Word of Encouragement (02/23/2022)

And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” (Gen. 24:12-14).

Before we examine Eliezer’s prayer, let’s reflect on the setting of his prayer: “Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.” Yesterday, we saw that Eliezer was an honorable, trustworthy servant of Abraham. Today, we see that he is a wise man as well from his choice of location. He offers this prayer at a spring of water in the town, Nahor.

The spring was certainly the first place a traveler would have wanted to go to as he entered the town. Having traveled for a while, he would have liked to get some fresh water for himself and his beasts. But we can be sure that this was not the reason that Eliezer went there first. As a faithful servant, he wanted nothing more than to finish his mission as quickly as possible and return to his master with a good bride for his master’s son. We know this because of what happens later. When the bride’s brother, Laban, asks him to let her stay with them at least ten more days (Gen. 24:55), Eliezer replies, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master” (Gen. 24:56). It would have been nice for him to stay behind for ten more days and recuperate from his journey. But he was no slacker. His only concern was to fulfill his mission for his master as quickly and well as possible. He lived for his master, not for himself. So, if he thought that there was a better place to go to find a bride more efficiently, he would have gone there first before going to the well to get some rest for himself, his men, and the camels.

Why the spring of water? If you want a party girl, you go to a bar or a frat party. If you want a studious girl, you go to the library. If you want to meet a cultured girl, you go to a museum or a classical concert. You get the idea. Notice what Eliezer says in his prayer: “Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.” It was customary at that time for young maidens to come to the spring of water and draw water for the family. We don’t know whether all the daughters had to do this or only one or some of the daughters did. The latter is more likely since there were other chores to be done at home, I’m sure. If that were the case, those that came out were probably the healthier and more fit ones.

Eliezer goes on to pray, “Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac.” As you can see, this would have shown that the maiden was a kind-hearted person. This shows that Eliezer did not just go through the motion, doing the very minimum to look like he was doing his job. He approached his mission from his master’s perspective—what kind of daughter-in-law his master would have chosen for his son if he were doing it himself.

In this prayer, we see the beauty of thoughtful prayer. This thoughtfulness comes from Eliezer’s whole-hearted commitment to carry out his master’s desire: his heart was fully in what he prayed. Isn’t this what our God deserves? We find it offensive when our conversation partner’s attention wanders to somewhere else, don’t we? Besides, God is fully engaged with us at all times. He does not listen to us half-heartedly. He gives us His full attention when we approach Him—because He is infinite in His being, He can do this with each of us. There is no point in “faking” before our all-seeing God. How scary and liberating it is at the same time to be honest and earnest with God! And how much more meaningful and fruitful is our interaction with God when we say what we mean and mean what we say! How about if we try it today and in the coming days?