This excerpt is Day One of a five-day devotional series on growing the qualities of an effective intercessor. Sign up to receive each day via email.

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First, we must define terms. “Intercession” is from a Latin root, meaning “to come between.” Then we must ask, “To come between what or whom?” And the answer in a biblical context is, “Intercession means to come between God and the object of God’s just wrath and judgment.” With that, we come to the account of Abraham’s intercession before God for the wicked city of Sodom, which we find in Genesis 18 and 19.

The story is that God, with two angels, visited Abraham to tell him that He (the Lord) knew of Sodom’s sinfulness and had “come down” to destroy the city. The angels then leave the scene to proceed to Sodom, as they are the agents of destruction of Sodom.

Abraham then boldly questioned God’s “fairness,” saying he knows God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked and asking the rhetorical question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Then, starting with the possibility of 50 righteous persons and continuing step-by-step down to 10, Abraham asked God if He would spare the city if a certain number of “righteous” were found. And God agreed. However, there were not 10 righteous, and God did not spare the wicked city. And yet one of the angels told Lot, Abraham’s nephew, that he was powerless to “do anything” until Lot was safely out. That is evidence that Abraham’s intercession was effective.

As we conclude, let us take note of several factors in the account, beginning with Abraham as an effective intercessor. There are several characteristics of an intercessor that Abraham possessed and that made him effective. First, note his posture: he “stood” before God. This is symbolic, but indicates he was prepared to serve or attend to the Lord’s wishes. Second, as an intercessor he had recognized the Lord’s presence; indeed, he had an intimacy with the Lord, who called him a “friend of God.” Then, too, he had the special characteristic that every effective intercessor in the Bible possessed, a boldness to press in with the special focus of the need or burden being presented to God. He challenged the Lord, but with holy reverence in the fear of the Lord.

In addition, Abraham had that absolute conviction that God was both just and fair. His sense of God’s justice was both positive and negative. The hard part was that God will punish the wicked. But on the positive side, God will not deal with the righteous, as with the wicked. This sense of being able to trust God to do what is right and fair and just – by God’s own standards – is essential for the intercessor.

What conclusions can we draw from Abraham’s experience interceding for Sodom?

God responds to the prayers of His servants. He allowed His course of action to be influenced by Abraham. This is an almost incomprehensible truth to my own heart and mind – that it is both a privilege and a responsibility to be able to speak to God in such a way that we actually influence Him, and that He desires for us to do so.

God delights to show mercy. Have you considered the fact that God was prepared to allow 10 righteous to affect the approximately 10,000-person population in Sodom? (That’s a 1 to 1,000 ratio!) My conclusion is that both the Church and our country need more intercessors!

Jesus said we believers are “the salt of the earth.” Salt gives flavor where it is lacking, and holds back the process of corruption – not in huge lumps, but in little grains spread throughout. (We are those grains.)

Intercessors have tremendous influence in two ways. One is by our prayers, as we have seen here and throughout the Bible and Church history. The other is by our presence. Does our presence cause God to hold back judgment on where we live, or in our nation? Let us be aware of opportunities to influence.

Let us also remember James 4:17, “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” This verse should spur all of us on to make our lives open and accessible to God to be His instruments to display a godly presence in prayer, in righteous living, as intercessors, as good citizens – as witnesses to the saving power of the Gospel – and calling out to God to hold off judgment, though we know our neighborhood, our cities, and our nation are all objects of God’s righteous wrath unless or until there is widespread repentance and a turning back to God.

Author Derek Prince (1915-2003) was an internationally known Bible teacher and a “founding father” of Intercessor for America. Born in India of British parents, he became an American citizen primarily due to his unwavering belief that our biblical heritage made America the strongest hope to ignite a revival for the restoration of godly government and a restoration of biblical standards before the return of Jesus Christ, Lord of the Church. His best-known book among intercessors (Shaping History through Prayer and Fasting) portrayed his belief in prayer and fasting to receive God’s highest blessings, both for individuals and for our nation.