AN ADVENTURE IN ANSWERED PRAYER! (Genesis 24)
Being in the Center of God's Will.
Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters. Proverbs 25:13
We all have wondered: How do you know God’s will, for sure? Is it when the pillar of cloud or fire rises up and moves out? Does he strangely warm your heart at the reading of a commentary on the book of Romans? Has He chosen one special person just for you, and your job is to find that person and fall in love and marry?
And what if you miss God's plan? What if you marry the wrong person and only meet your soul mate later? What if she has already married the wrong person by then? Have you both messed up the entire line of dominoes all around the world? Then your children are not supposed to be your children, but they should be made of different DNA from a different couple? Just think: if you get it wrong, your wrong choice could have messed up the entire planet for the rest of human history. Way to go, dummy.
Well, there was one person in the history of mankind who seems to have gotten it right, and it all worked out for him. Sort of. Well, let me just tell you his strangely romantic story.
It’s the story of Isaac and how he found his wife. And it illustrates the mysterious answer to How Prayer Works.
Abraham is now an old, old man. His trusted servant Eliezer, who would have been Abe’s heir had it not been for Isaac being born, is also getting up in years, but he’s considerably more mobile than Abraham is. Abe trusts Eliezer with the most intimate details of his life. But now comes the ultimate test of their friendship. Abe will trust his servant and friend like never before, and Eliezer will prove his loyalty with flying colors. But I’m getting ahead of the story.
The story is so detailed that I’m not even going to elaborate much. I’m basically just quoting from Genesis 24 here. Encountering God Version (EGV).
Abe calls Eli over to him. “Put your hand under my thigh.”
Under where, sir?
Ha ha ha! I just made you say underwear!
Ah, yes. Very good sir. Very funny.
Now, put your hand under my thigh. Really. I’m not kidding.
Ah, sir. That’s a very private place, and I’m not too comfortable . . .
Under my thigh, Eli, Eli.
Yes, sir.
Now I want you to swear something to me before the Lord.
I must say, it's pretty hard to lie to someone in this position, sir. Swear what?
Swear to me that you will not let my son marry any of the local Canaanite women.
Okay, I swear. Why?
You know why, Eliezer, you joker, you. These women are descended from Ham, who mocked his father’s nakedness. This whole land is full of godless blasphemers.
Where shall young Isaac find a bride, if I may ask?
That’s what I want you to do for us, Eli. Go back to Haran, in the region of Ur of the Chaldeans. Can you make that journey?
Well, sir, it’s a couple hundred miles. But it’s not the distance. It’s that, sir, isn’t that where God told you to leave over 35 years ago? Aren’t they pagans and pantheists up there, too?
They may be pagans and pantheists, but they are children of Shem, not of Ham. So they are my kind of people. You know what I’m saying, Eli.
As you wish, sir.
Very good.
A question, sir. What if I go there, and no one is willing to come back with me? I mean, I am a stranger to them, and we have been gone a long time. . . .
God will send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to it. . . . And it wouldn’t hurt to load up ten camels with all the best of what we own as a gift.
And what if no woman is willing to leave her family behind? Shall I move Isaac back up there?
No! That will never do! God told me to come here, and this is to be our land forever. But if you have done all that and they still are unwilling, then you are released from your pledge.
Thank you, sir.
Yes.
May I move my hand back, sir?
Oh, yes, yes. That is all, my friend. May God bless you in your quest.
This part of the story illustrates the first essential to having Providential answer to prayer. It happens first of all when we are already in the center of God’s will. He has already told us what He wants, and we are walking in it. So when we pray, He is not having to backtrack and redirect us in the first place. Otherwise, the prayer seems to be bouncing off the ceiling because God is trying to get our attention. “I would love to give you what you are asking, but first I need you to be going an entirely different direction, child!”
If we have driven to New England when He had called us to New Mexico, and then we say, “Which way should I turn at this intersection?” His answer is far more reaching than we imagine: “Make a U-turn and drive about 3000 miles!” We might be asking the wrong question in our prayers: “Help my team to win the game today, and for me to manage them well.” “I told you to spend more time with your family, not to keep coaching that team! Stop asking me to guide your mistake and bail you out of your messes!”
So if we are already doing His will, then it is much easier to hear the response and read the moment properly. Abraham was living where God had called him to live, and he was seeking a wife for his son from the right people and for the right reason. It was easy for God to direct the particulars of that quest. So that’s the first important part of receiving an answer to prayer: Already be in the center of His will.
You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. James 4:2-3
“If I never said it before I’ll say it now
If I never meant it before I mean it now
You’re my Lord You are my King
I give you my everything
And I will follow You
I mean it now”