Powerful Short Prayers
I Chron 4:9-10
Different introductions
What makes a good prayer? Is it length and eloquence or a heart that trusts in a mighty God? How long does a prayer have to be in order to be heard? God did not forbid long legitimate prayers but vain repetitions and heartless babblings. Some of the answered prayers of the saints like Solomon were long (I Kgs. 8:12-53) but some were short. Today we continue our survey 10 of the shortest prayers with instant answers in the Bible.
Jesus talked about prayers in Matthew 6:7 and He warned about prayers being TOO LONG, especially if they were just filled with FLUFF! “For when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Matthew 6:7
We are continuing our sermon series about Powerful Short Prayers.
Today we want to talk about the short prayer asking to be used more by God. It was prayed by a man named Jabez. We are going to start in I Chronicles 4:9-10. Let’s see what we can learn from this short prayer.
He did not listen to what other men say about them
“Called Jabez” There are a few speculations as to what this actually meant but they all point to same thing: a boy who got a bad start in life. It could be the family was poor and the birth of another child meant another “mouth to feed, more of a burden.” Most likely he was born with a birth defect. He could have been handicapped, which was a great disappointment and shame to parents. It could be his birth brought his mother's death, as in the case with Jacob's wife Rachel when she gave birth to Benjamin, she called him “son of sorrow.” The name “Jabez” means to grieve, be sorry. Either way this is not what we would call getting a good start on life! How would you like it if when you walked into a room, people said, “Here comes the loser.”
But that did not hold this guy back. People in pursuit of excellence don’t listen to what men say about them.
Everybody says “You can’t live happily if all of your life people have categorized you, or said what you can or cannot do or tried to discourage you. What did Jabez do? He did not let other people determine his path in life. Some people get a bad break in life. Get a bad start, maybe grow up in a dysfunctional family or deep poverty or sickness or disease. There is a tendency to feel sorrow for themselves and their lot in life. Some people feel like they can’t do anything about it.
When Walt Disney was younger he was hired to work at the Kansas City Star newspaper. He was later fired from the paper because of lack of creativity. Years later The Disney Company bought ABC which owned The Kansas City Star.
How strange that he was fired because he was not creative enough and years later you own them because of your creativeness.
Walt Disney said “I am not influenced by the techniques or fashions of any other motion picture company.” He also said, “We created Disneyland, in the knowledge that most of the people I talked to thought it would be a financial disaster, closed and forgotten within the first year.” Very few individuals can claim to have had a greater impact on modern culture and entertainment than Walt Disney. Excellence requires a single minded pursuit that may not ignore everything around it, but certainly isn’t distracted by it.
Jabez was not going to let other people hold him back. In your pursuit of excellence be especially careful of people who are close to you saying things that can hinder you for life. You would think at least his own mother would love him enough to give him a nice name. This was some kind of dysfunctional family. People may want to categorize you. They may say you can’t do this or can’t do that. They may even seek to discourage you from trying. Don’t let others set your parameters in life. Don’t let others tell you what you can’t do.
Jabez was “More honorable than all his brethren” Rather than listen to what men had to say; Jabez sought the approval of God. This is the estimation of God. Whether the world thought his life would amount to anything was of him no importance to him.
All the other boys had nice names like Zimran, Adulmna, Pathrusim, Arphaxad, and they were probably the “in’ names for that day. But God said Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. Others may speak well of you, but what does God say?
He confessed his need for God to move in his life
Jabez “called on God of Israel” For Jabez this is the trait he is remembered for, a man who called upon God. By his prayer it is apparent that he had a very deep sense of his own weakness and insufficiency. As a result he had to put all his trust in the God of Israel, not in himself. He developed his spiritual dimension. He was not a two-dimensional man as many people are today. They spend much of their time developing their body and soul (emotions) but little time developing their spirit. Nothing exists with only two dimensions.
“Bless me indeed” This is an anxious request for the smile of God upon his life. He desired God's approval and acceptance. He could not go on unless God blessed. Sometimes we ask God's blessing and in the back of our mind we figure how we'll do it even if we don't get God's blessing. Many times people pray and ask God to do something and if God doesn’t do it they go and do it themself. I think this is often the problem with credit cards. We ask God to provide and if He doesn’t we just go out and charge it. We need to submit to God and if God doesn’t do it you shouldn’t do it.
So many think that this may be wrong to ask for God to “bless them indeed.” They are afraid to use up all of God’s blessings. It may be all right to pray for God to bless someone, the pastor, the missionaries, the church, but to ask God to “Bless ME” wow that is something else.
He had a hunger for more, have divine dissatisfaction
“Enlarge my territory” Please prosper my labors. In Psalm 1:3 we read of a righteous man that “His leaf will not wither; whatsoever he does shall prosper.”
