Abraham's Servant
One of my favorite people in the Bible shows up in Genesis 24, the servant of Abraham. He is Abraham’s oldest and most trusted servant and is sent on an “impossible” mission to go to a place he has never gone before, to a place where he knows no one, and find just the right woman and convince to travel hundreds of miles with him to get married to someone she has never met. Oh, and she has to be from Abraham’s family.
It's from the passage I taught from this past Sunday.
What I love about this guy is that he not only agrees to go, but he does so without hesitation, trusting in the God of Abraham to give him success. And in the end, he finds just the right woman, with just the right disposition from just the right family, and who shows up at just the right time! That’s a “Godincidence” - or an act of God disguised as a coincidence.
Some scholars believe that this unnamed servant is Eliezer from Genesis 15:2, which is interesting if it is because his name means “God Helps”, and of course He does help him.
One of the things that most intrigues me is the servant’s prayer found in Genesis 24:12-14, mainly because he lays out for God exactly what he needs – a way to identify the right woman - “she will offer me water to drink and then also water for the camels” which is no small feat considering that there are 10 camels, each of which can drink many gallons – this would have taken her a while.
But he felt he had to get it right. A lot was riding on finding just the right person to be part of the promised lineage of Abraham which we know ultimately leads to Jesus.
When he does pray, he starts out with what I think is one of the most powerful of prayers...
“O LORD, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.”
That is a powerful prayer. A prayer that we can learn a lot from...
...Please give me success today and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham...
And what if we personalized it?
...Please give me success today and show me your unfailing love...
That is a powerful prayer!
There are a lot of times, I find myself facing what looks like an impossible situation, one for which I have no answers and no understanding of how I can accomplish what is in front of me, including not even knowing how to get started. But yet, I want “success” in it. Not success as in making a lot of money, but success in terms of just being able to accomplish what needs to be done.
That is what Abraham’s servant was looking for, and the beautiful thing was that before he even finished his prayer, Rebekah shows up, and does exactly what the servant was asking for, and there were no questions that she was the one he was looking for all along. How easy was that? (Of course he had to travel for over 1 month in each direction and still find the right place, and the right people, but in the end, it all worked out.)
This prayer has impacted the way I pray and the way I look at prayer. From it, I learned it’s okay to pray for “success” when you are serving Christ, and it is okay to ask for it based on God’s steadfast love – His “chesed”.
God does want us to find “success” when we serve Him. He does want to lead us to fulfill His plan and purpose. He does want to give us His steadfast love. That’s Who He is.
It's okay to pray bold prayers. It’s okay to seek greater things. You are part of God’s plan, and He has you here for a reason. So, seek to do His will and obey and look for God’s Hand to be at work as you do. He still answers prayers.
So today, what are you praying for? Where do you need to see “success” in your journey with God? What “impossible” task are you facing?
Try the prayer of the unnamed servant and see what God will do.