If the president of the United States, or the Governor of your state walked in to the room right now how would you address him? How do you address your boss when you want to show him/her proper respect?
I often use terms like “sir” or “ma’am.” If I want to show respect I won’t call them “dude”. I also don’t ignore the place of authority they have over me.
Respecting God
The name of God we are looking at today is a term of respect. Adoni is used 772 time in the Old Testament. But only 133 of those are in reference to God. It’s other uses are referring to people who hold a position of authority, whether that’s an office or temporary place of influence and power.
Examples of this are when Sarah calls Abraham her “lord”.
“Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Genesis 18:12
Sarah is pointing out the place of authority that Abraham has in her life as her husband.
Later in Genesis 32:18, Jacob calls Esau “my lord”. Esau held no formal place of authority over Jacob, but Jacob submitted to him in this way.
The word formally means: “sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine) [Strong]” This is someone who is in charge for good or ill. But when referring to God it indicates respect and an acknowledgment of the authority that God holds.
Adonai in Prayer
Genesis 18 gives an interesting account where this name of God is used in prayer. Abraham has the unique opportunity to intercede for the people of Sodom before the LORD, face to face.
In one of the most bold prayer times recorded in Scripture, Abraham pleads the case of a wicked people. He looks for God to spare them for the sake of the few righteous peoples that may be in these cities.
Genesis 18 – In Abrahams intercession for Sodom and Gommora he used this title to refer to God in verses 3, 27, 30-32
Abraham hears what God intends to do to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in verses 17-22. The cries of the sin and the oppressed have reached the ears of the Just God of the Universe, and justice will come. Then the “men” that were with the LORD went on toward Sodom. And Abraham began to speak to the LORD.
Abraham begins, “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Genesis 18:23b
As Abraham begins his appeal God agrees to spare the city if 50 righteous people are found in it. (Gen 18:26)
Then Abraham appeals again. This time for mercy if 5 of the 50 are lacking, and God agrees to spare the city if 45 righteous people are found in it. (Gen 18:27-28)
In this second appeal though Abraham makes this statement:
“… Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes” Gen 18:27
The word “Lord” is translating Adoni. Abraham is making an appeal based on the ultimate authority that God holds. He acknowledged that he, himself was nothing, just “dust and ashes.”
Abrahams humility is seen further on as well. Through this passage he continues to make appeals to God for the sake of Sodom, each time lowering the number of “righteous” people for whom God would spare the city.
Verse 29 we see God will spare it for 40, in verse 30 God agrees to spare the city for 30, then 20 in verse 31 and finally 10 in verse 32.
In the last three of these appeals Abraham uses the name Adoni in his appeal. Abraham knew God’s authority and he wanted that to be clear in how he prayed.
Application
This prayer session between God and His friend Abraham (James 2:23) illustrate how submission to God’s authority and boldness in prayer can go hand-in-hand.
Just as Abraham interceded with the goal of changing God’s chosen course, we can have boldness to pray on behalf of those that seem to be headed to certain destruction. We can acknowledge and respect God’s absolute authority and pray for God to answer our prayer.
Abraham wasn’t praying to prove a point or to teach a lesson on intercessory prayer, he was pleading with God for the sake of his nephew Lot and his family who had moved to Sodom and been caught up in the depraved lifestyle of that city. (See Genesis 13:1-13 for the story behind Lot’s move to Sodom.)
Pray with concern, real concern. Pray knowing that God holds absolute authority in the matter you are praying about. Pray boldly. Pray.
Studying and Application:
- Think back on some answered prayers, how has God shown in these that He has absolute authority? How have these effected your prayer life?
- Is there anything that you haven’t had the boldness to prayer for/about yet? In a humble spirit add those things to your prayer list this week.
- Review your prayer requests from last week. How has God worked in these areas you’ve been praying about? Take a minute to add any new requests to your list now.
