I didn’t need my morning devotional to remind me that day two usually is accompanied by the grumpies. I woke up with what is likely carb/sugar withdraw headaches, my own fault for not easing into the fast. It also didn’t help when I walked out of the bedroom to find the kids had peeled almost every orange we had, but had only eaten one or two.
But external circumstances don’t get to dictate my actions, and so today is going to be a great day.
Also, it helps to crush out the grumpies by starting off the morning spending some time with Jesus. The theme I took away from reading this morning was praying bold prayers that might not be bold enough. Genesis 18-19 are the famous stories of Sodom and Gomorrah. As I read about how bold Abraham was to pray to God to spare the city if only 50 down to 10 righteous people are found, I am amazed at the boldness, and left questioning if he was bold enough.
What if he had kept asking God for fewer righteous people to still spare the city. 7, 5, 3. What if he had asked for the cities to be spared if just one single person was found righteous. All the destruction might have been averted. But we’ll never know, because while Abraham was incredibly bold in the prayers he did pray, he wasn’t bold enough.
I want my prayers to be like that. If the worst thing God can do is answer with a “No”, then why not be brave enough to ask for the un-askable (not a word). Why stop asking when God gives you a yes to a lesser question. I want to be bold like Abraham was; I think in that same situation I might have just been disappointed about what God said He was going to do; rather than plead the case for the people. But I also don’t want to settle for yes, when there could be 10 more Yes’ (?) to follow if I keep going after God. Every door God opens will eventually lead to another door, so why stop knocking just because the first door gets opened?
In chapter 19, Abraham wakes up and sees smoke rising from what used to be Sodom and Gomorrah. I can’t imagine the regret he must have felt, knowing he pleaded with God and it still wasn’t enough. But if he had just asked one more time, for 5 righteous people to spare the city, he may have saved the cities. Lot, his wife, their two daughters, and their fiances were all given the chance to be spared from the wrath. That’s 6 people, of which 3 ended up safely escaping. Abraham was potentially one last prayer away from an amazing miracle taking place. Don’t let your potential miracle slip away because you prayed bold prayers, that just weren’t quite bold enough.
Matthew 7:7-8 says
Proverbs 2:6
We want wisdom straight from the mouth of God. As I sit here sipping my fruity drink, I pray that anyone reading this blog post today will receive that same gift of wisdom no matter what circumstances you face. Make it a great day!
love this!