We can see that he was not satisfied with what he had and hungered for more. This is called “Divine Dissatisfaction.” Paul had this when he wrote Philippians 3:12-14. We need to believe God for more in our lives. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” He was not satisfied with his life. He was satisfied with God but he sensed that God had more for him to do. He still had a destiny to fulfill. He was hungry for more of God.
Some Christians are satisfied with their Christian life, because they compare themselves with other Christians who are not doing so well. Comparing ourselves to others is so dangerous and deceptive. It can either condemn us or lull us to sleep. “I am not as bad as that person, or I have done so much more for God than that person.” Watch out!
Are we asking for more or are we content? Are we hungry? Never be satisfied with the past accomplishments, even Caleb at age 85 wanted to conquer new territory. Josh 14:12-15
“Enlarge my opportunities so I can make a greater impact for You.” Jabez was asking for more influence, more responsibility, more opportunity to make a mark for the God of Israel. Give me more people to minister to, bless my ministry, enlarge my care group, enlarge my sphere of influence, etc. Jabez looked about what he had, what he had done, and was saying, “Surely I was born for more than this!”
In those days most Israelites were shepherds. To pray for more land, meant they could raise more flocks of sheep or goats. If Jabez worked on Wall Street he might have prayed, “Lord, increase the value of my investment portfolios.”
Is it right to ask God for more business? Well, was it right for Jabez? We know it was right, because God “granted him all he requested.” If you are doing your business God’s way, it is not only right to ask for more, but He is waiting for you to ask. Whatever your business is; student, housewife, employee, self-employed, people in pursuit of excellence ask God to “enlarge your territory.”
Why God answered Jabez short prayer
Possibly this was a particular prayer he prayed before he entered on some important and critical service, asking for successful execution. Some feel this is reference to driving the Canaanites out of the land.
When asking for God to enlarge your territory be sure to ask for personal guidance and revelation
“That your hand would be with me” Hold me up God. I am but a weak and crippled child, but if you hold me up I can do it. Here is a man who was in pursuit of excellence. He was determined to produce something with his life but he knew it would only come through God's help. Have your hand in mine and we'll walk together.
When asking for God to enlarge your territory be sure to always keep other people in mind
“Keep me from evil that I may not cause pain” The old K.J. reads, “Keep me from evil that it may not grieve me” As Jesus himself prayed, “Deliver us from evil.” He desired a holy life. Keep me from sin. Keep me from myself “Grieve” means Jabez. It is a sign of strength to recognize your capacity to do evil and to fear that.
“God granted him” As God spoke to Paul (2 Cor 12:9) “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” God blessed, enlarged, had His hand upon Jabez and kept him from himself.
Summary
Some people start out life and it seems like they have everything going for them: great family, great looks, real smart, right connections. Sometimes this is referred to being born with a “silver spoon” in their mouth. It means that have had it easy and had everything going for them.
On the other hand some people start out life with everything going against them: broken family, not too good looking, not too smart, no connections at all. They have not had a break and everything seems to be going against them. They were born on the wrong side of the tracks.
Yet how is it that sometimes the people who start out with all the potential never seem to produce anything with their lives and sometimes the people who start out with all the bad breaks somehow overcome them and do something significant with their lives?
I am sure that many of you know someone who has so much potential yet does not seem to be doing anything with it. Why is it that some people never seem to go anyway with their lives or do much with their lives while others get so much accomplished?
Is it because some people don’t have much to work with, get a bad break, just don’t have what it takes or is it something else?
Today we have looked at the life a man who surely got a bad start. Yet we find that he spent his life in pursuit of excellence.
He did not let other people determine his path in life
He knew that in order to succeed in life he needed God’s help, that without God’s help he could do nothing.
He had a divine dissatisfaction with what he had accomplished and in his pursuit of excellence continually asked God to enlarge his borders.
Jabez flourished in spite of obstacles. What a beautiful eulogy. A man who had no potential yet became “more honorable than all his brethren.” This is the story of a man who overcame the odds of a broken life and succeeded. It is not just what person does in life that matters but also what he had to overcome to get there that catches our imagination.
Jabez is a good example that the choices we make are more important than the potential we have or the opportunities we have.
Jabez is someone many can relate to. He was an ordinary person, an average person, who went beyond what anyone thought he could ever do. How do ordinary people do extra ordinary things? They tap into an extra ordinary God!
How to turn potential into Performance (Its all about choices)
I Chronicles 10:13, I Samuel 9:1-2, I Chron 4:9
Introduction
Some people start out life and it seems like they have everything going for them: great family, great looks, real smart, right connections. Sometimes this is referred to being born with a “silver spoon” in their mouth. It means that have had it easy and had everything going for them.
