Wednesday, April 6, 2016

PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES: THE BOOK OF GENESIS #7

RESOLVED: CONFIDENT PRAYER BRINGS RESULTS
12 Then he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.” (Genesis 24:12-14)
As in the days when Jesus spoke of the unbelievers who looked “for signs and wonders”, many are looking for the same today. They seek  physical manifestation, through signs, instead of trust by Faith. It is the old “Doubting Thomas Syndrome”, which permeates a lot of modern Christianity.  However, this unique prayer, early on in human history, is different in so many ways.

The name of Abraham’s apparent most trusted servant/right hand man is not made known, because the Spirit of the Living God is leading the faithful to focus more on HOW the faithful servant went about his mission. There is some thought that Eliezer was this faithful servant, seeing that he is the closest advisor and friend to the great Abraham. The faithful servant was entrusted by Abraham to go back to his own family in Haran to find a wife  who was not a pagan like the vile Canaanites, for the latter’s son, Isaac. Isaac was the vehicle through whom the God of Heaven would start His new paradigm, via the Hebrews.  Before looking closer at this prayer, please read Genesis 24:6-8 to get the serious instructions to walk away, if the leading of the Lord is not there.

This is an important truth for us Christians, in these last days. We need to remember that whatever we are going through, we ARE going through and it will be a lot easier to let God lead the way. He knows the way, holds sway, rules the day and if He is so inclined to say, we need to just walk away. This is the gist of the teaching from Abraham’s instruction to Eliezer if he discerns the woman not to be what God ordained.

That being said, let us dive, portion by portion, into not just the prayer, but the submissive heart and humility of this servant of Abraham.
-          “Oh LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day” (verse 12a)…being a sent man on a mission, from the Lord’s major prophet of the day, the servant seeks to please the master (Abraham) and not returned empty-handed from this, to which he had sworn to Abraham. The success he seeks is not for his personal gain. There is absolutely nothing wrong with praying for our mission to assist someone else to be a fruitful venture. Unlike the majority of mankind, we do have access to the Throne of Grace, and our Heavenly Father loves it when we just give even the smallest matter to Him.  This way, we exhibit our complete Faith in God.
-          “Behold, here I stand by the well of water….”(verse 13a)….when you and I place a matter before the LORD,  it is absolutely incumbent on us to leave it there and not run hither, tither and yon trying to then try to address the matter ourselves.  When we give something to the Lord, in faith, and pray for His Mighty Hand to bless, address or redress the matter – stay put, don’t try to replace God and allow Him to be Who we say and know He is. Psalm 46:10 is explicit in its instruction “be still and know that I am God”!                              
-          Now let it be….”(verse  14a)….”let her be the one (verse 14b)…..and by this I will know (verse 14b)….these are the words (prayers) of a man who is confident, firm and completely sure of his relationship with God! The application for us is to do likewise and be clear in our intercession. Such clarity is always answered, at least in my experience, and definitely Abraham’s servant. He had to know the closeness the relationship between his master and the Great God of Heaven Who spoke directly and with no confusion in His Words, to Abraham. So he obviously expected the same kinds of answers and signs from Above, knowing that he was on a mission from one of God’s favored prophets of all time!

Does God answer such confident, bold, direct, clear and expectant prayer? You bet He does. Look at Genesis 24:15 “And it happened…!” It happened! God answered as clearly and directly as Abraham’s servant prayed.

Finally, we must never allow God’s love, grace, mercy and compassion and His answers to our prayers be showered upon us, without being overwhelmed by gratitude. When the Lord answered Abraham’s servant’s intercessory plea on behalf of his master’s request for a wife for Isaac, look at how a true believer in God should respond here in Genesis 24:27 “
And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” 
~Amen~

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