WHAT I LEARNED WHEN I READ THE BIBLE
The servant sent by Abraham was a man of God. When Abraham tasked the servant to find Isaac a wife, he made a specific request to God. “Then he prayed, ‘Lord, …make me successful today… 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 young woman, ‘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.’” (Genesis 24:12-14 NIV).
God asks us to be specific in prayer. Some take a “whatever God wants” attitude, but God instructs us to be direct. In Matthew 20:29-34 we see God ask the two blind men what they want. It is only after they tell him that God then heals. When we follow God, our desires will line up with His’. Each day I pray that I only desire God’s will for my life, and I ask Him to take away anything in my heart that does not match His will.
Why does God ask us to be direct in our requests? One reason, it is then that only God receives credit for the prayer being answered. When the blind men begged daily for mercy, the crowds would toss coins. They had compassion, but they could not heal. It was only God who could give them their sight. If God had restored their sight without them asking, they, and the crowd, would have written it off. But with the specific request made to Jesus, there was no question where the healing came from. God is glorified through our specific requests.