Don't Be A Pain! Series

DON’T BE A PAIN!

I Chronicles 4:10

S: Evil, temptation and sin

Th: Prayer: A Passion for His Presence

Pr: WE NEED GOD’S HELP IN DEFEATING SIN’S RESULTS.

?: How?

KW: Admonitions

TS: In our final study of the prayer of Jabez, we will find five admonitions to follow that will help us defeat sin’s results.

The _____ admonition to follow that will help us defeat sin’s results is…

I. PRAY (Matthew 6:13)

II. PASS (I Thessalonians 5:22)

III. PERSIST (I Peter 5:18)

IV. PURSUE (Romans 12:9)

V. PERCEIVE (I Corinthians 10:13)

RMBC 27 January 02 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Ask (Paul Harvey story revised)

There is a fictional story about a little four year old boy named Paul whose mother was named Marilyn, who went to a grocery store called Loblaws (you see this was a few years ago). Before they entered the grocery store Paul’s mom said to him, "Now you’re not going to get any chocolate chip cookies, so don’t even ask." She put him up in the cart and he sat in the little child’s seat while she wheeled down the aisles. He was doing just fine until they came to the cookie section. He saw the chocolate chip cookies and he stood up in the seat and being a polite boy said, "Mom, may I please have some chocolate chip cookies?" She said, "I told you not even to ask. You’re not going to get any at all." So he sat back down. They continued down the aisles, but in their search for certain items they ended up back in the cookie aisle. "Mom, may I please have some chocolate chip cookies?" Not wanting to spoil the child, she said, "I told you that you can’t have any. Now sit down please, and be quiet." Finally, as they were approaching the checkout lane, Paul, already being a clever boy, was sensing that this might be his last chance. So just before they got to the line, he stood up on the seat of the cart and shouted in his loudest voice, "In the name of Jesus, may I please have some chocolate chip cookies?" And everybody round about just laughed. Some even applauded. And, due to the generosity of many of the other shoppers, Paul and his mom left with 15 boxes of chocolate chip cookies.

Remember, this was a fictional story!

Well…just as Paul wanted an answer…

Have you ever just wanted an answer?

ILL Answer (machine answers)

I enjoy the creative messages that often come on the answering machines. Here are some fun examples:

 Hello. I’m David’s answering machine. What are you?

 Greetings, you have reached the Sixth Sense Detective Agency. We know who you are and what you want, so at the sound of the tone, please hang up.

 I can’t come to the phone now because I have amnesia and I feel stupid talking to people I don’t remember. I’d appreciate it if you could help me out by leaving my name and telling me something about myself. Thanks.

 Hi. I’m probably home; I’m just avoiding someone I don’t like. Leave me a message, and if I don’t call back, it’s you.

TRANSITION:

When we come to this very short portion of Scripture dealing with the life of Jabez, we find that he was hoping for an answer.

1. Jabez places his heart in God’s hands because He recognizes his dependence (I Chronicles 4:10).

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.

Jabez hoped for an answer.

And God answered his prayer.

For the last few weeks, we have been giving consideration to this short, but powerful prayer.

And I think there is some powerful reasons why God granted what he requested (they are numbers 2 and 3 in your outline here…).

First…

2. Jabez is determined to not live up to his name (I Chronicles 4:9).

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

Jabez had a name that nobody wants.

A few weeks ago, we noted Jabez has the meaning of “grief.”

We made a point how the other children would have treated him as he grew up.

“Hey, Grief! You are such a pain!”

“Hey, Grief! You are in such a sorry state.”

And the laughter would ensue.

Jabez cries out to God because he does not want to be a pain.

He does not want to be the cause of grief.

Instead…

3. Jabez wanted to be found faithful.

Somewhere along the line, Jabez comes to the realization that there is a price to be paid when evil takes control of a person’s life.