Through the Bible - Genesis 30-31, Matthew 11:1-15
Good morning,
Some of the devotionals from last week dealt with the importance of prayer as told by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and following. Prayer has been an important part of the believers, God's followers, going all the way back to Genesis. If you've been reading along in the Old Testament as outlined above you've seen the part that it has played in Abram/Abraham's life, even those of his servants.
For today's verse we'll go back to Genesis 24 where Abraham sends a servant off to find a wife for his master.
Listen to his prayer.
Gen 24:12 Then he said, "O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. NKJV
Last week in Matthew we looked at the Lord's prayer which we can follow by using the ACTS acronym - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. We saw how Jesus encouraged His follower to ask and keep on asking, and we also saw how He encouraged His followers to pray for their mission.
The NLT study notes for this passage point out that "the first key to pleasing God is found in our heart or our motivation. Do we really want to make God happy, or are we going through the motions because someone told us we should?
The second key to pleasing God is obedience as we see in John 14:21:" He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." NKJV
Obedience to God is loving enough to listen to what He says, then following through on what we know He is telling us."
Obedience to God is loving enough to listen to what He says, then following through on what we know He is telling us."
If you have the time, read Genesis 24. See the heart of the servant in the prayer, in the chapter. See how God answers his prayers, prayers that were made on behalf of his master, not for himself.
The Amplified Bible notes for the chapter state, "This chapter is highly illustrative of God the Father, Who sends forth His Holy Spirit to win the consent of the individual soul to become the bride of His Son. Keep these resemblances constantly in mind as you read and see how the story unfolds. First meet the Father and note His concern about His Son's bride. Then get acquainted with the Holy Spirit's great, selfless heart, Whose one purpose is to win the girl for His Master's Son. Then meet the Son and note His tenderness as He claims His bride. The longest chapter in Genesis is devoted to this important story. "
See his response to what happened in verses 26 and similarly in verse 52.
Gen 24:26 Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. 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." NKJV
How important is prayer in your life? Are you praying for your own benefit or that of your Master, Thy will be done? What will be your response to answered and unanswered prayers?
12 "O Lord, God of my master, Abraham," he prayed. "Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham. 13 See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. 14 This is my request. I will ask one of them, 'Please give me a drink from your jug.' If she says, 'Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!'—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac's wife. This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master."
15 Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham's brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah. 16 Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. 17 Running over to her, the servant said, "Please give me a little drink of water from your jug."
18 "Yes, my lord," she answered, "have a drink." And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. 19 When she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink." 20 So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels.
21 The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission. 22 Then at last, when the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring for her nose and two large gold bracelets for her wrists.
23 "Whose daughter are you?" he asked. "And please tell me, would your father have any room to put us up for the night?"
24 "I am the daughter of Bethuel," she replied. "My grandparents are Nahor and Milcah. 25 Yes, we have plenty of straw and feed for the camels, and we have room for guests."
26 The man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. 27 "Praise the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham," he said. "The Lord has shown unfailing love and faithfulness to my master, for he has led me straight to my master's relatives."
NLT
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