Prayer of Jabez - Part 4

    So far in this series on the Prayer of Jabez, we have considered first of all, that Jabez asked the Lord to bless him; Jabez wanted God’s best for his life so he could be a blessing to others. He wanted to be a channel of God’s blessings…and his motive was right. Second, Jabez asked the Lord to enlarge his territory …To expand his realm of influence…He was asking God to do something through him that was too big for Jabez to do it alone.  And, Jabez also knew that nothing could be accomplished unless God’s hand was upon him…so he prays “Let your hand be with me”.  He knew that if God’s hand was upon him he could not fail. Perhaps this is the same insight that inspired the pen of Paul to write; “I can do all things through Christ who lives in me.” Without God’s blessings; Without God working to enlarge our ministry; and Without God’s hand being upon us, we cannot accomplish anything.

    But, there is one more part; Jabez asks God to “keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” The Living Bible says “keep me from evil and disaster”…does that sound familiar?  Perhaps Jesus was thinking of Jabez when he gave us the Lord’s Prayer which says; “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…” And what about when Jesus prayed for his disciples in John 17:15 saying; “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.”

    Jabez knew, as we should know, that evil or sin in his life would rob him of the very blessings he was praying for!  He knew that sin and evil would bring only harm and destruction and pain as consequences, so he prayed that God would keep him from these things. The sin of the pastor or even one of the leaders in a church will quickly destroy any and may-be all the blessings God has provided. We have witnessed it many times.

    I believe that because of his willingness to allow God’s blessings to flow through him, and his willingness to look beyond himself…And because of his willingness to work alongside of God whenever a direction or opportunity presented itself to expand or enlarge his ministry… Because God’s hand was upon him and he trusted God to keep him from evil and ever alert to Satan’s schemes to distract and destroy…the result was God answered his prayer.

    Just as a little side note here; I want us all to know that God answers prayer in three ways…and I am sure we have all experienced His answer in one or all of these three ways;

1^st. God has a way of carrying or bringing us to His answer. He will work in and through our thoughts, our desires, our circumstances, our health, our wealth, whatever it takes to bring us to His answer. 

2^nd. He has a way of bringing His answer to us.  He will work in the lives and circumstances of others to bring His answer to us. God will work in their thoughts and circumstances to provide the answer. And,

3^rd. God will just bring it to pass. Usually when this happens we say words like “out of the blue”…God personally ushers the answer to our prayer. He will confound the critics! He will dumbfound the doctors! He will upset the odds! He’ll just do it!  Even if your life has not warranted special arrangements, If He desires that we need it, He will bring it to pass.

    This is what prayer is all about. It’s a way of laying hold of the greatness and the glory and the power and the wisdom of God, in quiet, daily ways.  And, God will work through the normal everyday circumstances of our lives to accomplish His purpose and at the same time fulfill our needs and desires.

    We may call it living out our faith, or we can call it our ministry, but whatever it is, we are to use our gifts, our talents, our knowledge, our education, our vocation, our physical and material blessings to accomplish wonderful things WITH God!  Remember that the Bible says “with” God all things are possible.” Once again, let me repeat that we most often have the equation wrong; Our abilities; plus, our experience; plus our gifts; plus our finances; plus our knowledge = What we can do.  We say that we want God to work through us, but what we really mean is that we want God to put his stamp of approval on what we are doing.

    The right equation of course is; Our weakness plus our willingness plus God’s supernatural power = What God is able to do through us. Faith is believing there is a greater reality beyond this reality! …And that God works in and through both to accomplish the impossible.  I think this is something Jabez understood and it transformed his life and his ministry.

    This part of the Jabez prayer is of equal importance with the previous three requests. The reason is because when we are blessed, and when our ministry and our influence begin to enlarge, and when it becomes obvious that God’s hand is upon us, who do you think is going to get a little upset? (Satan)… And he will attempt to do everything in his power to cause us to take our eyes off what God is doing!  A tiny indulgence of pride or self-confidence or jealousy and envy or gossip can spell disaster. We need God’s protective power to keep Satan at bay!

    You know, it’s really encouraging to find few “super saints” among those through whom God has worked throughout history. They were all just ordinary - even easy to overlook - people who had faith in an extraordinary and miracle working God.  They came to find, know, and believe that God is who He says he is; And that God can do what He says he can do; They decided that they were who God said they were and what the world had to say or even Satan’s resistance and constant attempts to bring fear and discouragement wouldn’t change the fact that they were - as Joel Olsteen likes to say - victors and not victims… And finally, that they - and we - can do all things through Christ.

