• He was not a great prophet or preacher
• He was not a wise ruler over a great nation
• He was not a famous soldier, known for his heroic deeds
He is in the Scriptures because of a prayer He prayed.
Some prayers that some men and women have prayed have rocked the nation in which they lived.
Illus: When minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual prayers they normally hear. But he prayed a prayer that touched off news stories across this nation. Listen, to the prayer that he prayed.
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will and to openly ask these things in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!"
When he prayed this prayer in the Kansas Senate, the response was shocking.
• A number of ungodly legislators walked out during the prayer in protest.
• In 6 short weeks, Rev. Wright’s church, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.
• The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.
• Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.
This one prayer has swept around the world because it is considered to be one of the greatest public prayers that has been prayed in recent years.
Today I want us to look at a prayer by Jabez. Thousands of years have come and gone and men and women are still talking about this wonderful prayer.
WHO WAS JABEZ? We do not know a lot about this great man, we can only tell you a few things, such as:
(1) JABEZ’S NAME MEANS PAIN
His mother must have had a very PAINFUL time at childbirth bringing him into this world. She called him Jabez which means pain.
Illus: Can you imagine a mother today thumbing through a name-your-baby book at Books-a-Million and saying, "I know what I will name my brand new bouncing baby boy: I will name him…Pain!" He was stuck with the name Jabez which means PAIN!
We know what HIS NAME MEANS, but what else do we know about him?
(2) JABEZ WAS HONORABLE
Verse 9 says, “And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren:…” This man, Jabez, must have lived a life of greatness, because historians tell us that a city was named after him, people followed him, and he was a true man of God.
WHAT MADE HIM SO GREAT? He was a man who knew how to turn PAIN into PRAYER.
A lot of people are born into pain. They are born without the ADVANTAGES of others. But listen, our birth does not determine our future.
• Go back into history and many of the men and women that we hold in high esteem were born into disadvantaged families.
• Go back into the Scriptures and every one of the twelve disciples were just ordinary men.
God was so pleased with this man’s life and his request, that the Bible tells us, “…God granted him that which he requested.”
Let’s look at the requests that God granted him. We will only have time to deal with two this morning. We will deal with his other request in the next service. Let’s look at-
I. THE REQUESTS
Jabez requsted four things from God the Father. Look at -
A. HIS FIRST REQUEST
Look at verse 10, we read, “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed….”
This request teaches us several important things, such as:
(1) OUR DEPENDENCE ON GOD
We need God to bless us…we are nothing without his blessings.
Illus: You are looking at a preacher standing before you that can not breathe, see, hear, think, talk or walk without the blessings of God. I know we have proud men among us, but like Jabez, I know that I am totally dependent upon God.
Just as a child is born dependent upon his parents, we are dependent upon God the Father.
Illus: But parents have to acknowledge the fact that as our children grow older they depend on us less. If we have raised them right, one day they will be able to take care of themselves and we will become parents in name only.
But as the children of God, we will have to depend on our Heavenly Father ALL OUR LIVES. We will never reach the place where we can say to God the Father, “I DO NOT NEED YOU ANYMORE! I CAN MAKE IT WITHOUT YOU.”
We need the goodness of God in our life every day. We are dependent upon Him, and we can all be thankful that God is a good God!
WHY IS GOD GOOD TO US? God is good to all of us because HE IS INTRINSICALLY GOOD. He let’s the sun shine on the JUST AND THE UNJUST! His goodness does not come to us because of our goodness. He is good to us because He IS GOOD!
Illus: Speaking of goodness, I heard of three men that stood before Saint Peter at heaven’s gate wanting to get in. He said, “Before I let you in, I will ask you each a simple question. If you tell the truth I will allow you into heaven, but if you lie....Hell is waiting for you.”
To the first man, St. Peter asked, "How many times did you cheat on your wife?" The first man replied, "I was a good husband. I never cheated on my wife." St. Peter replied, "Very good! Not only will I allow you in, but for being faithful to your wife I will give you a huge mansion and a limo for your transportation.”
To the second man, St. Peter asked, "How many times did you cheat on your wife?" The second man replied, "I cheated on my wife twice." St. Peter replied, "I will allow you to come in, but for your unfaithfulness, you will get a four bedroom house and a BMW.”
To the third man, St. Peter asked, "So, how many times did you cheat on your wife?" The third man replied, "I cheated on my wife about 8 times." St. Peter replied, "I will allow you to come in, but for your unfaithfulness, you will get a one-room apartment, and a Yugo for your transportation.”
A couple hours later the second and third men saw the first man crying his eyes out. "Why are you crying?" the two men asked. "You got the mansion and limo!" The first man replied, "I'm crying because I saw my wife recently and she is living in a pup tent, and she has a skateboard for transportation!"
Jabez wanted the blessings of God on his life, and he prayed, “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed…” When Jabez prayed this prayer, he saw himself as a helpless child. He was dependent upon GOD, and so are we!
This prayer shows our helplessness and how much we need to depend on God. But it also teaches us something else. It teaches us-
(2) WE NEED THE RIGHT KIND OF BLESSINGS
Look at this request again. He prayed, “O that thou wouldest bless ME INDEED!”
Look at the word “INDEED.” Jabez recognized that everything is not a blessing. He wanted God to bless him INDEED!
