"Making God's Honor Roll"
(from “The Prayer of Jabez,” by Bruce Wilkerson)
Sunday, January 27, 2013; Hebrews 11:4-12

Introduction: If I were to ask you the question: In what ways do you need God’s blessings, what would your answer be? Increased finances? Healing for a loved one? A better job? Restoration in a relationship? There are many things that we desire in life. But the problem here is that all of those answers focus on us; not on God. Everything should start with our seeking to understand what our ultimate purpose is in life (as the Westminster Catechism reminds us, Book of Confessions, 7.001: “What is the chief end of man? ….to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”), or as Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Understanding our purpose helps to put things into perspective.

            So we should come to Jabez’s prayer with this understanding, and it helps to put this prayer in better context: “Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me and you would keep me from evil.” (1 Chronicles 4:10)

To be blessed by God then is to accept what God brings into our lives. To be blessed by God is to know that when we make choices that lead us into trouble, God is there to make it work out for the good. To be blessed by God is to know that God’s hand is there with us in the midst of life’s challenges, and obstacles, and trials, and hurts. To be blessed by God is to know that He will use us to change the world, if we let Him. To be blessed by God is to let God guide us so that we might follow His ways.

I.                   Keeping Us Safe- (1 Chronicles 4:10; Matthew 6:13;

2 Corinthians 10:4; Colossians 2:13, 15)

a.      Dealing with success- A few years ago, in a popular magazine,

 there was a full-page ad which showed a picture of a Roman gladiator

 in big trouble. Somehow, this gladiator had dropped his sword as he was

 battling a lion. The enraged lion, seeing its opportunity, began to rush

toward the gladiator. The picture shown was the lion in mid-lunge, jaws open

wide, and the crowd gasping in horror. The caption at the bottom of the

ad said: “Sometimes, you can afford to come in second. Sometimes, you can’t”

As we come to the last line of Jabez’s prayer, we need to be careful in our understanding. Up to this point we have asked for God’s blessings, we have asked for enlarged territory, and we have asked for God’s hand to be upon us. At this point, we might feel like we can be victorious over anything, and want to charge into the ring with a lion. But listen to what Jabez asks for at the end: “…..and that you would keep me from evil.”

            Jabez didn’t ask for God to help him through the evil, but to keep him  from evil. While God can get us out of evil situations, or the impact that evil can have on our lives, it would be better if we would avoid the evil altogether!

You see, as we are moving into these new areas for God, and as we are experiencing increased blessing from God, we need to remember that we will be upsetting Satan. We will be encroaching upon his territory. So as we pray the way that Jabez’ prayer is teaching us, we are praying for God’s supernatural help to protect us from Satan. We are praying for protection from the evil one’s evil attacks.

            Someone once said: “Blessedness is the greatest of perils because it tends to dull our keen sense of dependence on God and make us prone to presumption.” Meaning, the more we experience the supernatural power and blessings of God, the easier it is for us to forget that we need God’s power and presence and protection. It is at this point we can make great mistakes. We make mistakes thinking that we are safe from harm. We forget that we are still susceptible to Satan’s attacks. When we do this, it is like dropping your sword in the middle of the battle. 

            The time when we really need this part of the prayer is when we have been seeking God and following God and then we begin to be fruitful for God. In the midst of this success we will experience an increased attack upon our lives by Satan. Why? Because Satan does not want us to make a difference for God! Satan’s first choice is for us to never be a Christian to begin with, but when we do become a Christian, his next alternative is to attack us and frustrate us and deceive us. If he is successful in this, then he can keep us from being fruitful for God. The more successes we have for God, the more attacks Satan with throw at us. And in the midst of these attacks, we will definitely feel weary and weak. This is exactly when we need to pray: “I can’t cope with this today, O Lord; keep me from evil.”/

What Jabez is doing here is not just asking God to help him through the attacks, but to keep him from the attacks. All too often we forget that we can ask this of God, and God will work in and through our lives to protect us from Satan ever attacking us. Isn’t this what Jesus taught us in the Lord’s prayer? Matthew 6:13- “….and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one…” This is a prayer asking God to even keep us from confrontation. When was the last time you asked God to keep you from confrontation?  

