Today, I am delighted to launch a new sermon series titled Prayer Warrior. When we read the Bible, we discover numerous battles among countries, tribes, groups, and individuals. In today’s Epistles, the Apostle Paul explains these struggles from a divine point of view. Whether we realize it or not, according to Paul, we are engaged in a spiritual war. There are spiritual enemies out there to attack us as God’s people, and there are spiritual weapons available for us as Christ’s soldiers to use in these battles.

Our struggle is “not against flesh and blood” – in other words, it is not a physical war – but against “the powers of this dark world,” meaning it is a spiritual battle. Sacred strengths and strategies are required to fight against “the spiritual forces of evil.” Our struggle is not merely with the people who have hurt us, nor is it simply against our own egos or passions. That is why, this morning, Paul encourages us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. To defeat “the devil’s schemes, we need to “put on the full armor of God” rather than relying on our own strength. Whether we are aware of continuous spiritual attacks or not, we, as Christ’s warriors, need to be ready for our divine adventures with sacred armouries. One of the spiritual weapons the Apostle Paul introduces to us today is prayer. According to Paul, we, who are in ongoing battles between good and evil, need to “keep on praying for all the Lord’s people,” including ourselves, “on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18-20). Paul wants us to become prayer warriors so that we can fearlessly share “the mystery of the gospel” – God’s forgiveness of sins, His victory over the power of death, and His promise of eternal life in Heaven through our repentance before Christ and our complete trust in the Lord – with others in this sin-darkened world.

Over the next four or five Sundays, we will look at various prayer fighters in Holy Scripture. Through this series, I want us to examine our own prayer lives with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, develop a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ, and become better people of God in prayer.

This morning, we will explore how Abraham prayed for his loved ones, particularly his relative Lot and Lot’s family, who lived in the city of Sodom. As we learned from the Book of Genesis, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that he and his family would inherit the Promised Land of Canaan. However, Abraham’s nephew Lot chose to leave him and reside in Sodom. In today’s children’s Bible video, we learned that three strangers, who were God’s angels, visited Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15). They told Abraham that Sarah would become pregnant next year and have a child in her old age. After this visit, they looked over at Sodom and informed Abraham of God’s plan to destroy Sodom, along with its neighbouring town, Gomorrah. Faced with this crisis, Abraham began to intercede on behalf of his nephew Lot and his family by conversing with the Lord. This divine communication, or dialogue, has been referred to as Abraham’s intercessory prayers. As we reflect on this petition, I want us to intercede for those around us, especially, our loved ones and ourselves, with the same prayerful attitude that Abraham, the prayer warrior, demonstrated in our primary text. As we practice Abraham’s persistent attitude toward God in prayer, I also want us to experience His might and mercy in our journey of faith and make a significant difference in the lives of our loved ones and ourselves.

Do you know how many times Abraham asked God to rescue Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Repeatedly, he knelt before the Lord and prayed, asking: “What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?” He continued, “What if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? What if only forty are found there?” What if only thirty, twenty, or ten are found there?” Over and over, he pleaded with God to intervene in the lives of the people in those cities, while reducing the number of righteous people required. Each time Abraham made a request, God promised that He would save the cities for the sake of a certain number of righteous residents.

In our Gospel text for today, we are introduced to a helpless widow, who can be seen as a persistent prayer warrior like Abraham. In those days, widows were among the most vulnerable members of society and often had no means to defend their rights on their own. While we do not know the specifics of this widow’s situation, we do know she faced urgent injustice. In her town, there was an unjust judge (Luke 18:2). The widow repeatedly came to him, crying out, “Grant me justice against my adversary” (Luke 18:3). She persistently pleaded for human assistance with her problem. Due to her persistence, even the unjust judge eventually decided to grant her justice.

Through both Abraham and the widow, we learn about the importance of intervention or intercession. In our Sunday worship services, we participate in two sets of prayers as a group of God’s people. The first segment is the prayer of adoration and confession. During this time, we remember who our Almighty God is, how much Jesus Christ loves us, and what the Holy Spirit does to assist us in our faith journey. We rejoice in the Triune Lord with all our hearts, repent of our failures to rely fully on God, receive divine forgiveness with the assurance of the Spirit, and rededicate our lives to Christ. In the second part of prayers, called “the prayer of thanksgiving and intercession,” we express our gratitude to God for what He has done in the past, what He is doing now, and what He will continue to do in the future. We also intercede on behalf of our loved ones, our church, our community, our country, and the world, including ourselves. We engage together in this sacred activity as a group of prayer warriors, led by representative prayers each Sunday.

Today, we are exploring the final part of our common prayers – intercessory prayers – in more detail. As we observed in our Old Testament reading this morning, Abraham prayed for God’s divine intervention in the lives of his loved ones. Due to the grievous sins of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, those cities were about to be destroyed by God. Many residents suffered in those wicked environments and cried out for someone to save them. When Abraham learned of God’s judgment on those cities, he once again requested God’s assistance for the righteous people there. He believed that a righteous God would not destroy both the wicked and the righteous together. Speaking of God’s judgment in Noah’s day, He wiped out all human beings and the earth, except for Noah, his family, and pairs of reserved animals, with a massive flood. After that judgment, God made a covenant with Noah, showing a rainbow in the clouds as a sign of His promise: “Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life” (Genesis 9:15). That is why God used burning sulfur when He overthrew all the living in Sodom and Gomorrah. Like Noah’s time, God saw similar wickedness in Sodom and Gomorrah and decided to judge both the people and the land. The only way for the people there to be saved from destruction was through someone’s powerful intervention.

