Charles Spurgeon Commentary Genesis 18:31-32

"And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty`s sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten`s sake." — Genesis 18:31-32 (ASV)

He went no farther than to plead that Sodom might be spared if ten righteous persons could be found in it. I have heard some say that it was a pity Abraham did not go on pleading with God, but I would not dare to say so. He knew better when to begin and when to stop than you and I do.

There are certain restraints in prayer which a man of God cannot explain to others, but which he, nevertheless, himself feels. God moves his servants to pray in a certain case, and they do pray with great liberty and manifest power.

Another case may seem to be precisely like it, yet the mouth of the former suppliant is shut, and in his heart he does not feel that he can pray as he did before.

Do I blame the men of God? Assuredly not; the Lord deals wisely with his servants and tells them, by gentle hints which they quickly understand, when and where to stop in their supplications.