1 Chronicles 4:9-10     OT p. 355 or 500

(9) Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain."

(10) 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.

(NKJV)

INTRODUCTION:

The Pastor of a congregation had given an altar after a particularly evangelistic sermon. He was praying with one of the youth who had responded when he heard some giggles from the congregation. So, he looked up to see his three year old daughter escaping from her mother and running to her father at the altar rail. She stopped and waited patiently while the youth prayed.

As soon as the youth got up, the pastor's daughter took his place at the rail, kneeling in front of her father. And in one of those whispers that was loud enough for everyone to hear asked, "Can we go to the restaurant after church?" (1)

Talk about surprised? Well, that's exactly how I felt after reading this little book. I generally try to keep up with what everyone is reading, especially those books that sweep the Christian community like The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. The reason I was surprised was I started reading with a lot of skepticism. I read the first two short chapters and honestly thought, this is just another one of those prosperity theologies. You know the kind I'm talking about. Send in a hundred dollars and God will bless you and give you back a thousand. After the second chapter, I was ready for this book to be like all the others.

As Gomer Pyle used to say, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise." As I moved on to chapter three and the rest of the book, I was pleasantly surprised. This is a great book that can change lives and offer new power for ministry.

Today's sermon is based on the passage from 1 Chronicles and this book by Bruce Wilkinson. But if you would like to better understand this prayer and experience the power of this prayer, then I suggest you buy the book and read it for yourself. It won't take more than an hour to read, for the average reader. But I promise it will be an hour well spent. It will remind you that God wants to use each of us in ministry. And it will remind you that we are "blessed to be a blessing" as Genesis 12:2 tells us.

So let's look at these two verses and what they mean for our lives as servants.

I. WHAT'S IN A NAME:

A. Jabez is kind of an odd name isn't it? SO, WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Well, I remember hearing a story about a Pastor who went to visit a family. The father welcomed the preacher and then introduced his children: "This is Pete. He's the clumsy one of the lot. That's Kathy coming in with mud on her shoes. She's the sloppy one. And as always, Mike's last. He'll be late for his own funeral, I promise you." That father did a thorough job of branding each of his children with their faults and mistakes.

SO, WHAT'S IN A NAME? Well the Bible pretty much thinks the essence of an individual's character is tied up in their name. Have you noticed how that seems to true of so many of the Biblical Characters? They are given a name they either live up to or live down to for the rest of their lives. Jabez is one of those. In our readings from Chronicles this week, we found fodder for the genealogists in our group but not much else. There are few notable characters in our readings because most of the names are simply in long lists of genealogy. But every now and then we find a little bit more information, an extra verse or so, describing the virtues of a particular person. And that's what happened with Jabez. And in two short verses we hear all the Bible has to say about Jabez.

B. SO, WHAT'S IN A NAME? Well, the name Jabez means sorrowful or to grieve. Now I know each of our kids have given us a lot of grief over the years but the saddle them with a name that will haunt them for the rest of their lives, I wouldn't do that? But Jabez's mother did. Apparently, she was so distressed by the pain of his birth that she didn't want to forget or let him forget either. Talk about having a strike against you when you start out.

But Jabez chose not to live down to his name. He chose to be different than his brothers. He chose to honor God and as a result he is remembered as one who was "more honorable than his brothers." His faithfulness, his faith and his life set him apart as being anything but "sorrowful."

As a result of living up to God's expectations, Jabez was able to offer this prayer. And God answered it. The Prayer of Jabez has four requests. Let's look at each of those.

II. THE FOUR REQUESTS:

A. Bless Me: First: The passage says: And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed."

Do any of you like pushy people? Do you like pushy salespeople? You know the ones who come up and ask if they can help and then hover like vultures. And the minute you stop to look at something or pick something up, they swoop in for the kill like a bird of prey. They begin telling you all about the merits of the model you're looking at and the 27 easy payment plan with no interest for the first 6 months that the store is offering. And all you were doing was looking and killing time while you were waiting for your spouse?

Isn't that what this prayer sort of reminds you of? Someone who is being pushy? Someone who is demanding that God bless them? Doesn't this sound like the makings of a good prosperity theology?

Well, sort of but not really. You see, our God wants to bless us. Now it may not be in the things of this world. We may not have strength of Samson, the power of David or the wisdom and riches of Solomon. But God will bless us. All we have to do is ask. But for some reason, we don't ask. Maybe it's because of the prosperity theologies. Maybe it's the way we are raised.

Don't you remember being over at a neighbor's house. And maybe that neighbor had a chocolate cake of a cherry pie sitting on the counter. You saw it and you couldn't resist asking for a piece. And then your mother told you, in embarrassed tones, right their in front of the neighbor, "Now, Billy, you know it's not polite to ask. The polite thing to do is wait until it's offered."

The whole time you were sitting there thinking, "Yeah and what if she never offers?"

Maybe we've just been being polite and not asking for God to bless us. Maybe we just think that it's presumptuous to ask God to bless us. Rev. Wilkinson reminded me of two passages. First from Matthew 7:7, the Sermon on the Mount Jesus told the crowd listening: "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you."

And then in James 4:2, James writes: "You do not have, because you do not ask."

God wants to bless us. God began His relationship with Abraham by saying: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." (Genesis 12:2)

Notice two things. In the Prayer of Jabez, Jabez doesn't ask for stuff, Jabez simply asks for God's blessing and so he asks. The Prophet Elisha never would have received a double portion of the blessing Elijah had received if he hadn't asked for it. Neither one asked for power, position or prestige. They didn't ask for stuff. They asked for "God's blessing."