When we pray this, we need to also help God by moving ourselves further into His territory. Don’t pray this prayer, and then put yourself in difficult circumstances. Pray this prayer and make sure you are reading your Bible, and going to Bible study, and talking to Christian friends, and going to church, and reading healthy books, and watching appropriate movies. Don’t pray this prayer and then put yourself in harms way; you will be defeating the whole purpose, for your will be dropping your weapon!         

b.      Confronting spiritual attack- And yet, don’t think that Satan will give

up. The more God answers this prayer for us, the more you should be prepared to confront spiritual attack. There will be times when God allows us to be attacked. This was true for Job. This was true for Paul. This was true for Jesus. And it will be true for you and me. So what are we to do when we are confronted? Well, the apostle Paul reminds us that we can stand confidently against the enemy with what Paul calls in 2 Corinthians 10:4 “the weapons of our warfare,” and in Ephesians 6:11 the “armor of God.” God doesn’t leave us vulnerable, but gives us much with which to protect ourselves.

            It is easy to lose grasp of the importance of these weapons, and if we do, we will surely falter in this attack. When Jesus was attacked by Satan, He was victorious by quoting the truth of the Bible. When Paul was attacked, He prayed. When Job was attacked, He surrounded Himself with fellow believers. We too have the Bible, prayer, and Christian brothers and sisters to help us in this battle. We must understand that we cannot be victorious unless we learn how to use these weapons. And they are not difficult to use. God has placed them there within our grasp to benefit us in our fight.

            I don’t know if you have ever been reading your Bible, and it just isn’t saying anything to you. You need to persevere and seek out the truth God has for you. I don’t know if you have ever been praying, and it doesn’t feel like your prayer is getting past the ceiling. You need to persevere and keep praying. You need to gather with other Christians and pray as well. I don’t know if you have ever been at church, and it wasn’t really where you wanted to be. You need to be there all the more in these times. You need to persevere past the apathy, and frustration, and lack of feeling to let God touch you deeply and combat against the enemies attacks. All these things I have mentioned are Satan trying to keep you from experiencing the presence and power and protection of God!! Don’t let Satan be victorious.

            Do you believe that a supernatural God is going to show up to keep you from evil and protect your spiritual investment? Jabez did believe, and he acted on his belief. Thereafter his life was spared from the grief and pain that evil brings. Paul told the Colossians that God had made them “alive together with Christ” and that having “disarmed principalities and powers, Christ made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross. (Colossians 2:13, 15)

            What an amazing declaration of victory this is! Through Christ, we can live triumphantly—not in temptation or defeat. With this fourth and final plea of Jabez to God, we are now ready to move up to a higher level of honor. When we seek God in this way, it is actually a safe investment, but it is also the investment that pays off the most. Usually in the stock market, it is the risky investments that have the potential to pay off the most. But not so with God, by staying safe if Christ, we will reap great benefits!

     

II.                Being Honored- (Hebrews 11:4-12; Philippians 3:14; James 2:23)

a.      Directed by God- Do you think that God has favorites? In some ways

it might appear to be so. In the Hebrews scripture that we read this morning we read about some well known people, beloved of God: Abel, whose offering was favored over Cain’s; Enoch, who didn’t even taste death; Noah, who was protected from the flood; Abraham, who received a great inheritance; Jabez, who the scripture says was more honored than his brothers. The argument could be made that God favored them over others.

            But the truth is, these people were favored not because they were more likeable, or because they possessed greater talents. They were favored because they sought out the favor of God and they expressed great faith. These were people who were extremely faithful to God! As Hebrews 11:6 says- “And without faith it is impossible to please God.”

Do you want to be favored by God? Do you want to be on God’s honor roll? Then have faith; believe in God no matter what. Believe that God can do the impossible. It is not arrogant to say that God honors you. “More honorable” describes what God thinks of you, not what you think of yourself. “More honorable” expresses what your desire for life is, as Paul says in Philippians 3:14- “I press on toward the goal for the prize…”

            So living a life that is honorable, that is honored by God, is living a life that is always striving for more and knowing that through God you can achieve more. It is not being satisfied with mediocre expectations, but seeking to do great things for God. It is following the divine leading of God for your life. It is being open and aware and available for God to use you in ways you might not expect.

