Genesis 18 · a question people ask
Did Abraham's prayer change what God did?
The LORD starts the conversation (18:17), and he agrees to every number Abraham asks for, down to ten (18:26-32). In the next chapter, "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow" (19:29). Protestants read the exchange in two main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Prayer truly moves God
Abraham asks and the LORD answers each request (18:26-32). When Moses later prays for Israel, "the LORD turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people" (Exodus 32:14). James says, "The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective" (James 5:16).
Genesis 18:26-32 · Exodus 32:14 · James 5:16
God draws Abraham into what he means to do
The LORD chooses to tell Abraham his plan (18:17) and says he has known him so that he will teach "righteousness and justice" (18:19). Scripture says, "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent" (Numbers 23:19). On this reading, the conversation shapes Abraham into someone who asks for justice and mercy.
Genesis 18:17-19 · Numbers 23:19
The verses
“The LORD said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do,”
“When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.”