It has been a writing phenomena as it has sold by the millions. As you study the prayer of Jabez, it will bless your heart over and over again.
But another prayer that is just as interesting is the prayer of Agur. Let’s look at this simple prayer that he prayed, that God considered to be so important that He placed it within the Scriptures for us learn from. Let’s look at-
I. HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS PERSON
Some are probably saying to yourself, “WHO IS AGUR?” Perhaps you are saying, “I have heard of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and many others, but I never heard of Agur.”
Most likely none of us would have ever heard of Agur at all were it not for this prayer that he prayed, recorded in the Scripture in Proverbs 30. You might say, his claim to fame was due to a prayer he prayed.
WHO WAS AGUR?
We do not know a great deal about him, but we do know that he was the son of Jaked. But that does not tell us a great deal because we do not know who Jaked was either. But you can learn a great deal about a person when you listen to them pray.
Illus: Many have heard people pray publicly, and when we heard them praying publicly, we got the distinct impression they were not talking to God, but to us!
WHY DO WE REACH THAT CONCLUSION? Because the words of their prayers are telling everyone how much they love the Lord.
Listen, if they were talking to the Lord, they would not need to tell Him how much they love Him, because He already knows how much or how little they love Him.
These remind us of the two men in Luke 18 that went to the temple to pray.
Look at Luke 18:10-14, we read, “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Notice, the Bible says, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.”
If he was talking to God, he did not need to tell the Lord how much he tithed and fasted. God already had all that information. He gave the impression that he was praying, but actually he was bragging!
Many folks do not know the difference between PRAYING and BRAGGING! When they are called upon to pray in public, they use this opportunity to let everyone know how much they love the Lord, and they tell of all the things that they have done for Him. Like this Pharisee, they often compare themselves to others.
Even though the Bible does not tell us a great deal about Agur, his prayer tells us a great deal about him as we will see in a few minutes.
We have looked at HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS PERSON, but also let’s look at -
II. HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS POVERTY
Look at Proverbs 30:7-8, “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.”
These two verses of Scripture tell us a great deal about the kind of man Agur was. For example, we can see from these two verses -
A. HE SEEMS TO BE AN ORGANIZED MAN
Look at verse 7 again, we read, “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die.”
Notice, he knew exactly what he wanted from the Lord. He said, “Two things have I required of thee.”
The word “Required” means there were TWO THINGS HE WANTED TO TALK TO GOD ABOUT!
Illus: You know when a man goes into an ice cream parlor, he knows he wants some ice cream. But it is important that he also knows WHAT FLAVOR, and HOW MANY SCOOPS HE WANTS!
It would be ridiculous on his part, to walk in and say, “I want some ice cream!” Of course he wants some ice cream, but WHAT KIND AND HOW MANY SCOOPS DOES HE WANT?
It is also ridiculous when a person comes to the Lord in prayer, and it is obvious they need something from the Lord, but they do not know what they want from the Lord.
Agur seems to be an organized man, because he specifically stated he wanted two things from the Lord. HE SEEMS TO BE AN ORGANIZED MAN, but also-
B. HE SEEMS TO BE AN OLD MAN
He said, “…Deny me them not before I die.”
I believe it would be safe to assume that perhaps he was an old man. At least he was conscious that death was something he would be facing, perhaps soon.
Now, many folks live their lives like they are never going to die. Agur was very conscious that he was going to die, and he asked God to grant these two requests before he died.
The closer we get to death, the more desperate we become for the Lord to do certain things for us before we leave this life.
Many of us are up in age, and should be praying:
• God save my children before I die
• God help me to DO A LOT OF GOOD for all the BAD I have done before I die
• God help me to establish a good testimony before I die
Illus: We all rejoice about the thief on the cross who came to know Christ as His Savior. But one of the sad things about this conversion is that shortly after he was converted, HE DIED!
• He did not have time to go on a job and witness to his lost friends
• He did not have time to witness to his lost family members
• He did not have time to send missionaries around the world preaching the gospel
• He did not have time to join a church and get active in it
He got saved and praised God for that, but after he was converted HE DIED.
Listen, wouldn’t it be wonderful if saved people would serve the Lord the way they once served Satan?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if saved people, in whatever time they have left on earth, would try to do as much good as they did harm when they served Satan?