Illus: When it comes to blessings, I think of this fellow named Charlie who was a regular visitor at the racetrack. One afternoon he noticed an unusual sight. Right before the first race, a Catholic priest visited one of the horses in the stable area and gave it a blessing. Charlie watched the horse race very carefully, and sure enough the blessed horse came in first! Charlie followed the priest before the next race, and again the priest went to the stables and performed a similar procedure. Charlie played a hunch and put a couple of dollars on the blessed horse. Sure enough, the blessed horse came in by two lengths and Charlie won close to fifty bucks! The priest continued the same procedure through the next few races and Charlie won each time. He was now ahead $1000 so between races Charlie left the track and went to the bank and withdraw his life's savings, $20,000. The biggest race of the day was the last one. Charlie followed the priest and watched carefully which horse he blessed. He then went to the betting window and put the whole $21,000 bundle of cash on that horse to win. Then Charlie went out to watch the horses race. Down the stretch they came and as they crossed the finish line, the horse Charlie's fortune was bet on fell over and died on the race track. Charlie was crushed. He located the priest and told him that he had been watching him bless the horses all day and they all became winners except the last horse on which he had bet his life savings. Charlie then asked, "What happened to the last horse that you blessed? Why didn't it win like the others?" "That's the trouble with you Protestants," sighed the priest, "You never can tell the difference between a blessing and the Last Rites."
Everything that looks like a BLESSING is not a blessing. That is exactly why Jabez asked the Lord to bless him INDEED!
We live in a materialistic society. When many people pray for blessings, they are praying for:
• New homes
• New cars
• New Clothes
• Lots of money so they won’t have to trust God for the necessities of life
But listen, there are other blessings in life that are more important than houses, cars, and money, such as:
• Our family
• Our health
• Our church
So often in this materialistic society, all we hear people pray for are THINGS THAT REALLY DON’T COUNT.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was talking to this rich Jewish man. He was loaded with money and property. A man came to him wanting to buy some land in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. This rich old Jewish fellow said to him, “I do not sell land, I buy land!” He had some of the most expensive land that anyone could have in downtown Columbia. He and his wife were up in age, and the both of them had lost their health. He told Dr. Belger, “I would give every penny I have and all the land I possess if my wife and I could get our health back.”
• If you have a healthy body today, you need to thank God, because many times it is only when people lose their health that they appreciate the blessing of good health.
• If you have a healthy family today, you need to thank God for this blessing.
• If you attend a good church where God’s Word is preached and the church members love each other, you need to thank God because everyone does not have that blessing.
There are more blessings in life than houses, cars, clothes and money in the bank.
Illus; At a nursing home, a group of seniors were sitting around talking about all their ailments.
• "My arms have gotten so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee," said one.
• "Yes, I know," said another. "My cataracts are so bad I can't even see my coffee."
• "I couldn't even mark an "X" at election time, my hands are so crippled," volunteered a third.
• "My blood pressure pills make me so dizzy!" exclaimed another.
• "I forget where I am, and where I'm going," said another.
• "I guess that's the price we pay for getting old", an old man said. The others nodded in agreement.
• "Well, count your blessings," said one woman cheerfully. "At least we can all still drive."
Jabez wanted God to bless him, but he wanted God to bless him with THE RIGHT KIND OF BLESSINGS. This prayer teaches something else.
(3) GOD KNOWS OUR NEEDS
In this portion of his prayer, we need to notice something; he left it entirely up to God to decide:
• What the blessings would be
• Where the blessings were to take place
• When the blessings were to take place
• And how Jabez would receive the blessings
This is why he simply prayed, “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed,”
You see, I do not know how to pray for what I need.
The Bible says, the Holy Spirit prays through me, making groanings that this tongue can not utter. Look at Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
God knows what we have need of.
Jabez left it up to God to bless Him, he simply prayed, “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed,”
He was dependent upon God and in this first request, he was simply letting God know HIS REQUEST.
B. HIS SECOND REQUEST
Look at verse 10, “…Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, AND ENLARGE MY COAST…”
HE WAS NOT SATISFIED WITH THE STATUS QUO! He wanted to be the best he was capable of being.
Illus: The average man draws a little circle around himself and stays in that circle all his life. Jabez said he wanted God to enlarge his borders! He wanted to live beyond the boundaries in which he had been living, he wanted God to stretch his boundaries.
There’s a popular term in the business world – I’m sure that some of you’ve heard it. It says, “THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.” It means to try to think beyond what you have always done or how you thought about something.
Illus: There are churches that could do some great things for God, but a long time ago they drew a circle around their church and they will tell you, “This is the way we have always done things!”
They say the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I hope that is not true, because if it is, we have a lot foolish churches.
Sometimes to get different results we have to “THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX!”
Illus: Fred Smith, who founded Federal Express, saw how packages were being delivered, taking many days and weeks to get to their destinations.
He decided to find a way for people to get their stuff, not in a few days or weeks, but overnight. Anywhere in the world.
He began to THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX and came up with an idea of how people could get their packages the next day…IT IS NOW CALLED FEDERAL EXPRESS.
The point is this; some of you need to broaden your circle. You need to pray like Jabez prayed and ask God to ENLARGE YOUR CIRCLE. For God to do this, it will mean you are going to have to come out of that little circle that you live in and do some things you have never done before.
Listen, I know men and women:
• Who were so timid they would not pray in public, but they asked God to enlarge their circle, and now they pray in public worship services
• Who were so timid they would not witness to the lost about salvation. But they prayed and ask God to enlarge their circle and now they witness for Christ daily
• Who would not tithe, but they prayed for God to help them enlarge their circle, and now God is blessing them for their obedience
• Who would not sing, but they prayed for God to enlarge their circle, and now they are singing in the choir
God wants to enlarge your borders.
But before God can do that, you have got to come out of your COMFORT ZONE and call upon God, and ask Him to help you to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
Conclusion:
We have looked at:
I. THE REQUESTS
II. THE REQUIREMENT (In the next sermon)