            The other day I was getting ready to leave for work when a neighbor asked if I could help jumpstart her car. At first this seemed like an interruption, because I was focused on getting to work. When we are in this mindset, we don’t want any interruptions or distractions. But then I realized that this was an opportunity for God to use me to bless someone else! We need to be more aware of the opportunities around us.

b.      A repeating cycle- Ultimately, we need to make this prayer a habit in

our lives. For something to become a habit, it has to be practiced over and over. Which means, we need to pray this prayer daily, and think about the words of this prayer regularly, so that it can become ingrained in our minds and in our behavior. It means that we must daily ask for, and expect God’s blessings. It means that we must ask for “more territory,” and be ready when those opportunities come. It means that we have to let the Holy Spirit guide our thoughts, words, and actions. It means that we have to ask God to keep us from evil, and seek to keep ourselves in God’s territory, not Satan’s.

            As you repeat these steps, you will set in motion a cycle of blessing that will keep multiplying what God is able to do in and through you. Meaning, that as you are blessed, you don’t become satisfied with the blessing, but keep asking for God’s continual blessing (remembering and accepting that God blesses us as He sees fit and in the ways that we are to be blessed). When we have increased territory, we keep seeking more. In doing this, we will see times in our lives when we are so overwhelmed with God’s graciousness that we will not even know what to say; “thank you” will not seem enough.

            The challenge as we consistently pray this prayer, is that our faith will get a good testing. Will you let God work in your life regardless of what He chooses? When Noah was blessed for being faithful, God chose him to build the ark. I’m sure that wouldn’t have been Noah’s first choice. Abraham was asked to leave his country. Paul was directed to preach to those he had persecuted. God has the best for us in mind, it just might not be what we have in mind for ourselves. Along with this, will you surrender to God’s power, and love, and plan for your life? If you express your faith in this way, you will experience the joy of knowing that God experiences deep pleasure and joy in you, and in working through you!  

c.      Redirecting the course- So, we have to re-direct our course. We have

to make this prayer part of the daily fabric of our lives. Not only should we pray this prayer daily, but we should keep record each day of the blessings that have come into our lives, the ministry opportunities that have come about, the ways that God’s hand has been with us and kept us from evil. As we keep record, it will strengthen our faith and increase our desire to follow this path and pray this prayer.

            EX. Every night, before my kids go to bed, I have them list “5 things” that were good in the day. Often times this list is a reminder of God’s blessings in our lives! You too can reflect on God’s blessings in a simple way like this!

            We also must re-direct our course to understand that it is not in the words of this prayer, but in the faith that we place in God that makes the difference. The way we release the power of God is to believe that what this prayer says is really a statement of the promises God makes to us in the Bible. God desires for us to be blessed, God desires for us to expand our territory, God desires for us to be kept under His protection. As we act upon the words of this prayer, we step-up to that place where God’s best can be done in us.

            So there is a “rest of the story.” The rest of the story is what you choose to do with this prayer, and what we have learned about the truth of this prayer. Will you be like Abraham, who we are told about in James 2:23- “… ‘Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness…’”? Will you have a loyal heart that seeks God and seeks to be used by God? Will you let God expand what you are capable of doing with your life?

            Bruce Wilkerson wrote this booklet to let us know that God can and will do wonderful things if we let Him. Bruce Wilkerson has heard story after story of people who started praying this prayer, and opening themselves up to God, and wonderful miracles have happened. I encourage you to take this step of faith, and say, “Yes, God, I want to be part of your honor roll.” And in taking this step, you will see a great transformation occur in your life. You will change your legacy and bring supernatural blessings wherever you go.

Conclusion: EX. A number of years ago our family went to Disney World. One of the days we were there we went to Epcot center. At Epcot, they have a ride called “Mission: Space.” This ride is supposed to give you the feeling of taking off in a rocket, flying through space, going around the moon and landing on Mars. As you enter the ride there is a warning for those who might get motion sickness, have back problems, have heart problems, difficulty with small dark places or who have claustrophobia, that they should not ride this ride. There were many signs with this message. I have to admit it made me a little nervous. It was interesting to watch as you waited in line to see how many people got nervous and left. In fact, some even left while on the ride, but before the doors closed…… In the end, it was not nearly as scary as the signs made it out to be.

            When we pray this prayer, God will take us to some new places, some which might appear to be scary or make us nervous. But God does this so that we might look to Him and so that He can teach us that He is in control and that we can trust Him. May we together embark on this wonderful journey to where Jabez’ prayer takes us. As we do this, God will release His miraculous power in our lives now and for all eternity. Amen.