SCRIPTURE:
“He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” - Genesis 24:2-4 (NIV)
OBSERVATION:
Who is this servant Abraham speaks of? He isn’t named, but from Genesis 15 we can assume that it's Eliezer:
“But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” - Genesis 15:2-3 (NIV)
For the sake of giving the servant in chapter 24 a name, we’ll assume it’s Eliezer. Abram is in his 80's and there is no child. Meaning there is no heir. During that period, the held belief was that Eliezer would have inherited everything. But along comes slave-born Ishmael and later free-born Isaac.
APPLICATION:
I can picture Eliezer, year after year after year. Thinking that what he was caring for, building up, and stewarding would one day become his own. Now it won’t, and he’s being asked to go to a faraway land, to find someone he has yet to see and to find a wife for the person who will be getting what he once thought was his.
He sets out to fulfill the task being asked of him. This is not to be a short trip either, we are talking hundreds of miles. Once he arrives, what’s the first thing Eliezer does? He prays. Before he even goes into the city, he prays (Genesis 24:8-12).
Lesson #1: Make prayer our first response, and not our last resort.
And here is what I love when he does, this is actually my favorite part of the entire chapter in verses 13 to 15 as he continues his prayer to the Lord:
“See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’ - let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.” - Genesis 24:13-15 (NIV)
Before he even finishes praying, God answers.
Lesson #2: Pray specifically.
He really wants to succeed, so he leaves nothing to chance. He doesn’t just ask for a young woman to show up, he asks the Lord to make it so absolutely clear that he won’t miss it or mess it up.
Rebekah is an answer to prayer. Exactly what Abraham had asked for.
There’s one more thing left that we must remember after our prayers are answered - Praise HIM (Genesis 24:45-52).
Once he finds Rebekah he praises the Lord. When Laban and Bethuel say she can go, he praises the Lord.
Lesson #3: Don’t forget to praise HIM.
As we move into this New Year, praying specifically should be our first response, and regardless of the outcome, we must always, ALWAYS praise HIM.
PRAYER:
Father Almighty. Thank You Lord for the gift of prayer. May I live a lifestyle of prayer and praise to You, in all that I do, this I pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
