(Based on comments by Bruce Wilkinson at Walk thru Life Conference
PPT slides and outline available)
Today I continue with part 3 of the challenges of the prayer of Jabez.
A man had a problem finding a parking space. He finally parked in a no parking zone and left a note on his windshield that read: "I’ve circled the block for 20 minutes. I’m late for an appointment and if I don’t park here I’ll lose my job. Forgive us our trespasses." When he returned later that evening he found a parking ticket on his
windshield and a note that read: "I’ve circled the block for 20 years and if I don’t give you a ticket, I’ll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation."
If this is your first time here, if you are saying, “Who in the world is this Jabez guy? Let me push the rewind and give you the quick Reader’s Digest version of this interesting personality. In the book of 1 Chronicles, chapter 4, six hundred genealogies are listed, name after name, after name. Suddenly, in verses nine and ten of 1 Chronicles, chapter 4, a thumbnail sketch of this man is given in the middle of all these genealogies. 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 who turned his pain into prayer.
Here is his brief bio: “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.” In other words, he stood out. “His mother called his name, Jabez, saying, ‘Because I bore him in pain.’ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying,” now, here is the prayer, “’Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory.” Expand my coastlines, God. So far, we have Jabez, a man named Pain, I would hate to have that name. That was his name. For some reason, he was able to take this pain and transform it into prayer.
He prayed something unique. He said, “God, bless my life.” We said that God wants to bless us. The word to bless simply means for God to pour out his supernatural favor on our life. Sometimes that it’s hard to believe, like “What? You mean God wants to bless me? God wants to expand my influence, my client base, my personality, my leadership?” The answer is “yes.” If we say, “God, not my will, but yours. God, not my agenda, but your agenda. God You work through me.” As long as we understand that, then God will bless us the way he wants to bless, and he will expand our territory the way he wants to expand it.
Today I want to think about the part of the prayer where Jabez prays that God would keep him from evil. In essence he prayed, "Lead me not into temptation." In my opinion, this part of Jabez’ prayer is the very important of the things for which he prayed. Whether or not he experienced the blessings of Gods depended on whether or not he was kept from evil. If he was to be blessed indeed, he had to be kept from evil. If he wanted his coasts enlarged, he
had to be kept from evil. If he wanted God’s hand to be with him, he had to be kept from evil.
If the prayer of Jabez has taught us anything it is that God wants to do great and mighty things for us,
with us, by us, and through us. Yet, if we are not kept from evil, if we cannot break through the barriers to the territory none of these things will be experienced.
If God blesses me, which He wants to, if God expands my coastlines, which He wants to, if God’s hand is upon me, which He wants it to be, then God wants to keep me from evil, keep me from Temptation. Lead me not into temptation is how Jesus expressed it. What does it take to allow God to keepus from evil?
Maybe this skit with the Bethany players will give us some direction.
[Title: Listen (from SermonCentral.com web page)
Description: The key to answered prayer is to be quiet and listen. ]
That’s a Biblical principle—if you fail to listen to God’s voice in your life you will fall, you encounter obstacles to this Jabez territory that God wants to enlarge for you. Adam and Eve, way back in the book of Genesis, at the pinnacle of the creation, everything was going perfectly. They had just been made in the image of God. Everything was humming along and what happened? Satan rumbled onto the scene and began to tempt them. Why did they give into temptation? The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too.” (Genesis 3:6) They didn’t listen to God. And they lost the territory God had blessed them with: So the LORD God banished Adam and his wife from the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:23a
Ultimately, the evil one approached Jesus after his baptism, after he began his public ministry, after a spiritual highpoint, and tried to get him to do evil. But Jesus was prepared; he had his father’s voice at his Baptism: “… a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you.” Luke 3:22b. As a result Jesus could say to the evil one: ‘You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.’ Matthew 4:10
Now it’s great to say, “God, help me and give me strength in temptation.” But Jabez prayed at a higher level. He said, “God, keep me from it. Help me to steer clear from it, to take a wide berth around Temptation.” Most of us don’t pray that way. Most of us are tethered to too many temptations. If we pray this keep me from evil type prayer, we would stay away from most of the stuff that causes a lot of problems in our lives.
Do you remember the Lord’s Prayer? Twenty-five percent of Christ’s fifty words have to do with deliverance from evil. What did he say? Matthew 6:13, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” I challenge you to make that petition before God. I challenge you to say, “From this day forward, I am going to adopt this keep me from evil attitude with the Lord.”
