“This records the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham: When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife because she had no children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. When the two children struggled in her womb, she asked the Lord why this was happening, and the Lord told her, ‘The sons in your womb will become two rival nations. One nation will be stronger than the other, and your older child will serve the younger,” Genesis 25:19-23.
Questions: With whom or what do you struggle? Is your old self struggling with your new self in God?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, looking back at old ways and looking forward to new is like carrying twin thoughts that fight within me! Help me, Lord, to move forward into Your plan and purpose for my life with no fears and no regrets. Thank You for giving Your prayers, Your guidance, Your peace to me and all You want me to be.
~~
© 2012, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved.
~~
Showing posts with label Rebecca. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rebecca. Show all posts
March 17, 2012
Getting very specific in prayer
Background: Long after Abraham prayed for God to favor Ishmael, he and his wife Sarah brought up their son Isaac to become the heir whom God had named. Sometime before the young man turned thirty, his mother died and was buried in a cave that Abraham had purchased at full price near Mamre (also known as Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Despite the family ties to that area, Abraham did not want his son to marry a Canaanite woman. He was so adamant in fact that he made his chief servant swear to go to Abraham’s homeland and find Isaac a wife among their own kin.
The servant gave no objection to the request but showed concern for the success of his mission. When he asked Abraham what to do if no woman wanted to come home with him to meet Isaac, his master said, “The LORD God of heaven will send an angel before you,” Genesis 24:7-8. Abraham further assured the man that, if God did not take care of everything, the chief servant would be released from his oath. The man promised to obey his master’s request, and then, with ten camels loaded with gifts, the servant set off in the right direction.
When he reached the town of Nahor, he made the camels kneel near water as he stood to pray:
“’O LORD, God of Abraham, grant me success and show Your kindness to my master. Here I am, standing beside this well where the young women of the town come to draw water. So when I ask someone to let down her jar to give me a drink and she says yes and offers to give water to the camels also, oh, let her be the one You have chosen! This will let me know, too, that You have favored my master with a wife for his son Isaac.’
“Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with a water jug on her shoulder,” Genesis 24:12-15.
Questions: Does God ever answer our prayers before we even finish praying? Does God honor specific requests, especially if the answer enables us to do the very thing our Master wants?
Prayer: LORD God, sometimes I think I am the only master of my life! Forgive me, Lord, for treating You as my Servant, ready to do my bidding. Help me to keep my promises to You and anyone else to whom I have made a vow. Give me success, Lord, in obeying You and accomplishing everything You want me to do and be.
~~
© 2012, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved.
~~
The servant gave no objection to the request but showed concern for the success of his mission. When he asked Abraham what to do if no woman wanted to come home with him to meet Isaac, his master said, “The LORD God of heaven will send an angel before you,” Genesis 24:7-8. Abraham further assured the man that, if God did not take care of everything, the chief servant would be released from his oath. The man promised to obey his master’s request, and then, with ten camels loaded with gifts, the servant set off in the right direction.
When he reached the town of Nahor, he made the camels kneel near water as he stood to pray:
“’O LORD, God of Abraham, grant me success and show Your kindness to my master. Here I am, standing beside this well where the young women of the town come to draw water. So when I ask someone to let down her jar to give me a drink and she says yes and offers to give water to the camels also, oh, let her be the one You have chosen! This will let me know, too, that You have favored my master with a wife for his son Isaac.’
“Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with a water jug on her shoulder,” Genesis 24:12-15.
Questions: Does God ever answer our prayers before we even finish praying? Does God honor specific requests, especially if the answer enables us to do the very thing our Master wants?
Prayer: LORD God, sometimes I think I am the only master of my life! Forgive me, Lord, for treating You as my Servant, ready to do my bidding. Help me to keep my promises to You and anyone else to whom I have made a vow. Give me success, Lord, in obeying You and accomplishing everything You want me to do and be.
~~
© 2012, Mary Sayler, all rights reserved.
~~
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