What is the greatest prayer in
the Bible? Would it be the
Lord’s prayer? Is it the prayer
of Moses or Mary? One of the
greatest prayers in the Bible that has been overlooked by many is the prayer
of Jabez in I Chronicles 4:10. Bruce
Wilkinson has recently written a book called the Jabez Prayer. In it he describes the kind of prayer that Jabez prayed and
how it can affect us today. Consider
with me today the Champion of prayer, Jabez.
Can his prayer become your prayer for today?
Strategic Evangelism: Encouraging and challenging the church to be engaged in
evangelism is a strategic plan: go
out and get them, storm the gates of hell.
Scripture Text:
1Chr 4:9 And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his
mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou
wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be
with me, and that thou wouldest keep [me] from evil, that it may not grieve
me! And God granted him that which he requested.
Who was Jabez? He
was more honorable than all his brothers.
His name meant pain, because when he was born he caused his mother
great pain. But throughout his
life he sought to not cause pain, but to become a man who was honorable in the
sight of God. The secret of the
honor of Jabez who became greater than all his brothers was the prayer that is
recorded in I Chron. 4:10. Jabez was not satisfied with being an ordinary
person. He wanted more for the
Lord. He wanted to become a
champion. God was glorified in
his request/prayer. Here is
the prayer that made him greater than the rest.
This is the prayer of a champion.
Would you dare to pray the prayer of Jabez the
Champion?
1.
Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed:
Have we asked for God’s Blessing?
What does it mean to be blessed by God?
Jabez asked for God to bless him.
This means that he wanted God to give to him his favor.
When God blesses us He gives to us that which we would not have on our
own. He gives us his gifts and
they are good. Indeed means that Jabez was asking for intensive and
intentional action from God on his behalf.
Also, indeed meant that Jabez wanted God to repeat and extend those
blessings he was requesting. Would
we dare to ask for God’s favor and blessings on our life?
Sometimes we may believe that to ask this would be a selfish act, but
yet the Bible says that God searches for people to bless. Our motive is to
glorify God and in this He is pleased.
He wants to give his favor on those who are seeking him.
We have not because we ask not. If
you want God in your life and you invite him in, then you are inviting his
blessing. This is the nature of
God. But don’t stop asking.
If we want the blessings of God then we must decide today to go with
Him, since it is his nature to bless his children.
Will you ask for God’s blessings?
2Chr 16:9 (KJS) For
the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew
himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him. Proverbs
10:22The blessing of the Lord
makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
2.
Enlarge my coast:
Would we want to have our coast or borders or property lines or areas
of influence enlarged or to have more people in the church?
To a farmer to enlarge your coast would mean to have more heads of
cattle and more fields to plant. To
a coal miner to enlarge your coast would mean to mine more coal and have more
coalmines to operate. To a school teacher it would mean to have more students.
To an oilman, more coasts means more wells.
To a housewife more coasts mean more children. To a church, more coasts means more people to minister to and
with. To a Christian more coasts
mean more people to minister to. Is
it your desire to have more and more, or are you satisfied with what you
already have? Do you realize that
if we are satisfied as a church with the amount of people we have now, that
many may never be saved because we are satisfied?
As long as we are satisfied with what we have now then we will never
want to pray as Jabez did, “Enlarge my coasts.” Would we pray to God to enlarge our coasts?
3.
That thine hand might be with me: Do we need the hand of
God? What does it mean to
have God’s hand with us? Would
we want God to be with us? If we
ask for God’s blessings and seek to influence more people for the Lord, then
we have to recognize the need of having God to intervene in our behalf.
We need God to act to bless, to enlarge, and to empower us to be more
than we can be without him. We need God’s power, strength, help, guidance, miraculous
hand, and mercy to accomplish what he wants.
Otherwise, we have only done what we have been able to do.
You don’t need God unless you want God to work that which he can do.
Jabez recognized that God was needed and wanted Him to work in his
life. What about your life?
Do you need and want God to work?
Will you ask?
4.
That thou wouldest keep [me] from evil, that it may not
grieve me!:
Deliver me from the temptation before it comes.
Jabez’s name indicates that he was a man who had caused pain to those
he loved, particularly his mother. He
did not want to cause any more pain or endure any more pain himself.
The wages of sin is death. Jabez
recognized that if he sinned it would cause pain to others and to him.
Thus he prayed that God would keep him from sin and pain.
Jesus taught us to pray that God would keep us from temptation and
deliver us from evil. We are not
able to withstand the attacks of the devil, the world, and our own sinful
flesh, so we need the Lord to deliver us, to help us, and to keep us.
We have not because we ask not. Will
we ask?
5.
And God granted him that which he requested:
God looks for people to spread his blessings on.
Finally we see the result of the prayer of Jabez.
He was given what he asked. The
reason God granted his prayer is because this was what God wanted to do.
But, He wants to do this for everyone.
When we come to God as Jabez did we put ourselves in hands of God to
care for us, to bless us, to increase our influence, to provide for us, and to
protect us. He is the heavenly
Father who will do more in our lives than we can think or imagine.
We have not because we ask not.
Would you make this your prayer?
Would you be willing to prayer this prayer on a daily basis?
Will you seek the Lord’s blessing today?
Here is a testimony from the Jabez prayer web site:
3/13/01
Hello,
My name is T.J. and I am a youth minister in Arkansas. This past Wednesday
(March 7th) I read "The Prayer of Jabez." This book really
challenged me to move outside my abilities and skills and to totally rely upon
God and His abilities.
After I finished reading the book, I prayed something I probably never prayed
before. I asked God to truly bless our Wednesday night service. I prayed that
God would send at least one person to our service who did not know Him and
that they would accept His as Savior. I also prayed that God would expand the
territory of our Youth Group. I have always prayed for our Wednesday night
services, but never specifically for God to do something spectacular. But this
is what I prayed for and this is what happened.
Our services started off as usual, nothing spectacular yet. We started off
with our praise band leading the group in worship. After about the second
song, God really broke through and pierced some of our youth’s hearts. They
started coming down front and praying for one another and for the lost of
their town. By the time we were to our last song they were still down front
praying and worshiping. So we just continued to play songs until the spirit
was finished moving in their hearts, which was two and a half hours later. It
was truly an outpouring of God's spirit. There was prayer, crying, confession
of sins, repentance and two salvations. God did even MORE than I had asked
for. When we pray in God's will and ask for things that only He can give us,
great things truly happen!
T.J. in Arkansas