Our weakness + plus our willingness + plus God’s supernatural power = What God is able to accomplish in and through us!  This is the formula we have taken a stand upon… And it’s the only formula that works.

Prayer of Jabez - 3

    We have been looking at the prayer of Jabez, and we have come to the third part which is; “That your hand may be upon me” or “with me”.  As I have already pointed out, it would seem that Jabez is looking beyond himself in all of the areas he prays for and realizes - or has a vision for - who God is and what God can do! He was asking God to do something so big that Jabez could not possibly do it on his own, or in his own abilities and power, and he knows that he will need God’s hand upon him if it’s going to get done!

    Another thing we need to notice here is that in all these things, Jabez left the substance of the answer to his prayers up to God. He asked God to bless him…He did not ask for specific blessings. He left that up to God. He did not ask for any specific or amount of territory, or what that territory would consist of, he left that up to God.

    This petition for the hand of God was not the result of God’s granting the abundant blessings or the increasing of his territory. It was a natural progression in the thoughts of a man who knew his God. It was one continual thought from the heart of Jabez. He sought God’s hand in his life because he knew how desperately he needed it. Simply stated, He knew his limitations. He knew that his strength alone was insufficient for the journey and purpose for which God had called him…So he needed divine strength, and perfect guidance and protection… You could say that Jabez was what the church ought to totally be…and that is God dependent, therefore he prayed, "O, Lord, that your hand would be with me." He knew God is who He says He is…and, he knew God can do what He says He can do!  Jabez knew there was a greater reality than this reality and so he prays.  We also need to ask for his presence and his hand upon us if we are to fulfill the vision he has given the church.
    If there is one thing most men fear more than anything else it is the shame of weakness. Maybe that explains why we don’t ask for directions and why we do not read instructions. Yet, maybe it is also why we will suffer through some tragedy or great trial and never ask for help. As much as we desire to be found strong, unfailing and without need, we are, in reality, weak, helpless, and desperately needy…That’s why God created “a helpmate” for us! (Right ladies?)

    Jabez understood that without the presence of God’s hand in his life he would be unable to live and work beyond his normal abilities. He would be limited in the impact he would have, if not for the supernatural hand of God.

    Take for example, the life of Joseph; The Bible says that “when Potiphar realized that the hand of the Lord was upon Joseph, he put him in charge of his household and entrusted into his care everything he owned.” Notice that it wasn’t because Joseph was smart, or handsome, or a hard worker, it was because the Lord’s hand was upon Joseph. This tells me that even the ungodly and the non-Christian can tell when God’s hand is upon someone’s life! And, that it results in “blessing”.
    In 1^st. Chron. 9:20 there is another interesting short scripture about a man named Phinehas; It is also found among a list of genealogies; and it simply says “Phinehas, son of Eleazar, was in charge of the gatekeepers, and the Lord was with him!” Phinehas wasn’t a king, or a great warrior, he wasn’t a David or a Saul, he simply was in charge of about 212 men who were the gatekeepers of Israel…but it was the hand of the Lord upon him that made all the difference in his life and in his realm of influence and leadership.

    When Joseph was in prison, it says the Warden noticed the same thing and put him in charge of the entire prison and all the prisoners. And, of course when Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream, the Pharaoh noticed it as well, and put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt! All this was of course part of God’s plan…But, think about this; it all came about because Joseph was faithful…and knew that God’s hand was upon his life. He didn’t look at the circumstances and decide to have a pity party, he took charge of the prison!

    Far too many do not experience the hand of the Lord because they hardly know it exists. Listen, it’s not something reserved for the pastor, prophets, or the apostles, or a few “Super-Christians” God’s hand is not about such things, or such people. It is about God “using the foolish, weak, and lowly of this world to shame the wise” and it’s about filling the lives of His people with His presence, His power, and His strength. (see my book “By His Hand”) We ought never be able to say look what we did…but always able to say “Look what God has done IN and THROUGH us, to him be the glory! 