“When you are tempted.” Now, being tempted is not a sin. Sin becomes sin when you sin. Temptation is not a sin. Usually, I discovered for my life, when I feel the temperature of temptation kind of turned up on my life,, I feel depleted in some way. Usually, when I am tempted, I am seeking comfort in some area. I am seeking satisfaction and so are you. Sometimes you are going to feel tempted, and you are going to feel like, “I need comfort. I need satisfaction.” What do you do?
If you are a believer, if you are a Christian, the Bible says what? The moment Christ comes into our lives, he places the person of the Holy Spirit there, the comforter.
. In John 14:16 here is what John said, “He shall give you,” (he, being Christ) “another comforter.” This word in the original language is pronounced paracletos, which means “alongside.” It refers to the Holy Spirit of God. “That he may abide with you forever.”
When temptation is tough on you, if I will just say to the Holy Spirit, “Holy Spirit, I want you now to be my comforter. I want you to envelope me. I want you to satisfy me. I want you to calm me down. I want you to envelope me, to cover me up.” Here is what will happen. Put a watch to it next time you feel tempted. In about sixty seconds, as you face the temptation with the comfort of the Holy Spirit, in about sixty seconds, the temptation will slither back into the shadows. Call on the comforter. That is what the Holy Spirit is there for!
Because of the Gospel, because of Jesus, because of his power, because of the power of the Holy Spirit, we can have victory. We can live life on another level. We can steer clear of Temptation and, even when we are tempted, we can look at it in the eye, because of the Holy Spirit, and turn from it.
1 Corinthians 10 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” Now remember, this is just for Christians. “But with the temptation, will also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.” We have that kind of power.
The Bible says in the book of Acts, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” The word power in the original language is pronounced dunamis. We get the word dynamite from it. I used to love the show GOOD TIMES with Jimmy Walker. “Dynomite!” You’ve got the comforter in you. You’ve got dynamite in you.
Realizing that the power is there for us steer clear of temptation, we can be prepared for the obstacles that the evil one might erect as we attempt to go coast to coast for God. Here are some important principles to overcoming the obstacles to expanding the borders of God’s blessings he has prepared for us.
1. God will enlarge my territory but I must break through my COMFORT ZONE.
Comfort is staying where you are. It is the will of God that you MOVE. And unless your free of the lie that the evil one throws at you, you’ll never go for it.
Another thing you have to understand is that comfort is an internal state, it’s inside of you, it is an inhibition. I feel inhibited. Moses is the classic example of someone who had to deal with the temptation to stay in his comfort zone.
--Exodus 4:10-14a
But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I’m not now, even after you have spoken to me. I’m clumsy with words.” (If you run away God’s work will stop. When you stop running, things change.)
11“Who makes mouths?” the LORD asked him. “Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the LORD? 12Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say.”
If the Lord begins to pull you in a certain direction, you feel uncomfortable. The temptation is to ask God to release you from the calling he’s giving you.) But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send someone else.”
Here is God’s response when we back up from the edge of our comfort zone: Then the LORD became angry with Moses.
Friends, you have a choice—you can run away or you can break through your comfort zone.
The temptation is to avoid the breakthrough. The evil one will say to you:you’re overwhelmed, you’re confused. You’ll be ready to quit, you’ll make excuses like Moses did. You’ll think you’re the wrong person for the job. You might even think, “I’d rather die.” When that happens to you God is calling you to break through your comfort zone. Remember the power is there for you to break through. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.”--Hebrew 13:5
If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.--John Maxwell
Is this what want you want for your life—is this what you want for our church?
The first principle of the territory if you want to overcome the obstacles is that God will enlarge your territory if you will break through your comfort zone.
Here is the second principle of the Jabez Territory as you overcome the obstacles: 2. God will enlarge my territory, but I must overcome my BORDER BULLIES. What is a border bully? Or the more important question is Am I a border bully. That’s the temptation the evil one presents to us—to be a border bully. So I want you to evaluate yourself—not the person sitting next to you—but look at yourself. Do you ever hear yourself saying:
“We’ve never done it that way before!”
“We don’t have the money.”
“We don’t have the people.”
“They aren’t capable of doing it.”
Border bullies exaggerate the threat. If you’re a border bully you gang up on others if they start messing with your comfort zone.
So they spread discouraging reports about the land among the Israelites: “The land we explored will swallow up any who go to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt like grasshoppers next to them, and that’s what we looked like to them!
Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
--Numbers 13:32-33; 14:9
Every spiritual advance we read about in the Bible is opposed by a bully in some way. If you’re honest you’re tempted to be a bully—I am too. Someone wants to do a new thing in our chruch, we think they aren’t qualified. But you know what—People are usually more qualified to do new ministries than we think they are.. Afterall, the best way to train a leader is to give a person more responsibility that is way past his or her responsibility. Let people make mistakes—so what? How else do you learn? If something fails—you go on. I’ve learned that time and time again in our church. If we are not making mistakes we’ve stopped growing.
