The Way of Asking

Let us start this first chapter with a story about the first prayer for success recorded in the Bible:

Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things. Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "You shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac." The servant said to him, "What if the woman isn't willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son again to the land you came from?" Abraham said to him, "Beware that you don't bring my son there again? Yahweh, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land,' He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there? If the woman isn't willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath. Only you shall not bring my son there again." ... The servant took ten camels, of his master's camels, and departed, having all goodly things of his master's in his hand? He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor? He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water? He said, "Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, 'Please let down your pitcher that I may drin.' She will say, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.' Let the same be she who you have appointed for your servant Isaac? Thereby will I know that you have shown kindness to my master." It happened, before he had done speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out. (Genesis 24:1–15a WEB)

Eliezer, the trusted servant, was on a mission to find the perfect wife for Abraham's son Isaac. The requirements were clear: she had to be from Abraham's hometown, a relative from Abraham's father's descendants, one who understood that she was entering a special family with a special mission, who would make a suitable matriarch of the clan, and who was willing to leave her home and family to start a new life with a man she had never met in a faraway land.

Mission impossible, you say? Eliezer started out on the journey with a train of camels laden with gifts and a group of servants and guards. He must have wondered along the way how he would find the perfect wife for Isaac, one who would meet all the requirements Abraham had given. Finally arriving in Mesopotamia and finding Abraham's relatives' hometown, he did the natural thing and stopped by the town's well. The men were thirsty, and the camels needed water.

It was toward evening, the heat of the day was beginning to fade, and women were coming to draw water for the evening meal. Eliezer had seen the blessings that God granted Abraham through the years. As he stood there watching the young women coming to the well, he prayed a simple prayer: "Lord, God of my master Abraham, please give me success today. Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, 'Please let down your pitcher that I may drink.' She will say, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.' Let the same be she who you have appointed for your servant Isaac" (Genesis 24:12-14, WEB). Before he had even finished praying, Rebekah came to the well. She was young and beautiful and had a peaceful, contented look on her face. Eliezer's eyes lit up? He hurried to ask her for a drink. Rebekah responded exactly as he had prayed!

A little further questioning revealed she was the granddaughter of one of Abraham's brothers. Learning that he was from her great-uncle Abraham in Canaan, Rebekah promptly reported to her family. Her brother Laban came running to invite Eliezer and his men as the women prepared a meal for the hungry travelers. But before he would eat, Eliezer was determined to finish what he had set out to do.

As he outlined his request, the men of the family recognized that this was part of the divine plan. They agreed to let Rebekah go with Eliezer to Canaan to become Isaac's wife. They asked for ten days, but Eliezer insisted on leaving the next morning. They finally got around to asking Rebekah what she thought, although I'm sure she must have been listening through a partition the whole time.

Rebekah's answer was simple? "I will go," she said. After many days of travel, they reached the place near where Abraham had camped. Rebekah noticed a man walking alone through the fields. He must have been quite a man, because she immediately dismounted from her camel and asked Eliezer who the man was. Upon hearing it was Isaac, she wrapped her veil around her, covering her face. To make a long story short, Isaac fell in love with her, and they were soon married. Eliezer's mission was accomplished!

There is a lot that you can learn from Eliezer and his mission, and I will refer to it again later in this chapter. You can see that his simple prayer at the well was not a last-minute, spur-of-the-moment prayer. There was a whole process leading up to it.

Asking

Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find? Knock, and it will be opened to you.

— Matthew 7:7 (WEB)

I am sure you have heard those words from the Sermon on the Mount at one time or another. Maybe you've tried asking yet didn't receive what you were asking for. So you gave up or decided it doesn't work. Perhaps you did not ask in the right way. Or maybe what you were asking for was not really the thing you wanted.

In another lesson, Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them" (Mark 11:24 WEB)?

So what exactly does it mean to pray? Is it simply presenting a wish list to God and the universe? Is it like a letter to some divine Santa Claus? Let us talk about what it means to truly ask for something you want or need in prayer.

Asking to Receive

How do we go about asking? What is the way to ask? St? James wrote:

You lust, and don't have. You kill, covet, and can't obtain. You fight and make war. Yet you don't have, because you don't ask. You ask, and don't receive, because you ask amiss, so that you may spend it for your pleasures. (James 4:2–3 WEB)

The King James Version is even stronger: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (selfish desires)" (James 4:3 KJV)?

So what's wrong with pleasure? Nothing. What's wrong with having a new sports car, a Hollywood mansion, or a vacation in Italy? Nothing!

"So, Father, I'm told to ask and I will receive. Then I'm told that I'm not getting what I asked for because my motives are wrong. So how do I get that 'receive' part?"

Good...