    A baseball in my hands is worth about $5; A baseball in Alex Rodriguez’s hands is worth about $250 million. A golf club in my hands is absolutely worthless; A golf club in Tiger Woods’ hands is priceless. A rod in my hands might keep me from stumbling; A rod in the hand of Moses will part the waters. A sling in my hands is a child’s toy; A sling in David’s hands will kill a giant. Two fish and five loaves in my hand is a couple of sandwiches; Two fish and five loaves in Jesus’ hands will feed a multitude. It all depends on whose hands it’s in. So, we need to put our worries and fears in the right hands, in His hands, and He will comfort our troubled hearts. We need to put our plans, our dreams, our lives in His hands; and He will protect us, guide us, strengthen us, and empower us, and the world will recognize God’s hand upon us.

    No matter how many times we hear the words about God working “IN” and “THROUGH” us, we have a tendency to gloss over those words. But, we need to understand, as Jabez understood, that God’s bounty, God’s blessings, God’s power, are all limited by us, unless we truly ask and allow God to do it.  That’s what Jabez was asking for when he said “Let your hand be with me.” It’s not about who we are or think we are, or about what we think or believe we can do… It’s all about believing God is who he says he is; and believing that God can do what he says he can do; and that he will do it IN and THROUGH us…if we simply ask…

The Prayer of Jabez - Part 2

    Last week we looked at the first part of this prayer in which Jabez asked the Lord to bless him, and what it means to be blessed. Although it may seem a little selfish at first glance, there is nothing wrong with asking the Lord to bless us - if our motive is right. Our reason for blessing must always be that others might be blessed through us… That we might be channels of God’s blessing; using our gifts, our talents, our material and financial blessings for God’s glory, serving Him and one another. Scripture tells us that God will not bless a selfish desire, and it says that God answered this prayer, so Jabez had the right motive.

    Charles Francis Adams, 19th century political figure and diplomat, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today—didn’t catch a thing; a day wasted."  His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, as well.  On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!"

    The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. He didn’t care if they caught fish, he just enjoyed spending time with his father. It all depends on our perspective of life...even everyday things like fishing. The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is to know one’s purpose and to live accordingly. How this is so true in the church… Knowing our ultimate purpose changes everything.

    There’s an incredible, new focus and perspective for our lives that can only come when we are caught up in God’s greater goals for humanity….When we are able to look beyond ourselves and what the church can do for me!…and take a risk and leave our comfort zone… and ask, “What can I do to partner with God to enlarge the ministry of this church!”? Jabez didn’t want to stay in the comfort zone…"Enlarge my territory" says Jabez…The word ‘enlarge’ means simply to make larger, to extend in limits or dimensions, to extend to even more purposes.

    The word ‘territory’ here is used to refer to boundaries and borders… or limits.  His desire was to reach out beyond himself…to expand his sphere of influence…it was for God to expand, perhaps, the limits of his mind and reasoning and logic, to see a greater picture of the world.

    Listen to what Dr. Wilkinson says about this part of the prayer of Jabez: “From both the context and the results of the prayer of Jabez, we can see that there was more to his request than a simple desire for more real estate. He wanted more influence, more responsibility, and more opportunity to make a mark for the God of Israel.”

    I think we could all agree that our current culture is preoccupied with self…It’s all about us… We want more, bigger, faster, better, and cheaper…preferably …FREE!  After all, we don’t really want to work or sacrifice to get what we desire…We just want God or the government to do it and then we will be happy.

    One thing I know from experience, is that reacting to something is too late in most cases. And, that is also the case for churches. What I see here is Jabez taking an aggressive approach to what needs to be done.

     I have never been a person that likes the stress of “reacting” to situations… I’m not very good at that… Maybe that’s why I like the Boy Scout motto - “Be prepared.” That’s why I am constantly “evaluating” the church. I do this all the time. I did it at my first church because we could not wait until we had three or four babies in the church before having a nice, clean, attractive nursery. Or to put together a nursery schedule. We can’t put off painting the sanctuary and re-carpeting to make it attractive…until we have enough people to pay for it.  We can’t put off the things on our “five-year vision until five years from now!  You see, churches don’t need to do these kinds of things if they don’t plan to impact people outside of those who are already here! We need to pray, “Lord, enlarge our territory!”  We need to do things and have things in place before they become an issue. This is the kind of attitude Jabez has. As individuals we need to think beyond the boundaries we have been living in. If we think that all we can do for God is limited by what we can see, hear, smell, taste or touch, then we will be forever limited in our impact.  (repeat that)

    One of the reasons it is hard, many times, to get excited about new opportunities is because we have erroneous thinking. We have the formula wrong. There are two formulas that Dr. Wilkinson offers in his book on the Prayer of Jabez; Here’s the first one:

