Eliezer’s Prayer

(Genesis 24:12–14)                                                                         Pastor. Song Soo Park

Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.

May it be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

Brothers and sisters, when we look at the Bible, we see many people’s prayers recorded. Among them, Daniel is well known as a man whose prayer was answered immediately as soon as he prayed. That is why in Daniel 9:21, 23 we read:

“While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision earlier, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, ‘Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly loved.’”

Brothers and sisters, Daniel’s prayer was the very prayer that made it possible for the people of Israel to end their seventy years of Babylonian captivity and return to their homeland, Jerusalem. That was because on that very day, God moved the heart of King Cyrus to issue a decree.

Ezra 1:1–3 says: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made        a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all His people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel.’”

Brothers and sisters, even personal prayers usually take some time before they are answered. But Daniel’s prayer was one that determined a nation’s policy and opened the door to a nation’s independence—truly a prayer that changed the course of world history.

If that is the case, wouldn’t we expect such a prayer to require countless people praying fervently over a very long period of time? Yet Daniel alone prayed, and immediately received an answer. That is remarkable.

That is why in Daniel 9:23, when Gabriel announces the answer to Daniel’s prayer, he says to him, “You are greatly loved.” “You are greatly loved.”

But in today’s passage, we meet another person who, like Daniel, received an answer to prayer immediately after praying. Who is it? Yes, it is Eliezer, known as Abraham’s servant.

Genesis 24:15 says: “Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.”

Here, the word “speaking” refers to the prayer Eliezer had just offered to God in verses 12–14. Yes, Eliezer prayed to God concerning a wife for Isaac, and astonishingly, before he had even finished praying, he received the answer by meeting Rebekah.

Brothers and sisters, what kind of person was Eliezer that he, like Daniel, received God’s answer immediately after praying? The Bible describes Eliezer as Abraham’s slave or servant, but this is not the same concept of a servant that we usually think of today. Let us look at Genesis 15:2:

“But Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will You give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’”

Genesis 15 depicts Abraham, now over ninety years old and still without a child, praying to God about making his servant Eliezer his heir.

However, as you know, a servant had no right of inheritance.
In the ancient Near East, slaves or servants were not considered part of the category of “persons” but rather of “property.” They were simply possessions of their master.

Therefore, if Abraham were to leave his inheritance to Eliezer, what problem would arise? Since Eliezer would still be classified as Abraham’s property, even if Abraham tried to pass his inheritance to him, the legal right of inheritance would still go to the closest family member—his nephew Lot.

For this reason, in order for Abraham to make Eliezer his heir, two legal issues had to be resolved.

First, Eliezer would have to be freed from slavery to resolve his status issue. Second, he would have to be made legally part of Abraham’s family—either as an adopted son or as a son-in-law—so that he would have priority over Lot.

A similar example appears in 1 Chronicles 2. There was a man named Sheshan who had only daughters and no heir. What did he do?
He freed his servant Jarha, married him to his daughter, and then passed on the inheritance.

So, if Abraham wanted to make Eliezer his heir, it was far more complicated than it might seem. In the ancient Near East, inheritance was understood strictly in terms of family bloodlines. Simply designating someone was not enough; one had to make him a family member—either by adoption or marriage. But Eliezer was already old.

Then why, despite all this, did Abraham consider Eliezer as his heir?
Let us look at Genesis 15:3: “And Abram said, ‘Behold, You have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.’”

The phrase “a member of my household” does not mean someone who was merely raised in the house. In the original Hebrew, it means “the steward of my house” or “the guarantor of my household.”

Strictly speaking, then, Eliezer was not just a simple slave or servant, but the steward and guarantor who managed Abraham’s entire estate.

For reference, before settling in Canaan, Abraham’s original occupation was not livestock farming but long-distance trading. After settling in Canaan, he gradually transitioned into pastoralism.

What is a long-distance trader? It refers to a large-scale merchant who travels in caravans with camels or horses, buying and selling regional goods.

What evidence supports this?

First, Abraham continued to move around after arriving in Canaan.
Even before going down to Egypt because of famine, he did not settle in one place but kept traveling. Genesis 12:6–9 says that he moved from Shechem to Bethel, then to Ai, and gradually toward the Negev.

If Abraham had been only a herdsman, he would have moved north to south or east to west according to pasture needs. But instead, he traveled from west to east and from north to south—routes characteristic of merchant trade.

Second, when Abraham’s wife Sarah died, he paid for her burial site using currency commonly used by merchants. Genesis 23:16 says: “Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.” This shows that Abraham was a large-scale merchant.

Third, long-distance traders often encountered bandits and therefore maintained private soldiers or guards. In Genesis 14, when Abraham’s nephew Lot was captured by King Chedorlaomer, Abraham took 318 trained men born in his household, pursued the captors, attacked them by night, and rescued Lot. This confirms that Abraham was a large-scale merchant.

