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Plainly Speaking
with Karl J. Forehand
The
Prayer of Jabez – Part 1
by Karl J. Forehand
And
Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez
saying, "Because I bore him with
pain." Now Jabez called on the
God of Israel, saying, "Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and
enlarge my border, and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst
keep me from harm, that it may not pain me!" And God
granted him what he requested. (1
Chron. 4:9-10)
What
does God honor? What does God think
is important? Many of you have read
the book by the same title; so I won’t regurgitate it for you. To tell you the truth, I was worried about
this book. I was afraid that it was
the next “silver bullet” or the next “magic” remedy. What I found was that it was a wonderful
picture of how God works.
If my son understands my will perfectly,
he will get everything he asks for.
If he says, “Dad may I take out the trash?” I say “Yes you may.”
When he says, “Dad may I have medical care for my broken leg?” I say
“Yes you may.” I think we get mad at
God for not answering our prayers. We
think He is giving us a stone because we ask with wrong motives and for our
pleasures (James 4:3).
What does the Prayer of Jabez teach? It teaches us how God works.
1. God wants to bless us
In the Old Testament, He primarily blessed by the
land. The Israelites were to possess
the Promised Land. God always wants
to bless us with what He has already promised. Inherent in the word blessing is the idea of imparting
spiritual favor. It is NOT asking God
for what we can get ourselves. We
don’t say God bless me with money when I’m not willing to work.
Notice also that Jabez didn’t tell God what the
blessing should be. He didn’t hold
God hostage. He didn’t say “God this
is what I want and this is what your word says, etc.). He said, in essence, “I want what God
wants.” Also, inherent in the word
blessing is the idea to kneel. We
must come to God without a personal will, but a willingness to accept His
will.
Did you know that God wants to bless you. He wants to unleash His power in your
life. We must say, “I want to receive
what you have already promised – what YOU want to give me.” What did He promise us in the New
Testament? In Acts 1:8, He promised
us “power.” That power is for
ministry (service) and to be witnesses.
but you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses,,,,
(Acts 1:8a)
I submit to you that most of us are more afraid
of God’s blessing than we are interested in having it. We begin to pray “God bless me…” then our
mind says ‘Wait a minute – what does that mean?”
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Does that mean I have to teach Sunday School?
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Does that mean I’m going to have to witness to
someone?
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Does that mean I’ll still get what I want?
We also miss blessing because we think God is
afraid of spoiling us. Listen:
blessings are not candy bars – blessing is what we need. We need God’s power. God’s supernatural power is not a novelty
– it is a necessity. We must have
God’s blessing – God’s supernatural power in our lives.
Are you bold enough to pray for God’s blessing?
2. God wants to enlarge our territory
In the
first chapter of Joshua, God tells him to go and possess the land (Joshua
1:2-9). God give us a similar
command, in the New Testament when he tells us to go and make disciples. It is our territory – not land, but souls. The territory that God wants to give us is
what He has already promised.
I don’t
know if you’ve ever had this thought – “Surely I was born for more than
this..” You may have had those
thoughts in your career or your personal life. But, you may have thought that way about your spiritual walk –
“Surely, Lord, you meant for me to do more that what I am doing.” For most of us, the answer to that
question is “yes” – we need our spiritual territory expanded.
Asking
for expansion of our territory says to God, “I’m ready Lord – give me more
than I can handle.” We know this
feeling because we ask to get the opportunity to lead someone to Christ, then
we say, “wait a minute, Lord – this is kind of tough.” I said this when I answered the call to be
a pastor. “I’m ready Lord,” I said.
Almost immediately, I responded, “Wait a minute – this is going to be
really tough.” I’m sure I was white
as a sheep for a year afterward.”
Some of
your territory may be leading a Bible study or starting a ministry at school
or sharing your faith. Ultimately
everyone’s ministry should help evangelize in one way or another.
At our
church, we are not interested in starting a bunch of new program; but we are
interested in “equipping” those in the church to start their own
ministry. We think that is the
command of Ephesians 4:11-12.
Many people tend to ride other’s coat tails
in ministry. At many large churches
there could be hundreds of people riding one man’s coat tails. Each believer should have their own
ministry. Some of us, in our area,
believe some of our territory is our local school. But, it takes several ministries to take that territory. We have a mom’s group that prays and a
youth Bible study at the school. One
of the coaches hosts a Fellowship of Christian Athletes group. We host a kids program and a youth program. But, none of this works unless
individually people realize their own ministry.
Let’s be
honest – most of you have very large physical territories. You have many physical possessions and
responsibilities. You physical
territory is quite vast, even if you constantly want more. The sad fact, for most of us, is that our
spiritual territory is tiny. The
tough question is: What have you done
to gain ground on the enemy for the Kingdom of God? Did you realize we are in a war?
Some of
us say, “But I don’t want to get into the war.” We think to ourselves, “I don’t have the abilities or talents
or means to fight this war.” Let me
tell you how serious the war is. If
we don’t get involved and fulfill the Great Commission, then people literally
die and go to hell. It is a war we
must be in and a war we need to win.
May I remind you that it’s not your abilities that matter anyway. Zechariah 4:6 says, “…Not by might nor by power, but
by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts.”
God’s
equation, according to Bruce Wilkerson is,
My
willingness and weakness + God’s will and supernatural power = my expanding
territory.
How else
could a computer nerd from Oklahoma who couldn’t lead a silent prayer without
passing out be a pastor of a church.
How else could a short, stuttering Pharisee who persecuted the church
become one of the greatest disciples of Christ. How else can you do YOUR ministry that God has appointed you
without God’s power.
Are you brave enough to ask God for more
territory? Are you ready to advance
on the enemy?
Proceed
to part 2…
Karl J. Forehand
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