(A.) My abilities + my experience + my training and education + my personality and appearance + my past + the expectations of others = what I can do. Got that? Now, I want you to take your pen or pencil, and draw a circle around that formula. Done? Now put a big slash in that circle. That’s the wrong formula. Unfortunately, that’s the one we are most familiar with, so that’s the one we use. But let’s look at the second formula:

(B.) My willingness and weakness + God’s will and supernatural power = What God can do through me! That’s what Jabez is asking; “Help me to see, understand, and realize formula #2 -  Enlarge my territory! When we start asking earnestly for more influence and responsibility with which to honor Him, God will bring opportunities and people into our path that we did not even know were there…and honor our prayer.

    What if you spent your day continually asking God – make me aware – open my eyes to the appointments you have divinely set for me today. Show me when and where you need me to be your ambassador, your star, your light. Make me aware that there are no coincidences in life.

    The story is told that a famous evangelist was preparing for a meeting in a large city, He wrote a letter to the mayor in which he asked for the name of individuals the mayor knew who had a spiritual problem or needed help and prayer. He was surprised when he received from the mayor a city phone book…. Enlarge our thinking!

    “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” You may look at your neighbor or your co-worker and think “They will never make it…They will never change.” The devil may have a stronghold on them or their family… And, think about this, you may be the David that God uses to kill the giant! 

    “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” We don’t need any more information; we don’t need any more education; we don’t need any more abilities or training; all we need is an encounter with Jesus and a conviction that He will work in and through and under and around, whatever it takes…if only we are willing vessels. 
    Maybe we need to take this prayer and pray it. Pray it every day. Not as a mindless mantra, but rather as a reminder that God wants to act on our behalf and on behalf of His church….to enlarge the influence of the ministry of reconciliation and salvation. My guess is that if we make a habit of that kind of prayer, we will see God do things we never thought possible before.

Let’s make it our prayer for every church;… Father,

We pray that you would increase our territory! Give us a vision and the will and the capacity to grow in faith, in numbers, and in mission in this community and in fact, everywhere you lead us. Shape the ministries of this church to be prepared and flexible to the needs. May we be generous with our time, our resources our gifts and abilities, and give us a generous portion of your Spirit. Help us to be welcoming to all people and to minister to all in Jesus’ name.  And, may we be courageous to grow and to go, as you lead. Make us aware of the people you have divinely appointed for us to meet. Father, make us ambitious, assertive, and fearless in the spiritual realm –as we make ourselves available in the physical realm on your behalf to see souls changed. And please God, Bless us and enlarge our territory… Amen

Prayer of Jabez

When it comes to prayer, this is my favorite;

1 Chronicles 4:10  “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.”

In the first part of this prayer, Jabez asked the Lord to bless him. What does it mean to be “blessed”? Well, I wrote a book titled “Blessed” and here is a bit of it:

    Although it may seem a little selfish at first glance, there is nothing wrong with asking the Lord to bless us - if our motive is right. Our reason for blessing must always be that others might be blessed through us… That we might be channels of God’s blessing; using our gifts, our talents, our material and financial blessings for God’s glory, serving Him and one another. Scripture tells us that God will not bless a selfish desire, however, He will bless those who have the right motives.

According to all these scriptures, and there are a lot of them, our blessings come from God!  And, we are created to be a channel through which His blessings can flow. God said to Abraham, “all nations will be blessed by you”… God wants to bless us, so we will spill over into the lives of others.

Blessed - Deuteronomy 28:1-13;

¹If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. ²All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you  if you obey the LORD your God: ³You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. ⁴The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. ⁵Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. ⁶You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. ⁷The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. ⁸The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

⁹The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. ¹⁰Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you.

¹¹The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

¹²The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

¹³The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

Now, that is a list of blessings! But, there’s more….

2 Corinthians 9:10-15 :

¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. ¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also (overflowing) in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

    As Christians, we will either live life from a loving relationship with God that spills over into all our relationships, or we will live on empty and have nothing to offer those around us. In order to live life out of the overflow of our relationship with God, we must love one another habitually, connect with God daily, and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us to overflowing with the love, joy, peace, and power of God.”

Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Mal. 3:10 – “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

Col. 2:7 – “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

1 Thes. 3:12 – “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”

Rom. 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

John 4:13 – “Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 7:38 – “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

Blessed to be a blessing!