Word of Encouragement (02/09/2022)
“And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away." 18And Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!" 21 He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.” (Gen. 19:17-22).
As we reflect on Lot’s prayer, we cannot help but compare it with Abraham’s prayer in the preceding chapter. We will have to say that Lot’s prayer is an example of not-so-good prayers in comparison to Abraham’s good prayer.
The two share one positive element. In both, we detect expressions of humility. Before Abraham made each of his six requests, he made it abundantly clear that he had no right to make his requests except for God’s own sense of justice and mercy. Lot’s prayer shows humility, too, in his acknowledgment of the favor the angels showed him: “Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life.”
But Lot’s words seem more perfunctory than sincere. He uses more words explaining why he cannot escape to the hills and a little city nearby is a better place for his escape. This almost sounds like a drowning man yelling out to the sailor aboard the ship that he prefers a red-and-white lifesaver instead of an orange one. Perhaps, Lot was too old to move quickly. But the story says nothing about his old age or infirmity. Ironically, he eventually leaves Zoar and takes to the hills. It seems that, ultimately, his prayer was for convenience more than anything. Abraham’s petitions, on the other hand, were short on his requests and long on acknowledging his unworthiness before God.
What stands out most about Lot’s prayer is his self-focus. Throughout his wordy prayer, no mention of his wife or his two daughters is found; it’s all about him: “Oh, no, my lords. Behold, your servant has found favor..., and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.... Let me escape there... and my life will be saved”! Just reading these words, we would never guess that his wife and daughters were with him and they were being rescued, too! How shameful this is! As the head and the only man of the family, should he not have been concerned about the welfare of his wife and daughters more than his own?
Abraham’s prayer, on the other hand, was all about God’s honor and the safety of his nephew, Lot, and his family (even though he did not say it explicitly). Yet how did Lot treat him? There was strife between Abraham’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen because of the great numbers of their flocks and herds. When they decided to part from each other, Lot failed to show respect to Abraham, his uncle, by giving him the first choice of lands. When Abraham gave him the first choice, he took it and chose to go and settle in the Jordan Valley (where Sodom and Gomorrah were located), which looked "well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. His selfish streak was already plainly seen. Yet, Abraham made repeated requests on behalf of this selfish nephew of his.
It is amazing that the angel should grant Lot’s petition. Was it because Lot provided lodging for them and tried to protect them from the Sodomites (cf. 2 Pet. 2:7-8)? Maybe. We are told later the real reason for this: “God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived” (Gen. 19:29). God rescued Lot and granted his request, as self-centered as it was, because He remembered Abraham’s (indirect) intercession for him. If so, how much more would God hear our prayers, as feeble and at times selfish as they are, because He remembers Christ’s work of our redemption and His continuing intercession on our behalf? What terrible loss we suffer if we don’t pray in the powerful and wonderful name of Jesus Christ our Lord! I urge you to take time and pray to our gracious heavenly Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!