Faith

There's no doubt that Abraham is firmly rooted in the annals of history as one of the greatest examples of faith in action.  But more importantly, I think he must've been an excellent model because his approach certainly rubbed off on his servant Eliezer.  Get a load of the Eliezer's prayer biblegateway.com.  Talk about specific!  What makes it even more amazing is the fact that even before he was done with this very specific request, there came Rebekah.

My biggest thought though is 'does God still do this kinda stuff?'  Does he meet desires as pointedly as he did back then?  I'm longing to hear you weigh in because I think He does.  I hear the snickers of the skeptics but I am nevertheless convinced (through personal experiences and those related by others) that there are no coincidences in the life of the believer in Jesus Christ.  God allows stuff to happen based on His purpose and our faith.  It simply means that when we lack faith in His purpose we miss out on what we could have achieved in our personal and spiritual lives. 

This brings me to another element - What exactly is God's purpose in our circumstances?  Clearly, few of us will see any divine good in bad circumstances but I would dare to argue that there are.  I'm sure that many people will have stories of their 'good' prayers that did not receive the desired answer.  I still struggle with having to step back and let God complete His purpose in my life, not my will... right?  I can pray for an X5, not because I need a car but because I want to floss.  If I don't get it does that mean that God doesn't move as specifically as He did back then?  I think not.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with owning an X5 or any other top of the line vehicle for that matter, but isn't it interesting that most of us hardly include the whole "God's purpose" angle in these aspects of our lives?  God isn't against having nice things, some of the godliest people who walk(ed) this Earth are/were among the wealthiest, but c'mon if the ruler of the universe opted to be born in a stable and raised by tradespeople obviously God's more interested in having His purposes completed. biblegateway.com

Before you go rubbing the "prayer genie" check your motives!