ASK FOR THE BIGGEST
I Chronicles 4:10b
INTRODUCTION: There is a story told of a wonderful, elderly, Christian lady who had very little money and lived in a rundown house, but despite her situation she was always giving praise to the Lord. Her only problem was with the old man who lived next door. He was constantly trying to prove to her that there was no God. One day, as the old man was walking by this lady’s house, he noticed her through an open window. She was kneeling in prayer. So he crept over to the window to see if he could hear. She was praying, " Lord, you’ve always given me what I’ve needed. And now you know that I don’t have any money, I’m completely out of groceries, and I won’t get another check for a week. O Lord somehow will You please get me some groceries." The man had heard all he needed. He crept away from the window, ran down to the grocery store and bought a basket full of groceries. He then raced back to the woman’s house, set the bags down on by her door, rang the doorbell, and hid behind the shrubs. You can imagine how the woman reacted to seeing all those groceries. She threw her hands over head and cried out, "Thank you Jesus! You answered my prayer! I was out of food and now you have overflowed my shelves." About that time the old man jumped out and said, "I’ve got you now. I told you there was no God. It wasn’t Jesus who gave you these groceries it was me." The woman lifted up her arms again and shouted "Oh thank you Jesus! You sent me all this food and made the devil pay for it." Great story, whether it is true or not, I have no idea, but I do know that it teaches us something great about prayer. In the prayer of Jabez, we come to the second request that he made. He said, "O, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory." As if it wasn’t enough for Jabez to ask for God to fill him up with blessings, "bless me a lot!" he now asks for more property.
I. ASKING AMISS?
A. At first glance, the second plea of this prayer may seem selfish, even materialistic. The NAS renders it as "enlarge my border," and it literally means, "Give me more land," but Jabez was not wrong in his asking.
1. Land was an important commodity during his time, and it was often considered a blessing from God and a sign of His approval. More land gave the owner more influence and a stronger voice in his community, no different than today in many respects. But it also provided more opportunities to do good for your fellow man.
2. With more land one could grow more crops, employ more workers, give more to the needy, as the law required, and provide for an extended family and for straangers that came your way, as was required by the law. I have no doubts that this was what Jabez had in mind when he asked God to expand his borders.
3. Remember, Jabez was an honorable man, more honorable, even, than his brothers. He was not greedy, selfish or materialistic. He was not seeking to fill up his pocketbook or his storehouses as some did. He was in fact pleading with the Creator of all things to multiply him, to increase his influence and to expand his ability to do good and provide.
4. His heart longed for nothing greater than to find favor in God’s eyes by his faithful use of God’s blessings. That is the pinnacle of mankind’s existence and it was the goal of his life. He simply desired more to do with so that he could be found faithful and honorable doing with them.
B. The last sentence in I Chronicles 4:10 reads, "And God granted his request." That tells us that God read his heart, examined his intentions, and then and only then did He give him all that he requested. Why? Because he desired those things for the right reasons.
{The lesson for us is that we can, and we should…}
II. ASK FOR THE BIGGEST
A. In a day and time where so much is based on what you have and who you know, it might seem risky to pray the second portion of this prayer. I know how easy it is to be materialistic and to attempt to keep up with the Joneses. But if our heart is right, we can use the words of Jabez to grow our lives for God.
1. It is no secret, or at least it ought not be, that God has called all of His children to be ministers of His grace and goodness. Paul describes us as clay pots filled with the treasure of God, and Peter calls us a royal priesthood and God’s own special people who proclaim His praises.
2. In Ephesians 2, after telling us that it is grace that saves us, and not the works of our hands, Paul says that we are products of God’s craftsmanship in Jesus designed to do the good works which he prepared before the beginning of time.
3. In other words we were saved to serve. To tell the world about Jesus, to share His grace and goodness that we have experienced in our lives, to bring relief to the suffering, the afflicted, the poverty stricken and the confused.
4. Those are awesome tasks! But to do all of those things, and more, we must have an open door, an opportunity and the means, to fulfill God’s design for our lives. That is where asking for expanded territory becomes so important and so necessary.
B. Territory for us is not earthly possessions it is spiritual opportunities, and if those opportunities come with a material blessing of some kind, that is fine and great, but that is not the object of our prayer, nor was it for Jabez. Our prayer must be one of seeking that open door to do great things for God.
1. When we pray this prayer we are praying for God to expand our sphere of influence so we can reach more people. We are asking for more responsibility so we can be found more faithful. We are pleading for more opportunities for ministry so that we might save some lost soul.
2. It is a leap of faith to ask for expanded territory. So go ahead and ask! Choose a work, a ministry, an area of responsibility and ask. Ask for God to provide a way for you, for us, to convert all of the Westwood Community. Ask God to help you find your voice in His work. Ask God to increase your talents.
3. Say to Him, "O Lord, take everything you have put under my care and enlarge it so that I may do more for you!" Surrender your will, your body, your soul, your territory to God and let Him have his perfect work with you. This is what He wants us to do because He longs to increase us in every way.
4. Luke 12:32 give you the kingdom
5. Acts 1:8 – Expanded borders!
6. In the Parable of the Talents and the Parable of the Ten Minas, parallel parables, those who were faithful in using what the master gave them were given a great increase so that they could do more.
7. Malachi 1:5, "Truly God’s great power reaches far beyond our borders!" So ask God to stretch you to where His power is.
C. Simply put, we are encouraged by the prayer of Jabez to ask for the biggest He can give us so that we like him can be found faithful and honorable in all those things. And just like with Jabez, He will grant our request when we ask with an honest heart.
CONCLUSION: Jesus said in Matthew 9, "The harvest is truly plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." Pray hard! Ask for more work, more talents, more territory! But do so in order to bring Him glory!
