In reading Genesis 24 I have always recognized the specific way in which Abraham's servant prayed for Isaac's wife. I believe this passage is in the Bible to not only recount the sovereign and amazing way in which God provided a bride for Isaac. I also believe that it is written to show us the power of praying specific prayers to our Almighty, prayer answering, God. In reading it again I saw some practical points about the promptings and power of praying specific prayers. I hope these will encourage us to do the same.
Specific Prayers Are Prompted By A Heart Convinced of the Steadfast Love and Faithfulness of God
The more we grow in our knowledge, belief and faith in the Lord being lovingly faithful to us the more we are emboldened to ask great things of Him. This is extremely important to understand. Our failure to pray specifically speaks, at some level, to our minimal understanding of who God is for us in Christ. While it may involve other realities as well, a struggle to trust the faithfulness is God is one of them. Why is this the case?
We are in a relationship with the Lord and, as such, to the degree that our relationship is deepened is the degree to which trust increases. Consider categories of your personal relationships with others. There are those who are acquaintances, those who are friends and then there are those who are like yokefellows or intimate friends. They are not only like family to us, but they are more intimate than even blood! We do not ask or expect the same from each person in each category. This is why they are in a specified category.
Those who are acquaintances are such because we have not spent enough time with them to move them to the friend category and those in the friend category have not yet earned our trust to be called intimate friendships. Those who are intimate friends are those to whom our requests will be more specific because there is more trust. We know that they care about us and our well-being more than any other.
Is this not true of the Lord for us, His people? He alone cares most for our well-being: physical and spiritual. Here then is the place for learning and being comfortable in praying specific prayers: increasing in our trust of the Lord by learning about Him in the Word. The servant of Abraham would dare ask this very specific request only because he trusted heart the Lord’s steadfast care and faithfulness to and for His people. The same is true for those of us who know and love Christ.
The more convinced by the Word of the Lord’s care and concern for us the more inclined we become to ask great and specific things from Him. This unfailing love gives us the confidence to ask boldly.