Monday, July 04, 2005
prayer of jabez
Dear youths.....
i meant to find an article about prayer.... but cant seem to find any suitable ones..... so here i am typing... hoping to encourage each other wif the word of God.... and i refer to the prayer of Jabez.. adapting frm the book written by Dr Bruce Wilkinson.
"Are you ready to do one thing today that could change your life from ordinary to extraordinary?" - Dr Bruce Wilkinson
Jabez=pain
this guy that was mentioned in the bible becos he prayed a simple prayer n the results of the prayer was recorded. this guy that was mentioned in a really small portion of the bible... this guy... was "more honorable than his brothers" (1 Chronicles 4:9)
in summary of was is mentioned of Jabez:
- things started bably for a person no one had ever heard of
- he prayed an unusual, one-sentence prayer
- things ended amazingly well becos God granted his request
and his prayer was recorded as follows::
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain." So God granted him what he requested.
I Chronicles 4:10 NKJV
his prayer can be summarised as::
- bless me
- enlarge my territory
- put Your hand on me
- keep me frm evil
To bless in the biblical sense means to ask for supernatural favor. When we ask for God's blessing, we're not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves. We're sincerely asking for the kind of good things that only God has the power to know about or give..... Truly blessed people go around blessing others. God always blesses for a purpose. He wants His goodness to bless you, then flow through you to others. Praying for God's blessing doesn't mean asking for more stuff just so we can spend it on ourselves. It means asking for God's gavor so we can serve Him better and be a blessing to others... all we need to do is to ASK...
as much as we dun usually hear pple asking for GOd to bless them, it is even less likely to hear for pple to ask for God to enlarge their territory....but it shows here that God wants us to want to receive everything that HE wants to give us and do thru us. After all, His reputation and His good plans for the world are at stake! You are born for more and right now, God is waiting to prove it! taking the word territory for ministry, God usually expands ur territory first by increasing the personal influence u already haf........ he'll use u to ministry to the pple u knw... everybody has territory.. n God wants to increase n enlarge urs, no matter what ur age or abilities.... u can trust that God will never send someone ur way that u can't help.. God will always show u what to do and will help u do it...
When you ask God to expand ur borders, He'll expang them up to the edge of ur comfort zone, and then He'll keep right on going... He'll open up possibilities you've never tot of before... He'll ask u to do things u've never done before.. n u're pretty sure u can't do... and then u meet fear..... that feeling... is called dependence on God.. this is when... the 3rd part of the prayer enters.... Lord, put ur hand on Me! live by faith!! let miracles happen! tat is why taking new territory for God pushes u into trying something new... requires more courage, ability, time, money than u tot u haf.... sets u up to risk looking like a fool n loser and more often than not, the task seems too impossible............ Tat's why u could call God's hand on you "the touch of greatness". u do nt become great, u become dependent on the strong hand of God. ur huge need gives God a huge opportunity to do something exciting... and He becomes great THRU u.... u try something tat's too big for u, u could fail, OR u could pray.... "Father pls do tis in me becos i cant do it alone! it's too big for me!!" then step out in faith to do and say thigs that could hapen onli wif HIS power...
Jesus said "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (luke 18:27)
Keep me away from evil!! - - once u start moving into new territory for God, u are invading into Satan's territory... Jesus died n rose again, Satan is a defeated enemy... BUT... he is still actively working against God's plans for the world and for u.... when we follow Christ, blessings always come with battles.. tat's why praying to be kept from evil is so necessary if u want to keep experiencing a truly blessed life. note tat Jabez didnt pray for "keep me thru evil" but "keep me FROM evil"... our most important strategy for defeating the roaring lion is to stay out the arena... not asking for more lessons in sword fighting or courage to fight lions! Jabez asked to be kept away from evil altogether! human "weapons" that can harm us.... our common sense, our previous experiences and our feelings... Jabez warriors beat temptation by avoiding it... they pray everyday that GOd will keep them far from evil... these prayers for deliverance are the prayers of God's real champions and HE loves to answer them..
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u knw... as i type this entry in 2 different sessions..... i felt so much for it..... i thank God for putting the burden in my heart.... i thank God for reminding me about the Prayer of Jabez.... especially in this time... where we see each n everyone of us growing in His love.... when we are all stressed out by preparations of all the mega activities lining up... when we see the huge and impossible task ahead of us..... pple..... its time... for us to unite and pray the prayer of Jabez.... would greatly encourage those wif the book to re-read it.... and for those who dun... can start borrowing... its not a thick book.. n its easy to read.... so read n be filled again... =)