True Worship: Chapter 4, “True Worship Acknowledges God’s Loyalty.” The fourth chapter of the book takes a look at Abraham again. Really, it’s more of a look at Eliezer, Abraham’s chief servant, and his trip back to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Abraham’s son, Isaac.
The authors make an interesting point. We aren’t told what Eliezer knew of the true God. Did he worship God or did he worship some other false deity? We see several times in Genesis 24 that Eliezer prays to God. And in one peculiar statement, he prays, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham . . .” Not, “O Lord, my God . . .” but, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham . . .” That’s an interesting thought to ponder.
Eliezer obediently set out on the 500 mile trip with a long caravan of camels. He prays a very specific prayer that God will send a woman to a well, that the woman will offer Eliezer a drink and then offer to water the camels. How often do we pray that specifically? I don’t know about you, but my prayers sometimes tend to be more generic. Maybe I’m not praying with enough faith! But, Eliezer prayed expectantly! He fully expected God to answer his prayer. Guess what. He did. It happened just like Eliezer prayed for it to happen. Rebekah, Abraham’s great neice and Isaac’s second cousin, came out to the well where Eliezer had his camels parked. And she offered water to Eliezer and to his camels! Standing before him was the future wife of his master’s son. God had been faithful to answer his prayer.
I want to point out the response of Rebekah’s parents. If a friend of one of my brothers came to me and said, “I need to take your daughter back with me; she’s going to marry your nephew,” I’m sure I would find the biggest stick I could to chase the guy out of my sight. You’re not gettin’ my little girl! But that’s not how Rebekah’s parents reacted (okay, okay, these are different times and we don’t arrange marriages for our daughters; I know it’s 2006, but still . . .) They said, “This is a God thing. We don’t get a choice in the matter.” Or, “It doesn’t matter what we think. God is in this” (v. 50-51).
Our worship would take on new meaning if we would worship God in light of His faithfulness to us. Eliezer prayed expectantly. Think about your prayer life; do you really expect to do what it is you’re asking? Now, don’t take this as an opportunity to “go shopping.” Pray according to God’s will, not your own. And pray expectantly!
