Why did Abraham stop at 10?

Continuing on the topic of intercession, my pastor turned to Genesis 18 where Abraham pleads for Sodom after the Lord announced that it would be destroyed. Wow, to me, Abraham had some nerve. This is God we are talking about. Well, I think that Abraham knew this when he said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? [vs. 27]" This is the God who could reduce him to dust and ashes right then and now. Yet he spoke with humility and boldness. Was he actually attempting to haggle with God? No, the message said, "rather, he was up against a God he couldn't understand and the very character of God was at stake."

My pastor, Sunder Krishnan, used the illustration of when he heard of a recent event in Cambodia that rocked him to the core. If you have read Lisa's blog at http://www.lisachildofgod.blogspot.com/, you will read of the organization that she works for that rescues children working as sex slaves in Cambodia and find safe havens for them to heal and be transformed. Well, recently, what is equivalent to the mafia in Cambodia raided one of these shelters and took 91 of these children and sent them back into the child prostitution ring. I mean, can you imagine these children? How could God allow this? It seems like such a cruel trick, doesn't it? It emboldens you to go before a God whose character has come into question and wrestle with Him.
This is essentially what Abraham did. John Whites observed, "if we close our minds to everything about God that makes us uncomfortable, we are going through empty motions when we pray. We pray to a god we have ourselves fashioned for our comfort and not to God as He is. True prayer is to respond to the true God as he reveals more of Himself by His Spirit in His Word. Prayer defined in such terms can be a terrifying experience."

Our pastor concluded that Abraham stopped at 10 not because he had out-negotiated God but because God had finished working IN Abraham. Consider this quote from John Whites: "Abraham was satisfied. Whether Sodom was consumed or not, the universe was on solid footing. The storm might be terrible and its havoc beyond belief. Yet all was well. Abraham had grown into a larger man with a greater God. Prayer had changed him. God's purpose for inviting him into the board meeting had been accomplished. The chairman himself drew the meeting to a close and left Abraham, to the wonder of his new discovery."
Have you ever persevered in prayer until you realized that what you were originally praying for was not the real issue but about your growth in understanding God?
That happened to me in recent times when I had come in desperation about our finances and discovered at the end that the issue became a peripheral as I revelled in God's love and satisfaction.

Are you experiencing something that seems totally unfair? Does an event seem senseless to you in the face of a loving God you know to be at the controls? Then this is the time for you to wrestle with God and come out like Jacob who went into the match as a deceiver and came out as Israel, the prince. Let us intercede for our persecuted brothers and sisters in this way. Get to know what is happening globally and be driven to your knees to wrestle for them. They need us. I need them.

Father, help us. Help me to intercede even as Your Son intercedes for each of us. I confess that child victimization is altogether too horrible for me. Yet, I must trust in Your character and know that You will deliver these young ones, You will redeem them, You will bring justice, because You said so. Please, God, deliver those children who were revictimized. Now to Him Who is able, I pray, Amen.