But are you a border bully? Do you think everything has to be done perfectly? Sometimes I do. So God, help me to let go. Help me to be a border bully buster. That should be the prayer of every one of you. God help me to stop being a border bully and help me to be a border bully buster.
That was the chief modus operandi of the eveil one who tempted Jesus in the wildernesss—he bullied Jesus—tempted him to avoid the borders of his ministry. What did Jesus say? “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.’” Matthew 4:10
You must over come your border bullies (and I may be the biggest one) if you want God to enlarge your territory.
Here’s the 3rd principle: God will enlarge your territory, but you must struggle to OCCUPY IT. Here This verse: The LORD your God is going before you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt.
We will go into the land and fight for it, as the LORD our God has told us.
--Deut. 1:30, 41
Now what’s going on here? On one hand the Bible says GOD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU. On the other hand, it says WE WILL GO ANDL FIGHT for the land. Which is right? Both statements! It’s a mystery as many truths are thhroughout scripture. It’s not either/or. It is both.
You see, People who think they do it all become arrogant. People who think God does it all, don’t do much.
Enlarging the territory involves both the sovereignty og God and the freewill of humans. This verse also illustrates this truth: Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land the LORD your God has given you.--Joshua 1:11
God will bless you, enlarge your territory, but must work to achieve what he has given you. You are a partner in ministry with God. It makes me think of the old story of the man whose home was being flooded. Someone offered to take him to higher ground. He refused saying, “the Lord will provide a rescue.” Well the flood waters rose and he went to the top of the house. Someone came by in their boat and said, “Don’t you want to come with us?’ “No the lord will provide.” Finally he was clinging to the top of his chimney. A helicopter came by and the pilot said, “I’m here to rescue you.” “No, the Lord will provide.” Finally the man got swept away by the flood and when he got to heaven he asked God, “why didn’t you rescue me?” The Lord said, “I sent you help 3 times and you refused.”
Like the man in the story we often persume on God’s help. That was the temptation that Jesus faced: Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He orders his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you with their hands
to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.’ 7Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’”—Matthew 4:5-7
The Lord will enlarge your territory but you must struggle to occupy it.
Remembering These 3 principles of the Jabez territory will help you overcome obstacles and temptations on your journey to the cross with Jesus. Everytime you face a temptation, a border bully, look back over your shoulder and see where God has prepared you before. “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There is no way you can go against this Philistine. You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!”
But David persisted…” I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The LORD who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!”
--I Samuel 17:33-34a, 36-37
What is the biggest temptation that keeps us from enlarging our territory? To succumb to the sin of unbelief. And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.
--Matthew 13:57-58
Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”
--Matthew 17:19
What does God want here at Bethany where you’ve been called to minister? God has provided a way for you to ovecome any temptation and to avoid the sin of unbelief. God wants you to go through obstacles, mountains.
This is what faith is: “I will go through obstacles; I will overcome temptations.”
Do you believe it is the will of God for Bethany church to go coast to coast for God? If so, why isn’t God enlarging our territory? Is there a sin of unbelief here? If you were God and you saw what was going on in this church, would you bless it? What would you do if you were God? What’s stopping God from enlarging your territory?
Ask God to show you what parts of your life need sin removed so that you will not be a border bully at Bethany.
You will go through a time of testing of your faith. You will have a wilderenss experience just as Jesus did. It is through tests that you will discover what you are made of. You’re not as prepared as you think you are. Remember Simon Peter and what he did?
But here’s the good news: If you fail, God will give you another chance.
Because Jabez prayed this high-risk, high-yield prayer, here is what happens, 1 Chronicles 4:10, the last part of it, “and God granted him what he requested.” God wants to grant what you request and what I request, too. A lot of us don’t have because we don’t ask! He is our loving, blessing, keep me from evil, Heavenly Father. Ask him. Because when you ask him, and when you get serious about the prayer of Jabez, all heaven will break loose in your life and in mine.
To conclude today’s message, I’m going to ask you to pray, and I am going to ask you to repeat the words after me as I pray this prayer of Jabez. Just say this after me,
“Oh, God, 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. God I look forward to seeing how you are going to grant us these requests according to your will, according to your way, following your agenda for our lives.”
I thank you, God, for the greatness that will occur because of people who are surrendered to you. Give us the strength and discernment God to stay away from Temptation and to walk through mountains for you - For Christ’s sake, Amen.