We all know that the Bible teaches that we can do all the good works that we can do, and that will not save us, but the prayer of every Christian should be, “GOD, BEFORE I DIE, I WANT TO DO AS MUCH GOOD AS I DID EVIL WHEN I SERVED SATAN.”
It could be that Agur recognized that the sun was quickly setting in his life, and he desperately wanted God to do some things in his life before he died.
Evidently, he also recognized that if we are strapped down with poverty, it limits what we can do for the Lord. He specifically asked the Lord, “…give me neither poverty…”
We have looked at HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS PERSON,
and HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS POVERTY. Let’s also look at -
III. HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS PROSPERITY
Look at these three verses again, we read, “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”
Remember, I told you that you can tell a great deal about a person if you listen to them pray. As we study the prayer of Agur, we can not help but notice -
A. HIS INTEGRITY
He said, “Remove far from me vanity and lies.” Here is a man who had come to understand that we can live a life of “Vanity and Lies”.
So many live such a life. But he is praying that God will remove him FAR from such a life.
Illus: Solomon was a man that God blessed with wealth and fame, but he was also a man who on many occasions cried out, “All is vanity”.
Look at Ecclesiastes 1:14, “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
He said, “I have SEEN IT ALL and DONE IT ALL, but these things have no real fulfillment in life.”
Many live their lives thinking, “If I get this kind of a car, and live in this kind of house, I will be happy.” No you won’t, and I can prove it. Some of the most miserable people on this earth have all those things, and they have discovered that things can not really satisfy a person.
Illus: People like this remind me of the picture of I saw of a donkey that had a long pole tied on him, with a carrot dangling from a string before him. The donkey was constantly chasing the carrot. It was the carrot that motivated him to move.
The devil is putting things before people and they are chasing after them, and when they get these things, they discover these things do not satisfy. This is living a life of “Vanity and lies”.
Agur prayed for himself, “Remove far from me vanity and lies.” He did not want to live such a life.
We can see HIS INTEGRITY in his prayer, and we can see -
B. HIS INTEREST
Notice, he talks about what he was INTERESTED in. He understood that life is more than money!
To some people that is all life is, MONEY IS THEIR INTEREST IN LIFE!
But notice Agur, he said in his prayer, “…Give me neither poverty nor riches…”
It is obvious as to why he did not want to be poor, but why didn’t he want to be rich? Look at verse 9, we read, “Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”
Agur asks to never have riches, because riches can turn us from the Lord. How many times have you seen people who prospered enough, and:
• They bought a camper, and you hardly ever saw them in church again
• They bought a boat, and your hardly ever saw them in church again
• They bought a set of nice golf clubs, and you never saw them in church again
Make no mistake about it, the devil uses things to lure people away from the Lord.
He compares riches to lies. For example, it is a big lie that plagues many churches in America today.
When it comes to the riches of this world, they seem to maintain that one never has enough. These people ask God for blessings, but restrict blessings to money and material things.
Rather than asking that their needs be met, many seek for bigger and better things. Never before has the church had so many nice things, such as:
• Buildings to worship in
• Recreational buildings
• Sunday School Class rooms
• Dining halls
• Electronic equipment
But we can have all these things, and still not even have God among us.
Illus: The Laodicean Church, in Revelation 3:14-17, was a church living a lie. Look what the Word of God said about them; “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
Notice, the Bible said they were “Increased with goods”. In other words, they thought they had it all, but the Lord said they were naked and wretched.
Agur did not want to live such a lie. Agur asks to only be fed with food that is right for him:
• Not the best
• Not the worst
• Not too much
• Not too little
He is asking for the sovereignty of God to give him what God sees to be right.
If we receive too much, we will deny the Lord and be full of worldliness. Agur knows that his only escape from the world is to give God reign over his life. He won’t ask for more, he won’t ask for less.
As we look to God’s sovereignty, He will only give to us what we truly need.
Luke 11:11-13 “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
Conclusion:
What a wonderful prayer Agur prayed. No wonder God records this prayer for us to learn from. We have looked at:
I. HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS PERSON
II. HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS POVERTY
III. HIS PRAYER REGARDING HIS PROSPERITY