Therefore, if Abraham had 318 trained men, he must have been a very large merchant, and such         a man would certainly appoint a guarantor.
Because of the vast size of his wealth, someone was needed to manage it, and in the master’s absence or death, to oversee its transfer and proper execution for the family. That professional was the guarantor.

That is why Genesis 24:2 says: “Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had…”

For Abraham, Eliezer was someone he could entrust with his entire fortune—a person of complete trust, almost like family, who could take responsibility even after Abraham’s death. Abraham knew that Eliezer’s faith in God was as deep as his own and that he was a man of prayer. That is why, in choosing an heir, Abraham sought God’s final confirmation not for Lot, his closest blood relative, but for Eliezer.

Although the issue of inheritance was resolved by God’s grace when Isaac was born, Eliezer remained in Abraham’s heart as someone he could entrust with all his most important matters—a person beyond mere trust.

That is why Abraham sent Eliezer to Ur of the Chaldeans to find a wife for Isaac, the heir of God’s promise.

Genesis 24:10 tells us that when Eliezer departed for Ur, he took ten of his master’s camels and “took with him all kinds of choice gifts from his master.” Later, when we see him distributing bridal gifts to Rebekah’s family, we notice that they were almost entirely gold—gold nose rings, gold bracelets. Loaded onto ten camels, their value likely amounted to hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of dollars.

Brothers and sisters, imagine carrying such precious goods and traveling over a thousand miles. How dangerous and arduous that journey must have been! That is why Eliezer prayed at every stage of his journey.

Let us read Genesis 24:12: “And he said, ‘O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.’”

There is a phrase in Eliezer’s prayer that deserves our close attention: “grant me success.” “Grant me success…”

This word “success” does not simply mean that things go smoothly without accidents. It specifically means that things proceed exactly according to the original plan, without deviation.

Thus, the first key point of Eliezer’s prayer was his request that God’s plan would not be altered.

In the Bible, God’s plans are always fulfilled. However, in the process of fulfillment, we sometimes see changes or delays—and more often than not, the reason is people, not circumstances.

For example:

• The wilderness journey after the Exodus was originally meant to take forty days, but it became forty years—not because of lack of food or water, but because of Israel’s disobedience.

• God initially planned to rule Israel through King Saul, but because of Saul’s disobedience, that plan shifted to David.

• In Acts 1:8, Jerusalem was chosen as the starting point for the gospel to reach the ends of the earth, but because the Jerusalem church could not overcome Jewish prejudice, the plan shifted to the church in Antioch.

That is why Eliezer’s prayer—that God’s plan would not change because of him—carries such            an important message.

It is a prayer that says:

• “Lord, do not let Your plan be altered because of my laziness.”

• “Do not let Your plan become entangled because of my foolishness.”

• “Do not let Your plan be delayed or postponed because of my sin.”

Second, Eliezer prays in a way that helps him focus entirely on God’s plan.
Let us read Genesis 24:13–14:

“Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 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 also,’ 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.”

If you look closely at this prayer, Eliezer is running a simulation of God’s plan in advance. He is praying while mentally walking through how he should act in order to find a wife for Isaac and continue the lineage of faith.

But where did this simulation begin? It began with the plan that Abraham had already shared with him.

Genesis 24:4–8 says: “Go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. The LORD, the God of heaven… will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there…”

Eliezer walked thousands of miles with only this in mind. And as soon as he arrived, he prayed by vividly envisioning God’s work in that specific situation, placing himself squarely within God’s plan.

Eliezer’s prayer is like writing a script for God’s plan. Every word and every action is carefully set according to that plan, and he resolves to act it out faithfully.

That is why Eliezer’s prayer was so deliberate and precise. And just like a script, he spoke and acted without deviation—like an actor following a prepared screenplay.

That is why Genesis 24:25 includes the phrase, “before I had finished speaking in my heart.” It is like   a table read of the script: “When I stand by the well and ask the young woman for a drink, if she says, ‘Drink,’ and also offers water to the camels, then I will know she is the one God has appointed.”

Eliezer kept placing himself into God’s scenario in prayer, preparing for that decisive moment.

Why did he do this? There was only one reason: He could not allow God’s plan—God’s scenario—to be altered because of him.

That is why in Genesis 24:33, even when the answer to prayer was almost complete, Eliezer remained fully focused so that God’s plan would not go astray even slightly:

“Food was set before him to eat, but he said, ‘I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.’” And again in Genesis 24:56: “But he said to them, ‘Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.’”

Hunger was not the issue. Resting his weary body was not the priority.
Eliezer thought of only one thing—God’s plan, God’s scenario.

So how was Eliezer’s prayer fulfilled? Genesis 24:45 says: “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder…”

The answer came before the prayer was finished. God’s scenario did not remain merely in his thoughts; it unfolded in real life.

Because Eliezer was ready to obey in faith, God gave the signal in reality, and His plan progressed exactly according to the script of the prayer.

This is the core of Eliezer’s prayer. May you experience the concrete power of such prayer in your own lives.