God, Prayer & Raising Kids

Does God answer prayer? Ask Abraham. Does the principle of raising kids to follow God work? Ask Lot.

Gen 19-21 Merciful God & Answered Prayer

God is the Living and Holy God who loves purity and hates sin. He is gracious to save and a righteous judge towards the sinful.  The book of Genesis provides all of these pictures of God and in contrast, the “man made in His image” as tainted, sinful, and without hope minus the mercy of God.

Abraham’s pure heart is revealed as he asks God if he will destroy the righteous with the wicked. Lot’s heart is revealed as one who wants to be a fence sitter. Even the city dwellers see his hypocrisy. How different Lot is from Noah who lived in the world but was not a part of it. Peter describes Lot as a righteous man, but here we only see him as a man who has lost his testimony in the marketplace and his home. “This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us!” [Gen 19:9] Even “Mrs.” Lot loves Sodom more than God!

Abraham had begged God for ten righteous to be saved, but only Lot and his two daughters survive.  These daughters are living proof of those who do not train up their children follow the ways of men rather than God.  What is the lesson we can glean from this passage? (1) God loves the prayers of his saints, and our prayers matter. (2) What you sow you will also reap. (3)We must be as bold as Abraham to pray for those who are perishing.