Genesis 24 · a question people ask
Should we ask God for a sign the way the servant did?
The servant asked God for a specific sign (24:12-14), and the answer came "Before he had finished speaking" (24:15). Even then he watched "to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not" (24:21). Genesis records what he did without commanding it. Protestants read it in two main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
An example of asking God for guidance
Those who hold this view see the servant's prayer as a pattern for bringing specific decisions to God. God answered him (24:15, 27), Gideon asked for signs with the fleece and God gave them (Judges 6:36-40), and James says, "if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God" (James 1:5).
Genesis 24:15 · Genesis 24:27 · Judges 6:36-40 · James 1:5
A record, not a rule
Those who hold this view note that Genesis describes the servant's prayer but doesn't tell readers to do the same. When scribes and Pharisees asked him for a sign, Jesus said, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign" (Matthew 12:38-39). Gideon asked after God had already spoken ("as you have spoken", Judges 6:36), and the second time said, "Don’t let your anger be kindled against me" (Judges 6:39). They stress asking for wisdom (James 1:5) rather than setting conditions for God.
Matthew 12:38-39 · Judges 6:36 · Judges 6:39 · James 1:5
The verses
“The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.”