After Sedom and Amora were destroyed, Avraham woke up and returned to the spot where he had argued and appealed to Hashem on behalf of the people of Sedom the previous day. He gazed at the valley that was once a populated metropolis and saw thick smoke rising from the land, like the smoke of a furnace.
How did Avraham react? Was he angry? Did he scream at God and charge Him with injustice? Or did he accept the inscrutable will of God with humility, but felt nonetheless that all his unanswered prayers were pointless? According to our Rabbis, Avraham chose a third approach. He prayed. In his humility, he recognized that although Hashem is not bound to answer all our prayers, He nevertheless listens. With profound devotion, he understood that we pray not only out of need, expecting Hashem to respond, but also as a meaningful act of worship.
