(The following Devar Torah is from R’ Frand shlita)
When Hashem decided to destroy Sodom and Amora, He initially withheld this information from Avraham. Subsequently, the pasuk says “And Hashem said, ‘Shall I hide from Avraham that which I am doing? … For I have loved him’ (ki yedativ).” (Bereishis 18:17-19)
What was the purpose of informing Avraham about the plans to destroy Sodom and Amora? Hashem knew what was going to happen. He knew that Avraham would daven and negotiate for the salvation of Sodom. Hashem knew ahead of time that there were in fact not 50 people in Sodom worthy of saving, nor were there 40, or 30 … or even 10. He knew that eventually the city would be destroyed.
If so, what was gained by giving Avraham this information? “Because I love Avraham so much, I want to give him a chance to daven for Sodom… even though I know that his tefillos are doomed to be rejected.” Where is the logic here? Avraham’s tefillos were to be nothing more than an exercise in futility. Hashem knew ahead of time that Sodom did not have the requisite 10 righteous people to be deserving of salvation.
The Bais Av explains that the purpose of informing Avraham serves as a very important lesson for all of us. Hashem was in fact doing a favor for Avraham. When we daven for another person — whether we are successful in our tefillos or not — we become better people by virtue of these tefillos. Hashem wanted to offer Avraham the kindness of having an opportunity to empathize with his fellow man, to think about the impending tragedy of Sodom, and to at least attempt to stave off the tragedy. When someone puts himself out for others, he becomes better as a result of that effort.
So many times in our life we say tefillos for others. Sometimes these tefillos are not accepted. Our reaction tends to be, “All the Tehillim and davening were for nothing. It was wasted because he did not get better or the situation did not change.” Not at all! The tefillos are not for naught. We have become better people as a result of those tefillos, which emerged from our care and empathy for our fellow Jews.
Judaism is not a religion that measures success by results. Judaism measures success by effort.