pointed out that in Ezekiel 22 God is looking for someone to stand in the gap for the land, but he didn't find anyone. How often do we pray for the lost? Do you ask God to punish the people who sin and lead others away from God? Or do you ask for God to forgive the sins of our nation?

Do we have the courage to go before God as a child goes to his father and ask for something so big we can't take care of it? And not just once but repeatedly? What if he keeps saying "no"? Do we have the boldness to keep asking and arguing with him until we know he's heard us? I guess it's like the old saying, "you won't know until you try." Shall we try?