On the other hand some people start out life with everything going against them: broken family, not too good looking, not too smart, no connections at all. They have not had a break and everything seems to be going against them. They were born on the wrong side of the tracks.
Yet how it is that sometimes the people who start out with all the potential never seem to produce anything with their lives and sometimes the people who start out with all the bad breaks somehow overcome them and do something significant with their lives?
I am sure that many of you know someone who has so much potential yet does not seem to be doing anything with it. Why is it that some people never seem to go anyway with their lives or do much with their lives while others get so much accomplished?
Is it because some people don’t have much to work with, get a bad break, just don’t have what it takes or is it something else?
Today I want to look at what makes the difference between a potential and performance? What does it take to overcome the bad breaks and do something with your lives.
Turn to I Chron 10:13 We are going to look at a man who had great potential yet never turned that potential into something significant. His life turned out to be a failure.
This is a man who had everything going for him, but never amounted to anything in God's eyes. As matter of fact I Chron 10:13-14 gives us a sad epitaph of his life. We don't want this to be the epitaph for our lives.
We read about three mistakes that Saul made that turned his life into a waste.
The first mistake was his disobedience to God’s commands.
1) Saul was the King of Israel and we read that he “died for unfaithfulness.” The K.J. reads “transgression.” It was for his disobedience to the commands of God. In one case he disobeyed a specific command to destroy ALL the Amalekites and their spoil. These were the enemies of Israel and after he defeated them, he kept the spoil, and the king alive. It was too good to waste and he took prisoners to boost his pride. He was told by God to destroy them, their goods, their livestock and their king, but he disobeyed.
2) If you want to make something of your life you need to decide to “obey” the commands of God. We can’t pick and chose which ones we will obey and which ones we will disobey. We need to decide like Joshua in the OT did, when he said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
The second mistake was that he surrounded himself with the wrong kind of people.
1) “He consulted a medium for guidance” The K.J. read, “He asked counsel of one familiar spirit.” He went to witches and palm readers to seek spiritual counsel. He surrounded himself with ungodly counsel. This is the opposite of what says we should be doing. In Psalm 1 we read, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” Blessed is the person who chooses to hang around with God’s people.
2) We need to realize that if we are choosing the wrong friends we will ruin our lives. So often especially young people think it does not matter who we chose as friends. We become like the people we hang out with.
3) Saul wasted his life because he allowed the wrong kind of people to speak into his life. Who is speaking into your life?
The third mistake we see here is that he did not think he needed to ask God’s counsel before he did things.
1) “He did not inquire of the Lord” He trusted in himself.
This was the root cause of all his trouble.
He was overly confident, and figured he did not have to seek the mind of God, he just did what he thought was the best thing to do. The Bible tells us in Proverbs, that there is a way which seems right to a man but the end thereof is death.
It is humbling to admit that we need God’s guidance to walk through life, and some people just can’t humble themselves. They trust in themselves too much.
Here was a man who came from a rich family. He was a tall, strong, healthy man, sort of like an all American football player. (see I Sam 9:1-2). He was also a great leader who drove out the Ammonites with a great victory. He actually started the race as a champion but he finished as a failure.
The story of his life is summed up as failure. This is a man with tremendous potential yet no performance. Because he did think it was that important to inquire of the Lord and he did not obey even when Lord spoke and he surrounded himself with the wrong kind of people. We don't want our lives to turn out this way.
Now let’s look at a man who showed no potential yet had great performance. A man who had nothing going for him yet became “more honorable than all his brethren.” Turn to I Chron 4:9 A man named “Jabez”
“More honorable than all his brethren” This is the estimation of God. Whether the world thinks anything of him is of no regard. What does it take to overcome a bad start in life?
Don’t listen to what other men say about you
1) “Called Jabez” There are a few speculations as to what this actually meant but they all point to same thing: a boy who got a bad start in life. It could be the family was poor and the birth of another child meant another “mouth to feed, more of a burden.” Most likely he was born with a birth defect. He could have been handicapped, which was a great disappointment and shame to parents.
It could be his birth brought his mother's death, as in the case with Jacob's wife Rachel when she gave birth to Benjamin, she called him “son of sorrow.” The name “Jabez” means to grieve, be sorry.
Don’t listen to what men say to you. Either way this is not what we would call getting a good start on life! How would you like it if when you walked into a room, people said, “Here comes the loser.”
Be especially careful of people who are close to you saying things that can hinder you for life. You would think at least his own mother would love him enough to give him a nice name. This was some kind of dysfunctional family. People may want to categorize you. They may say you can’t do this or can’t do that. They may even seek to discourage you from trying. Don’t let others set your parameters in life. Don’t let others tell you what you can’t do. “More honorable than all his brethren” Rather than listen to what men had to say; Jabez sought the approval of God. This is the estimation of God. Whether the world thinks anything of him is of no importance.
