Not even waiting for the "amen"....

"before he had finished praying"

Genesis 24:15

Man, I love those words... I'm not sure there are any better words in Scripture to illustrate God's love for us.  But before we celebrate that, let's go over the story.

I'm in Chapter 24 of Genesis (as you might have noticed from the verse location) and it's time for Isaac to be married.  So Abraham sends his trusted servant (probably Eliezer) to the land of Abraham's family, to bring back a wife for Isaac.  And we soon see that not only is Eliezer a believer in God, he is also devoted to his master, Abraham.  In verse 12, he prays a beautiful prayer that God will enable him to do what his master has asked:  "Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham."  I love that his idea of success is kindness to Abraham.  That's loyalty.

So he prays that God will show him who is to be Isaac's wife, and asks for a sign:  if he sits by the well, the woman that God intends will offer to give him a drink, and provide for his camels, too.  And before he was even finished praying, Rebekah appeared, with her empty water jar on her shoulder.

There's only one other place where I know of this happening.  In Daniel chapter 9, Daniel sees a vision, and he then prays to receive understanding of what he has just seen.  In response, the angel Gabriel appears before him, saying, "Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.  At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved."  I just love that line, "at the beginning of your supplications, the command went out."  It's the same concept as we see with Eliezer, and it's a good reminder to us of how effective prayer is.

Now, I know there are plenty of times when we pray, and the only response we get from God is chirping crickets.   And for days, or weeks, or months or even years after our prayer, we are still waiting for a response from God.  I know that happens.  But I think it happens a lot that God answers before we even finish praying, and we just don't realize it was Him.   There's a joke about a man driving down the street, frustrated because he couldn't find a parking place.  Looking up to heaven, he said, "Lord, take pity on me.  If you find me a parking place, I promise I'll go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life, and give up swearing."  Miraculously, a spot opened up right in front of the building.  The man looked up and said, "Never mind.  I found one."  It's funny, but there's something disconcerting about it, too.

Our prayers are precious to Him.  Revelation tells us our prayers are held in golden bowls.  So even when it seems that He is silent, you can know that the answer is on the way, before we're even done praying.

~ "the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders 

fell down before the Lamb, 

each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, 

which are the prayers of the saints." ~

Revelation 5:8