This morning, we continue our study of the prayer of Jabez, found in 1 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."
-- 1 Chronicles 4:10, NKJV
This prayer has become quite well known, due to a best-selling book by Bruce Wilkinson. You can now purchase copies of this prayer on plaques, and prints, and posters, as well as various editions of the book itself -- a child’s version, for example, or a teen version. And so presumably, there are now millions of people across the country who are praying this prayer on a regular basis.
Now, I’m all for prayer. In fact, a commitment to prayer is one of the core values of this church. I’m all for using prayers from the Bible, such as the Psalms, or the Lord’s Prayer, or the prayers found in Paul’s letters. I’m even in favor of praying the prayer of Jabez; in fact, I do so myself. And I encourage you to read the book, because it’s a very inspiring little volume. It’ll make you want to pray, and that’s all for the good. But as we saw last week, there are some pitfalls to avoid. Remember that this is not a magic formula to be repeated word-for-word, as if the words themselves had some mystical power. It’s not a mantra, to be repeated over and over. The important thing isn’t getting the words right, or saying the prayer every day. The important thing is that this prayer expresses what’s in your heart; that it helps you to communicate with your heavenly Father. Because that’s what prayer is. It’s not just reading words off a page, or reciting some verse you’ve memorized. It’s heart-to-heart communication between you and God. So use the prayer, but use it as a model, not a mantra.
Second, remember that God offers no absolute guarantees for this prayer or any other prayer -- except the assurance that He will hear us, and He will answer according to His perfect wisdom, and knowledge, and power. His response to our prayers is always loving, and right and good. But God is sovereign, and He answers as He judges best, not necessarily as we desire. We can’t force His hand, we can’t insist that He grant our requests. And so in the words of the great philosopher Mick Jagger, "we can’t always get what we want". No matter how carefully, or how often, we repeat these words. But that’s OK, because we know that He knows best. Deep down, we really wouldn’t want it any other way. And so we’re content to bring to Him all our needs and desires, our fears and pains and sorrows, our hopes and dreams -- we are content to come to God in prayer bringing everything that’s in our hearts, confident that He will do what’s best, whether or not we understand or agree. That’s called faith. And faith doesn’t demand. Faith asks, and trusts and believes.
So last week, we looked at the first phrase of the prayer, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed". We saw that it is perfectly appropriate for us to ask God for good things, to ask Him for a blessing. Because God enjoys nothing more than giving good gifts to his children.
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" -- Matthew 7:9-11
Not only that, but God encourages us to ask Him for great things, to ask that He bless us "indeed". Listen to this word from the prophet Jeremiah:
"Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name, ’Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’" -- Jeremiah 33:2-3
God wants to bless us in ways that we haven’t even thought of yet. He desires to enter into our lives and do wonderful, and powerful, and incredible things. If we will only ask, and trust, and obey.
Now today we turn to the second phrase of the prayer, "and enlarge my territory". What does that mean? Well, to Jabez it meant literally, "please give me more land, more acreage". "Please increase the number of square miles that I and my people have dominion over". But how do we apply this to ourselves? Do we ask for land? Personally, I wouldn’t mind if God blessed me with some of the undeveloped real estate around here, at the current market value of eighty to a hundred thousand an acre. I’d be quite happy with as little as ten or twenty acres. I’m not greedy. But I really don’t think that’s the proper application.
Or what about asking for land to build a church? Well, I certainly have no objection. In fact, I pray that God would do exactly that. I pray that in the not-too-distant future God would allow us to take ownership of a tract of land somewhere in the Westshore area, and that he would make it possible for us to construct a building -- a meeting place for the church; a permanent base of operations that will help us reach out to the hundreds of thousands of unchurched people all around us. That’s my vision. Now, given the fact that we currently have no building fund, and no money to put into a building fund even if we had one, you might conclude that this is more fantasy than reality. And it would be, except for one thing. We serve a great and mighty God, who owns every acre of land in Westlake, and Rocky River, and Avon, and Avon Lake, and North Olmsted, and as far as the eye can see. He created it, He sustains it by His power, and it’s His to dispose of however He pleases. He can make any of it available for our use whenever He wishes. Does it seem incredible or unbelievable to you that God would do this? Good. Because He is a God who does incredible and unbelievable things, all the time. Listen:
"[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" -- Ephesians 3:20
In other words, if you can imagine it (and I can certainly imagine land and a building -- can’t you?), then it isn’t even close to what God is able to do. It doesn’t even scratch the surface. Fifteen acres of land and a twenty-thousand square foot building are no problem to Him whatsoever. He wouldn’t even break a sweat. Just for fun, I’m going to quote Lewis Carroll, in "Through the Looking Glass":
Alice laughed. "There’s no use trying," she said: "one can’t believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven’t had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
The point I’m trying to make is that we need more practice believing "impossible" things. Or at least, things that the world tells us are impossible. We need practice letting go of our preconceived limits on what God can do -- in our lives; in this church; in our community. We need practice taking seriously what our Lord told us, that "with God, all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). In short, we need more practice believing the Word of God. Listen to the prophet Jeremiah:
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." -- Jeremiah 32:17
Jeremiah had it right. Nothing is too hard for our God. Nothing is too difficult for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Changing the heart of an angry and bitter woman so that she becomes joyful and loving -- Christ can do that. Delivering an addict from his lust for drugs or alcohol -- Christ can do that. Turning a husband or wife around, so that instead of running away from God, they’re walking toward God -- Christ can do that. Jesus Christ can open hearts, and mend relationships, and restore marriages, and strengthen families. He can change communities. He can build churches. And He can build this church. Brothers and sisters, the question is not whether God can provide the financial resources to sustain this church. The question isn’t whether He can grow and bless this church. The question isn’t even whether He is willing to do it. Of course He’s willing. Listen to what He said:
"I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." -- Matthew 16:18
No, the question is whether we are willing to believe what he said; whether we are willing to pray, and work, and sacrifice to see that happen. If so, then we are in for the time of our lives, because no one who follows wholeheartedly after God is ever disappointed. Now, all of this may seem like a huge digression from prayer of Jabez, for God to enlarge his territory. But actually, it’s right on point. Because for us, "territory" is not land or real estate. It’s not physical territory at all. It’s spiritual territory. We’re talking about capturing territory from the dominion of Satan, and bringing it under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We’re asking that God would give us men and women for the kingdom of God. We’re talking about people’s souls; their hearts and minds and wills.
