This morning I was reading in Genesis, and I love reliving the experience of real life people who experienced God’s goodness. But I was especially touched today when I read about Abraham’s servant who was tasked to find a wife for Isaac. The great part was when he started looking in earnest he asked God specifically to let it play out a certain way. He was like, God, so I’ll know it’s you, I want you to have the bride-to-be to give me a drink of water. Then for good measure let her offer some to my camels too. Ok? But the greatest part was before he even finished praying this outlandish prayer, God answered. I mean, the words hadn’t even left his lips before Rebekah walked up and offered him a cool drink. Ask and receive, am I right?! Then when he repeated the situation to her family they knew without a doubt that it was of God. How else could a prayer that specific be answered just as specifically if it wasn’t?
I found this account to be a fabulous reminder of how a prayer life should be. We should be so certain of God’s involvement and blessing on our life that we pull out all the stops. Abraham had told his servant that God would take care of it. So the servant went with that fact. He prayed a very specific prayer that only God could fulfill, and he had faith that God would do just what he asked. So much so that God answered before he even closed his lips. Bam!
I believe that these situations aren’t just stuck in the Old Testament, but that God has big, specific answers for us today. And He wants us to ask in belief that He will answer.
This morning the forecast called for rain. I had looked at it last night and told Ben we wouldn’t be going to the pool. A glance again this morning confirmed the weather report of rain and thunderstorms. But I really wanted a little sun by the pool. I think sometimes we have desires but feel guilt asking God for them. It’s like we think we’re being selfish to ask it of Him. The girls had already expressed their desire to go to the pool. It had been a lot of thunderstorms for the past two weeks as we entered Central Florida’s rainy season, and we’d been chased away from the pool by bad weather every time we’d gone. So as they expressed the same desire as me for sunshine, I called them over to pray about it with me. As we looked out the window at the gray sky and down at my phone at an even gloomier forecast we prayed for sunshine. Ben looked at his radar and said we might have an hour of overcast skies if we hurried. So off to the pool with high hopes we went.
Just like the girls had asked of us, I asked of God as we went. Please, Lord. Just keep the rain away for a little while. Let us enjoy some time at the pool together on my day off.
Well, not only did it not rain, but the sun came out in full force! There wasn’t a gray cloud in the sky for as far as I could see. And this was in total opposition to how it had looked before we left the house, what the radar had shown, or what the hourly forecast had promised. God gave us sunshine.
As I lay soaking in the rays after swimming with my girls, I watched my husband walk in his gifting. The sun and clear skies had brought another gentleman out by the pool, and in a fashion that only my husband can carry out, he struck up an easy conversation. He’s so unlike me. Where I have trouble conversing with a stranger, Ben takes to it like a fish to water. He feels like the best way to show God’s Love is to love people. So he takes every opportunity he can to talk with whoever God puts in his path. His gift of gab, heart for others, and easy way of listening is a treasure for me to watch.
After a few hours poolside we decided to go visit a small, scenic town down the road called Celebration. It easily lives up to its name with picturesque architecture and beautiful scenery. It’s a great place to grab lunch or ice cream, walk around, and even play in the fountain. We saw they rent specialty, family bikes for riding around the lake, and that will be our next adventure here. While we skipped the bikes today, we still had a wonderful time. It had rained just before we arrived, but stopped as we pulled into our parking spot. And it didn’t rain again until we were ready to go!
Here’s the thing about praying specific prayers… You get specific answers. Thank you, God, for a great day!
