Plainly Speaking
     with Karl J. Forehand

 

 

 

The Prayer of Jabez – Part 2

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)

 

 God wants to bless us and increase our territory; but He also wants to:

 

3.        God wants to be with us

 

  If we are going to advance into enemy territory we must have His hand with us.  Have you ever said or heard someone exclaim, “The ministry that I prayed for scared the life out of me.”  We accept God’s blessing and power and march into enemy territory and run smack dab into a JERICHO.  Remember Jericho?  The Israelites entered the Promised Land, equipped with God’s blessing and one of the first places they encountered was Jericho.  Jericho happened to be one of the most impenetrable fortresses of the day.

 

  You know the feeling – it’s the feeling that “I can’t do it.”  Every Sunday morning, before I preach, I experience my utter helplessness and inability to do the very task that God has commissioned me to do.  When I mentioned that to one of my advisors, he said, “That is the way you are supposed to feel  -- if you ever lose that attitude, you are in trouble.” 

 

  Why do we need God’s hand with us?  1.  God-sized tasks require God’s help.  It’s as simple as that.  2.  We encounter REAL opposition when we do God’s work.   We need His hand for correction.  Occasionally (or often for some of us) God has to discipline and correct us.  He also comforts us when we need it.  But, He also conducts (or orchestrates) the plan for our lives.

 

  The other day, my wife and I were shopping in Wal Mart.  She told me to take my hand off the cart.  I guess I was subconsciously “helping” her steer the cart and it was getting on her nerves.  I didn’t understand until later I felt her hand on my back and she was doing the same thing (kind of guiding me with her hand).  As humans we tend to not want anyone directing us; but without God’s hand, we are forever lost.

 

  Don’t fake yourself out.  You need God’s hand to guide you if you are going to do significant things for Him.  Don’t quit the ministry God gave you (that you prayed for) just because it got tough.  Ask for His help.  Let His hand guide you.

 

4.        God wants to protect us

 

  Some of your Bible translations say “harm,” some say “evil.”  The idea is the same.  We must ask God to protect us.  The picture  is of a gladiator who has fallen to his knees.  His sword is gone and the jaws of the lion are very near.  The caption reads, “Sometimes you can’t afford to come in second place.” 

 

  I have observed that whenever God blesses, Satan attacks.  As a minister, I experience this daily.  Satan attacks with temptation because it is his territory that we invade.  May I add, if Satan is leaving you alone, it may be that you haven’t invaded his territory lately. 

 

  Daily, and especially when we are doing the Lord’s work, we must pray for protection.

 

I don’t believe the Prayer of Jabez is a “sliver bullet” prayer.  However, I do believe that it teaches the basic way that God works.  If we understand how God works, we know how to pray more effectively and we know hot to act more appropriately.

 

 

                                              Karl J. Forehand