Topical Bible: Answers To Prayer: Abraham's Servant

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Biblical Context:
The account of Abraham's servant receiving an answer to prayer is found in Genesis 24. This chapter details the mission of Abraham's servant, traditionally identified as Eliezer of Damascus, to find a wife for Isaac, Abraham's son. The narrative highlights the servant's reliance on God through prayer and the subsequent divine guidance he receives.

Scriptural Account:
Abraham, advanced in years and blessed by the LORD in all things, instructs his servant to find a wife for Isaac from his own relatives in Mesopotamia, rather than from the Canaanites among whom they lived. The servant, aware of the gravity of his task, seeks divine assistance. Upon reaching the city of Nahor, he prays for a specific sign to identify the right woman for Isaac.

Genesis 24:12-14 records the servant's prayer: "Then he prayed, 'O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, "Please let down your jar that I may drink," and she replies, "Drink, and I will 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.'"

Divine Response:
Before he had finished praying, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, came out with her jar on her shoulder. The servant's prayer is answered precisely as he had requested. Rebekah not only offers him a drink but also waters his camels, fulfilling the sign he had asked of God. This immediate and specific answer to prayer demonstrates God's providence and faithfulness.

Genesis 24:15-19 describes the encounter: "Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin who had not had relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again. So the servant ran to meet her and said, 'Please let me drink a little water from your jar.' 'Drink, my lord,' she replied, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, 'I will draw water for your camels as well, until they have had enough to drink.'"

Theological Implications:
The narrative underscores the importance of prayer in seeking God's guidance and the assurance that God hears and answers the prayers of His faithful servants. The servant's prayer is characterized by humility, specificity, and faith, serving as a model for believers seeking divine direction. The account also highlights God's sovereignty and His active role in fulfilling His covenant promises, as Rebekah's selection as Isaac's wife ensures the continuation of Abraham's lineage and the unfolding of God's redemptive plan.

Lessons for Believers:
1. Reliance on God: The servant's immediate turn to prayer upon arriving at his destination exemplifies a life dependent on God's guidance.
2. Specific Prayer: The servant's request for a specific sign demonstrates the value of praying with clarity and expectation.
3. God's Faithfulness: The swift and precise answer to the servant's prayer reassures believers of God's attentiveness and faithfulness to His promises.
4. Divine Providence: The orchestration of events leading to Rebekah's selection illustrates God's providential care in the lives of His people.

This account of answered prayer serves as a powerful reminder of the efficacy of prayer and the faithfulness of God in the lives of those who seek Him earnestly.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Genesis 24:15-27
And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Chapter xxiv
... Only a faith that knows God as Yahweh and trust like Abraham's would venture to ... to
the Lord what He is to do in answer to our prayer and answers that this ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter xxiv.htm

Intercession Every Christian's Duty
... story informs us, how remarkably his prayer as answered ... with the same faith as Abraham's
servant did for ... in many instances, receive as visible answers, and have ...
/.../selected sermons of george whitefield/intercession every christians duty.htm

Putting God to Work
... To Abraham God is existent, approachable, and all powerful, but ... moved them to take
care of His servant so that ... law, and this He may do when He answers prayer. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/bounds/the weapon of prayer/ii putting god to work.htm

Consecration to God --Illustrated by Abraham's Circumcision
... Paul answers in Romans 9:8, "They which are the ... consecration was manifest, first,
in his prayer for his ... The next result of Abraham's consecration was, that he ...
/.../spurgeons sermons volume 14 1868/consecration to godillustrated by abrahams.htm

On the Baptism of Christ.
... And if any one answers me again by raising a difficulty ... Abraham's servant is sent
to make the match, so as to ... For he did not simply by prayer bring down the ...
/.../gregory/gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/on the baptism of christ.htm

Faustus Rejects the Old Testament Because it Leaves no Room for ...
... Augustin answers as well as he can, and reproves the ... Her prayer for thee is, that
thou also mayest be ... that all nations should be blessed in Abraham's seed, as ...
/.../faustus rejects the old testament.htm

The Fifth Commandment
... their mouths to God for you in prayer, and will ... Doubtless Abraham's servant was as
glad he had got a ... 9. In the Greek, not giving cross answers.' Some servants ...
/.../watson/the ten commandments/2 5 the fifth commandment.htm

That we Ought to Give Ourselves to God with Regard to Things Both ...
... house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife ... and cried in vain for the answers
that could ... Their favoured dispensation of prayer was forgotten; they knew ...
//christianbookshelf.org/bounds/purpose in prayer/chapter ii that we ought.htm

Book ii. Jerome Answers the Second, Third, and Fourth Propositions ...
... Jerome answers the second, third, and fourth propositions of ... The case is different
if this prayer belongs to the ... by God, as we read in Genesis Abraham was, he ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/book ii jerome answers the.htm

The Swift Destroyer
... dragged him from it; the prayer of abject ... principle which was illustrated in Abraham's
intercession, and ... God's 'cannot' answers Lot's 'cannot.' His power is ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the swift destroyer.htm