In keeping with God's covenant with Abraham, they wanted God's blessing so they could be a blessing to others. How unselfish is that? Wow. God WILL honor that sort of prayer. Prayer for God's blessing in your life.

B. Enlarge My Territory: Second: Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory."

I know, the skeptics are sitting there thinking, "Yeah, this is it. This is where the stuff comes in. This is where we see just how materialistic Jabez really was, praying for more territory."

Let me tell you a story. A young boy of about 12 noticed a young man polishing his nice new Corvette one afternoon. The boy went up to the young man and asked where he got the car. The young man said, "My brother gave it to me." Then the boy said, "Wow, I wish . . . " and paused. The man just knew that boy was going to say "Wow, I wish I had a car like yours." But, instead, the boy said, "Wow, I wish I could be a brother like that." (2)

This prayer isn't about selfishness. It isn't about property. Jabez wasn't a Biblical salesman looking to increase his sales territory. But he was a child of blessing. He was a child of God. And what he is praying for here is to increase his sphere of influence so that he can be that blessing he just asked to be.

That's powerful stuff. That's Kingdom of God stuff. That's life changing, ministry stuff. He's not asking for stuff, Jabez is asking to be used. he is asking God to bless him so that he can witness to others, so that he can influence others, so that he can reach out to others in the name of God.

When was the last time you asked for something like that? That's what we should all be praying everyday. Increase my territory. Increase my sphere of influence. Increase my ability to bear witness. I dare you to pray that prayer.

C. God's Hand Be With Me: Third: 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."

This is the easiest to explain. Jabez didn't want to get separated from God but rather to depend totally and completely on God. Jabez knew that within the presence and under the hand of God, there was power and strength and energy to do the ministry that would come his way as a result of his prayer. It may look foolish to others, it may look like it would never work, it might even look doomed to fail. Except for one thing, it's God's vision and God's plan.

This part of the prayer is a challenge to ask God into all aspects of the enlarged territory. It's the idea of undertaking something so large for God that it's doomed to failure if God's not in it and God's not in charge of it. But with God's hand on that ministry, it will bloom and grow and flourish.

Sort of like our building program and relocation. We know that God is in this. We know that God is leading us. It just keeps being confirmed over and over again. It may be taking longer than we want, but we trust God's timing, not ours. We also know that without God's guidance, without God's timing, without God's hand on this project, we can't do it. But with God's hand on it, nothing is impossible.

When was the last time you prayed for God's hand to be with you?

D. Keep Me From Evil: And Fourth: 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!"

Notice there are two portions to this prayer. First "keep me from evil" That's nothing more than what we pray every time we pray the Lord's Prayer. "And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." And we need that prayer. There is so much that can distract us from living the life God wants us to live. There are so many temptations that can lead us off the narrow way. There is so much evil and tragedy in the world that just hearing about it over and over again can fill us with what they call "compassion overload." We harden our hearts to the horrors around us. We no longer groan in empathy for those hurt or hurting. We're tempted to turn away when we know that turning away is, in and of itself, evil because we haven't reached out to that neighbor as Christ would have reached out.

But another truth is, that whenever we have had a mountain top experience, or whenever we are in the thick of some new God breathed ministry, it's easy to be pulled away. This is a prayer of utter dependence. A prayer that cries out to God asking God to take over in every aspect of our lives as we face temptation.

We know that sin only comes after temptation. This is a prayer to keep temptation away. If temptation is still there then give us the strength to say "No!" to temptation.

Dr. Wilkinson leaves out what I think is a very important part of this prayer. It clarifies why we should steer clear of temptation. It clarifies why we are asking to be kept from evil. Jabez prays: "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!"

Who is he talking about here. Well, everyone else and God. Jabez doesn't want to cause his family and friends pain because of his sin. Because sin invariably hurts those around us. But mostly, I think, Jabez doesn't want to hurt God because sin hurts God too. It breaks that loving relationship that God established with us. So, wisely Jabez prays that he would be prevented from causing anyone pain.

When was the last time you prayed for strength to have temptation be removed from your life and your faith. When was the last time you asked God to bless you so you wouldn't bring pain to anyone else?

CONCLUSION:

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.

Let me repeat that: "So God granted him what he requested." It was an unselfish prayer, a prayer seeking only one thing, to please and glorify God. How could God not like that.

I remember a little girl in one of our churches. Morgan was about three and a half. Mom and Dad had been teach her how to pray and especially how to say grace before she ate. One time they were shopping and pulled into McDonalds for hamburgers and stuff. After everybody had all their food sorted out and had started to eat, Morgan asked, "Aren't we gonna pray?"

So Mom, said, "Why don't you pray?" So Morgan did. And when she finished, she leaned over to the window, looked up and asked, "Did you like that God?"

When Mom asked her what God said, Morgan's eyes got real big and bright with excitement and she shook her head "Yes!"

How could God not accept that wonderful spontaneous expression of love from that three year old? God was probably applauding and all the heavenly host giving a standing ovation for that simple yet elegant and beautiful prayer.

Just as God received Morgan's unselfish prayer, so too will God receive our unselfish prayers to "bless us, enlarge our territory, keep His hand on us, and keep us from evil."

If you haven't read the book, do so. You can get it at most Christian books stores.

And then once you read it, pray it. Follow the advice of Phillips Brooks, the great preacher and prolific writer who wrote: "Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, but pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God." (3)

Let God surprise you. Pray the Prayer of Jabez. It will change your life and put you in the midst of God's blessings and ministry.

1. Adapted from The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), October 1986

2. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), July 1986

3. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), October 1987

4.

Wilkinson, Dr. Bruce H., The Prayer of Jabez, (Multnomah Publishers Inc., Sisters, Oregon 2000)