All the other boys had nice names like Zimran, Adulmna, Pathrusim, Arphaxad, and they were probably the “in’ names for that day. But God said Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. Others may speak well of you, but what does God say?
Continually confess your need for God to move in your life
“called on God of Israel” This is the opposite of what we read about with Saul. For Jabez this is the trait he is remembered for, a man who called upon God. By his prayer it is apparent that he had a very deep sense of his own weakness and insufficiency. As a result he had to put all his trust in the God of Israel, not in himself. He developed his spiritual dimension. He was not a two-dimensional man as many people are today. They spend much of their time developing their body and soul (emotions) but little time developing their spirit. Nothing exists with only two dimensions.
“Bless me indeed” This is an anxious request for the smile of God upon his life. He desired God's approval and acceptance. He could not go on unless God blessed. Sometimes we ask God's blessing and in the back of our mind we figure how we'll do it even if we don't get God's blessing. This was Saul's problem. He would pray and ask God to do something and if God didn’t do it he went and did it himself. I think this is often the problem with credit cards. We ask God to provide and if He doesn’t we just go out and charge it. We need to submit to God and if God doesn’t do it you won’t do it.
So many think that this may be wrong to ask for God to “bless them indeed.” They are afraid to use up all of God’s blessings. It may be all right to pray for God to bless someone, the pastor, the missionaries, the church, but to ask God to “Bless ME” wow that is something else.
Have a hunger for more, have divine dissatisfaction,
“Enlarge my territory” Please prosper my labors. In Psalm 1:3 we read of a righteous man that “His leaf will not wither; whatsoever he does shall prosper.”
We can see that he was not satisfied with what he had and hungered for more. This is called “Divine Dissatisfaction.” Paul had this when he wrote Philippians 3:12-14. We need to believe God for more in our lives. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” He was not satisfied with his life. He was satisfied with God but he sensed that God had more for him to do. He still had a destiny to fulfill. He was hungry for more of God.
Some Christians are satisfied with their Christian life, because they compare themselves with other Christians who are not doing so well. Comparing ourselves to others is so dangerous and deceptive. It can either condemn us or lull us to sleep. “I am not as bad as that person, or I have done so much more for God than that person.” Watch out!
Are we asking for more or are we content? Are we hungry? Never be satisfied with the past accomplishments, even Caleb at age 85 wanted to conquer new territory. Josh 14:12-15
“Enlarge my opportunities so I can make a greater impact for You.” Jabez was asking for more influence, more responsibility, more opportunity to make a mark for the God of Israel. Give me more people to minister to, enlarge my care group, enlarge my sphere of influence, etc. Jabez looked about what he had, what he had done, and was saying, “Surely I was born for more than this!”
In those days most Israelites were shepherds. To pray for more land, meant they could raise more flocks of sheep or goats. If Jabez worked on Wall Street he might have prayed, “Lord, increase the value of my investment portfolios.”
Is it right to ask God for more business? Well, was it right for Jabez? We know it was right, because God “granted him all he requested.” If you are doing your business God’s way, it is not only right to ask for more, but He is waiting for you to ask. Whatever your business is; student, housewife, employee, self employed, you can ask God to “enlarge your territory.”
Possibly this was a particular prayer he prayed before he entered on some important and critical service, asking for successful execution. Some feel this is reference to driving the Canaanites out of the land.
Ask for personal guidance and revelation
1) “That your hand would be with me” Hold me up God. I am but a weak and crippled child, but if you hold me up I can do it. Here is a man who was determined to produce something with his life but he knew it would only come through God's help. Have your hand in mine and we'll walk together.
Always keep other people in mind
“Keep me from evil that I may not cause pain” K.J. “Keep me from evil that it may not grieve me” As Jesus himself prayed, “Deliver us from evil.” He desired a holy life. Keep me from sin. Keep me from myself “Grieve” means Jabez. It is a sign of strength to recognize your capacity to do evil and to fear that.
“God granted him” As God spoke to Paul (2 Cor 12:9) “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” God blessed, enlarged, had His hand upon Jabez and kept him from himself.
Summary
Jabez flourished in spite of obstacles. What a beautiful eulogy. A man who had no potential yet became “more honorable than all his brethren.” This is the story of a man who overcame the odds of a broken life and succeeded. It is not just what person does in life that matters but also what he had to overcome to get there that catches our imagination.
These two men, Saul and Jabez are good examples of what we can do with our lives. The choices we make are more important than the potential we have or the opportunities we have. We have to decide to do something with our life and in order to do that we need to learn how to have God in our lives.
Jabez is someone many can relate to. He was an ordinary person, an average person, who went beyond what anyone thought he could ever do. How do ordinary people do extra ordinary things? They tap into an extra ordinary God!
