What does it mean to pray when we actually believe God is listening? In Genesis 18:16–33, Abraham does something remarkable: he contends with God. He pleads, questions, asks again, and refuses to let go of the possibility that God might act with mercy. This week, as we continued our series Retrieve, we looked at the prayers of the people; recovering an ancient practice of bringing the needs, hopes, griefs, and longings of the world before God together.
We live in what Charles Taylor calls an “immanent frame”—a world that often feels closed in on itself, where what is visible, measurable, and immediately actionable can seem like all that is real. Prayer pushes against that frame. It reminds us that the world is not closed, that God is present, and that our prayers matter. Abraham’s persistence invites us to recover a sense of urgency: to pray not as a vague spiritual exercise, but as people who believe God can hear, God can act, and the future of the world is open before him.
And there is an even deeper mystery: we do not pray alone. We pray in Jesus. As the body of Christ, the church is caught up into the prayer of Christ himself, interceding before the Father on behalf of the world he loves. To retrieve prayer, then, is to remember who we are—a people who stand before God together, carrying the world in our prayers and trusting it to the mercy of Jesus. Listen in to this week’s teaching, and come pray with us.
Genesis 18:16-33 | Dr. John Perrine | 36 min
