Seeds for 08/14/2024 - Ask - Genesis 24:12-14
In this series on prayer and scripture, we are following the acronym P.R.A.Y. as a guide for prayer. We are considering scriptures throughout the Bible on each theme. My prayer is that studying scriptures on these themes will give us biblical words to use as our own and simple insights for our praying.
Scripture:
12 Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 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.”
Observation:
This prayer comes from a servant of Abraham who is seeking a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham did not want Isaac to marry a woman from the new area where they were living, but from his people. So, he sent his servant with that charge. Here are my observations from this passage that connects to asking.
First, the servant asks God for help making his mission a success. This is so simple, but vital to remember. The servant recognizes that he could make the entire journey, do all the work he has done, yet still fail to succeed in his mission. He need not depend on himself alone—He can call on God.
Second, the servant has put himself in position for success. He has gone to the well where the women of the village would come to draw water for their households. So, he has acted wisely in going to the well, yet he does not depend on his own wisdom. He puts that together with asking the Lord’s guidance and provision.
Third, through his quite specific request, he is asking God to guide him to a woman of the right sort of character for his master’s son. She would be someone who is gracious and hospitable, but extra generous too. In our asking, we may certainly make very specific requests. That said, the servant asked for those things because of a particular and important “why”—the woman’s character. Have we thought about the “why” for our specific requests beyond simple wants?
Application:
When have you successfully combined wise actions with dependent praying?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, I come to cast my cares upon you. Grant me wisdom, and keep me clear about my dependence on you. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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