For Jabez, more land meant more responsibility. More dominion over God’s creation. Jabez knew that ultimately, the land didn’t belong to Him; it belonged to God. He knew that he was just a steward, a trustee. And so when God answered his prayer for more land, it meant that God was entrusting him with more opportunity to do good. In the same way, when we pray for more "territory," what we’re asking for is a greater opportunity to influence people for Christ. We’re asking that God would enlarge our ministry and amplify our testimony. We’re asking that more and more, God would use us as his instruments of grace and blessing in the lives of other people.
[Personal example]
Of course, in your life, the answer to this prayer is going to look very different. Each of us has a unique sphere of influence -- at work, in our families and extended families, in our friendships and acquaintances, in our neighborhoods. People who, at one time or another, might be receptive to discussing the Bible, or Christianity, or spiritual matters in general. What would happen if you prayed that God would enlarge your territory; if you prayed that He would begin to bring people into your life and into your sphere of influence who were primed and ready for that kind of conversation? What would happen if you asked God to open doors for you to talk about Christ, as Paul did?
"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word"
-- Colossians 4:2-3
Why not try it? Don’t worry if you don’t have all the answers. Just pray that God would put people in your path who need what you’ve got. And then don’t be surprised if suddenly you start bumping into people who want to talk about the Lord. When that happens, come back on Sunday morning and tell us about it. Dr. Wilkinson calls these "Jabez moments". So just stand up during the Open Mike Time and say, "I had a Jabez moment this week," and we’ll know what you mean.
Likewise, please pray for Westshore. Pray that God would enlarge our territory; that he would expand our ministry and influence as a church; that he would bring us more and more people who are seeking after Christ; people in whose hearts God is working; people whom God has prepared to hear and receive the good news. And may we be faithful in sharing that good news with them, the good news that they can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again.
Now, there’s one more thing we need to remember if we’re going to see answers to this prayer. And that’s the law of faithfulness:
"’Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. "Master," he said, "you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more." His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!"
The man with the two talents also came. "Master," he said, "you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more." His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!" Then the man who had received the one talent came. "Master," he said, "I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you."
His master replied, "You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents." For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.’" -- Matthew 25:14-21
"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much." -- Luke 16:10 (NAS)
Put simply, it works like this: If you are faithful to make use of the opportunities God gives you, then He will give you more. On the other hand if you are unfaithful, if you refuse to capitalize on the opportunities God gives you, then He will take them away and give them to someone else! If God gives you an opportunity to tell someone about Christ, and you clam up and say nothing, and then he sends you someone else, and again you say nothing, eventually he’s going to stop sending you people. He’s going to send them to someone who will speak up! And you’ll miss the blessing and the reward. In the same way, if you keep passing up other kinds of opportunities to serve Christ, and to make a difference for Christ, then eventually, you’ll just stop getting those opportunities.
For instance, what if I were to say, "When our congregation reaches a thousand, then I’ll really start putting an effort into my sermons. I’ll study and pray for hours. But for now, I’m going to take it easy." When would we reach a thousand in attendance? Never! If I’m not faithful to labor diligently with a relative few, God’s not going to give me any more people to preach to. Why should he? But if I am faithful, then I’ve shown I can be trusted with more. Friends, it’s easy to say, "If I knew the Bible better, I’d witness for Christ." "If I had a more outgoing personality, I’d say something." "If I had a wider circle of contacts," "If I had more time, I’d do something", "If I had more training". If, if, if. But God is not impressed with what you would do if you had more. He’s waiting to see what you’re going to do with the territory you’ve got. And if you’re faithful to make the most of what you’ve got, then he’ll give you more. More territory, more opportunities, more usefulness. But you have to start where you are. If you do that, then God will answer your prayer. Just as he did for Jabez, God will enlarge your territory; He will continually increase your fruitfulness and joy in serving Jesus Christ.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