Many of us have seen intervention programs on reality TV shows and through various media. Recovery plans are often arranged by family and friends for loved ones struggling with addiction or destructive behaviors. Under the guidance of intervention specialists, family and friends are encouraged to share their love, concern, and hope during recovery gatherings. At the end of the meeting, the addict has the choice to accept or decline help. Regardless of the outcome, specialists can introduce crucial methods or strategies for changing or improving unhealthy lifestyles.

When we hear about intervention plans, we often think of people whom we know and care about and who may need prayer for recover from addiction. That is a good perspective. At the same time, whether we admit it or not, we all have our own challenges and temptations. From a biblical point of view, after our spiritual ancestors, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and sinned, we were all born with sinfulness and lost His characteristics. Whether we have personal experience with addiction or are seeking guidance for our loved ones, there is much support available for various life problems. God can use those who specialize in these services, as well as proper treatments and advice, to help those in need. Because of our human fallen nature, we are all broken in some area of our lives and trapped in various spiritual bondages. That is why these issues need divine intervention and restoration by God’s might and mercy.

I don’t know about you, but I am often overwhelmed by the challenges that I encounter. It seems that these difficulties arise one after another. Every day, I must confess that I need God’s help and guidance for my loved ones and myself. I don’t know how many times I cry out for God’s intervention, saying, “Have mercy and grace upon me! Have mercy and grace upon my loved ones!” I have come to realize anew that there are certain things that I cannot handle alone, despite my best efforts. These are matters that only God can manage and assist with on my behalf.

In our Gospel for today, the widow’s persistence in coming to the judge was rooted in her complete trust in his capacity. She believed in the power of judges, whether they were loving or not. She was confident that only judges had the authority to intervene in her case, as it was within their jurisdiction. Similarly, in our Old Testament reading, Abraham was fully assured that only God, the Righteous Judge, could rescue Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Like Abraham and the widow, when we truly believe in the mighty God who controls all matters, we can continually ask for the merciful Lord’s help and direction on behalf of our loved ones and ourselves.

As I mentioned earlier, each one of us has our own problems, often related to our unfruitful attributes. These ungodly behaviours can cause us and our loved ones to experience hurt and discouragement. Due to the evil and wicked environments of this world, we also see ourselves and those we care about being influenced by unhealthy matters. How can we rescue our loved ones from these unholy situations? How can we save ourselves from these unsacred circumstances?

In our Epistle for today, the Apostle Paul invites us to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence. Our Lord Christ is not a great high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. In other words, Jesus understands every form of our challenges because He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Even though no one knows what we are going through or where we are, Jesus perceives us completely. He empathizes perfectly. He is the only One who can, and the only One who does.

Too often, “we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26). Since the Holy Spirit searches our hearts and knows our minds, He can “intercede for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:27). We are all invited to seek God’s intervention at the throne of His grace and mercy.

To achieve a successful outcome in interceding for our loved ones and ourselves, we, like both Abraham and the widow, need to keep coming before God, asking for His mercy and grace in their faith journeys and our spiritual race. Please understand that repeated requests are not a sign of weakened faith but an expression of our absolute trust in God. He is willing to hear and answer our prayers no matter how many times we come to Him. Our continuous plea with God is both effective and powerful.

Consider St. Monica, a woman of prayer and the mother of St. Augustine…

Finally, God was pleased with Abraham’s humble attitude and answered his continuous prayers. I have found very encouraging news in the following chapter. The Bible says, “So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived” (Genesis 19:29). Abraham had persistently prayed that the entire cities of Sodom and Gomorrah would be spared if a few righteous people could be found. Though there were not ten righteous people there, so God destroyed the cities, He saved Lot and his loved ones. The reason they were saved was not because of their righteousness, but because God remembered Abraham and his prayers.

Friends, this morning, we need to ask ourselves whether we cry out to God urgently for our loved ones as well as ourselves, like Abraham and the widow did. We also need to examine whether we maintain a persistent attitude in our petitions, as both Abraham and the widow did. Sadly, we may find ourselves not praying consistently. We tend to stop praying when situations seem to worsen or when they improve.

Our spiritual enemy, Satan, is not afraid of our power. He is not afraid of our possessions, knowledge, talents, social status, and so on. But he is terrified of our prayers because that is where we connect with God. Whenever God wants to do something truly great in our lives, in our family, in our community, in our church, or in our country, He begins by motivating us to pray. We must remember that God is “Elohim,” meaning He is almighty. He answers prayers today just ad He did in biblical times. Whatever our needs are, God wants us to come to Him and to ask Him for His protection and provision.

Friends, today, we need to be reminded that God has chosen us as His children. We are God’s chosen people, and He is our Heavenly Father. God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, and offered us salvation and eternal life through Him. God desires justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night. God is just and good, filled with grace and mercy, and wants to help us with all the requests we honestly and humbly make before Him. While the unjust judge answered the widow’s request out of self-interest, our just Judge, God, is always willingly to answer to our prayers. If we persist in prayer with a humble and honest heart, God will remember our loved ones and us and respond to our prayers in His way and in His time. The Lord, our Righteous Judge, is willing to provide us with His mercy and grace in our time of need.

Friends, let us consistently approach God’s throne of grace with courage and confidence, bringing before Him the most heartfelt petitions we hold for our loved ones and ourselves at this present time and in this sacred place. Amen!

*In this sermon, I have drawn upon various thoughts based on the texts, Ephesians 6:10-13, 18-20; Genesis 18:16-33; Luke 18:1-8; Hebrews 4:14-16; Genesis 19:27-29.