Bible Lesson: Answered Prayer:
Eliezer Prays For Success.
Subject Of Prayer: A
Wife For Isaac.
Bible Text:
Genesis 21:1-27 NLT
1 Abraham was
now a very old man, and The Lord had blessed him in every way.
2 One day
Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his
household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.
3 Swear by The
Lord, The God Of Heaven And Earth, that you will not allow my son to
marry one of these local Canaanite women.
4 Go instead to
my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son
Isaac.”
5 The servant
asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to
travel so far from home? Should I then take Isaac there to live among
your relatives in the land you came from?”
6 “No!”
Abraham responded. “Be careful never to take my son there.
7 For The Lord,
The God Of Heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native
land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants. He will
send His Angel ahead of you, and He will see to it that you find a
wife there for my son.
8 If she is
unwilling to come back with you, then you are free from this oath of
mine. But under no circumstances are you to take my son there.”
9 So the
servant took an oath by putting his hand under the thigh of his
master, Abraham. He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions.
10 Then he
loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts
from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim. There he
went to the town where Abraham’s brother Nahor had settled.
11 He made the
camels kneel beside a well just outside the town. It was evening, and
the women were coming out to draw water.
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.”
Abraham had reached the grand old age of 140 years, and he knew it
was his obligation to provide for his son Issac. Abraham commissioned
his servant Eliezer to go into his own country (Mesopotamia), and
find a wife for Isaac.
No doubt Eliezer traveled with a caravan of goods and people,
certainly with a measure of wealth to bestow upon a girl and her
parents, if chosen.
Verses 12-14 give us Eliezer's prayer:
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.”
Barely had the words of Eliezer's prayer fallen from his lips, when
out came Rebekah.
Rebekah met all the qualifications that Eliezer had prayed for, she
was the bride to be for Isaac.
Eliezer was so over joyed at his immediate answer from The Lord, that
he prayed....
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.”
God Hears And
Answers Prayer:
I
Chronicles 16:11 KJV
Seek The Lord
and His strength, seek His face continually.
Psalm 6:9 KJV
The Lord hath
heard my supplication; The Lord will receive my prayer.
Psalm 55:17 KJV
Evening, and
morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear
my voice.
Psalm 65:2 KJV
O thou that
hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
Psalm 66:19 KJV
But verily God
hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psalm 91:15 KJV
He shall call
upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will
deliver him, and honor him.
Psalm 102:17 KJV
He will regard
the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
Psalm 122:6 KJV
Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Proverbs 15:8,29
KJV
8 The sacrifice
of the wicked is an abomination to The Lord: but the prayer of the
upright is His delight.
29 The Lord is
far from the wicked: but He heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Isaiah 56:7 KJV
"... for
Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
Isaiah 58:9 KJV
Then shalt thou
call, and The Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say,
Here I am...:"
Isaiah 65;24 KJV
And it shall
come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they
are yet speaking, I will hear.
Zechariah 13:9
KJV
And I will
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My
name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they
shall say, The Lord is my God.
Matthew 5:44 KJV
But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you;
Matthew 7:7,8
KJV
7 Ask, and it
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you:
8 For every one
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened.
Matthew 18:19,20
KJV
19 Again I say
unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any
thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father
which is in heaven.
20 For where
two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them.
Matthew 21:22
KJV
And all things,
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Matthew 26:41
KJV
Watch and pray,
that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak.
Mark 11:24 KJV
Therefore I say
unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them.
Luke 11:9,10 KJV
9 And I say
unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every
one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luke 18:1 KJV
And He spake a
parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not
to faint;
Luke 21:36 KJV
Watch ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before The Son
Of Man.
John 15:7 KJV
If ye abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you.
John 16:24 KJV
Hitherto have
ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy
may be full.
Ephesians 6:18
KJV
Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in The Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Philippians
4:6 NLT
Don’t worry
about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you
need, and thank Him for all He has done.
Colossians 4:2
NLT
Devote
yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
I
Thessalonians 5:17 KJV
Pray without
ceasing.
I Timothy 2:8
KJV
I will
therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without
wrath and doubting.
James 5:13 KJV
Is any among
you afflicted? let him pray..."
I Peter 4:7 KJV
But the end of
all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
I John 3:22 KJV
And whatsoever
we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Revelation 8:3-5 NLT (Prayers heard and kept)
3 Then another
angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a
great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of
God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne.
4 The smoke of
the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended
up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.
5 Then the
angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar..."
Psalm
141:2 KJV
Let my prayer be set forth before
thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening
sacrifice.
