"The Touch of Greatness"
(from "The Prayer of Jabez," by Bruce Wilkerson
Sunday, January 20, 2013; 2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Introduction: Last week we started the first of three sermons on the prayer of Jabez. This is just a short prayer found in 1 Chronicles 4:10, but an important and powerful one. The first part of the prayer says: “Oh, that you would bless me indeed…” It is a call to God to bless us as He sees fit to bless us, and in the ways He fills it is best for us to be blessed. It is a reminder of the need for us to ask for and seek out God’s blessings in our lives. But as the prayer goes on, we are reminded that we are to be in partnership with God.

            Illus. There is a true story of the former Governor of Massachusetts, William E. Russell, whose boat overturned one day about a mile from shore. He was not a good swimmer, but was able to reach the shore safely. As he climbed out of the water someone asked him, “Mr. Russell, how on earth did you make it all the way to shore?” To which he replied: “I don’t know. All I know is that I prayed to God, and I kept my arms and legs in stroke.” (Illus. Unlimited, p. 430, #46)

            As we pray, we must be motivated through our prayer to work with God and to work for God. If we are to fulfill the next part of this prayer, we must have this attitude and understanding.

I.                   Enlarge My Territory- (1 Chronicles 4:10; Zechariah 4:6)

a.      Moving the boundary lines- So we continue to the next phrase of the

prayer which says: “Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border…” Here Jabez is asking God for more territory. Now, this is not a request to have a bigger house, or more property. It is Jabez asking God to allow him to make a greater impact in this world.

            You see, we can get caught up in the busyness of our life and focused on only ourselves. Or we can try to be aware of our world and our surroundings and see the potential God has for us. We can be satisfied with just taking care of our own needs, or we can begin to expand and use the power of God to reach out beyond ourselves. God wants you and me to accept life as an opportunity to touch individual lives.

            Bruce Wilkerson, in his book “The Prayer of Jabez” says this: “No matter what your vocation, the highest form of Jabez’s prayer for more territory might sound something like: ‘O God and King, please expand my opportunities and my impact in such a way that I touch more lives for Your glory. Let me do more for You!’

When you pray like this, things get pretty exciting.” (page 32)

            Example- When Bruce Wilkerson was talking about this at a Christian College, he challenged the 2000 member student body to set a ministry goal of great proportion. He said: “Why not look at the globe and pick an island. When you have it picked out, put together a team of students, charter an airline, then take over the island for God. In fact, I have been to Trinidad, and have seen the need. You should ask God for Trinidad and a DC-10.”             This caused quite a stir amongst the students, and some interesting conversations.  Wilkerson consistently challenged them to move their boundary lines out to seek more for God. About a week after this challenge, Bruce Wilkerson got a letter from one of the students named Warren, who told Bruce that he and a friend of his had decided to try to witness to the governor. So they got in Warren’s ’63 Plymouth Valiant and drove to the capital. Then the letter says this: “By Sunday night when we got back from Sacramento, this is what happened: We had expressed our faith to two gas station attendants, four security guards, the head of the U.S. National Guard, the director of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare for the state of California, the head of the California Highway Patrol, the governor’s secretary, and finally the governor himself. As God is making us grow, we are thankful and scared stiff. Thanks again for your challenge!”

            Well, it doesn’t stop there. By the next summer, Warren and some fellow students had formed a mission team, chartered a jet, and guess what, they flew to the island of Trinidad for a summer of ministry. One hundred and twenty-six students and faculty had signed up and flew to Trinidad. They did ministry through drama, construction work, vacation Bible school, music, and home visitation. The college president called this mission the single most significant student ministry venture in the college’s history. (pages 34-36)

            Now when you hear this, how does this make you feel for them? You are probably excited and praising God for what happened. But how does it make you feel for you? You probably either have fear (I would never do something like that), or doubt (I could never do something like that), or lack of faith (God won’t do anything like that through me or this church). You see, we limit God and ourselves so much because we keep our boundaries so small. But God wants to push our boundaries out so that so much more can be accomplished.

b.      Living by God’s math- Just as it is unusual to hear someone pray,

“Oh God bless me,” it is equally unusual to hear someone pray, “Oh God, give me more ministry.” Most of us think our lives are full enough without asking God to fill it with more. But the amazing thing with God is that as our ministry opportunities increase, our ability and energy and resources supernaturally increase as well! It is also true that God will give us new ministry, and we might have to put off some of the old ministry that we once did! God does not want to overburden us. As you pray this prayer, you will see people and situations pop-up. Bruce Wilkerson calls these “Jabez appointments”.

            So we need to understand that God wants us to do His work here on earth./  No matter what your education, vocation, or giftedness, God wants to use you. The sad thing is that there are too many Christians who have a reluctance to be used by God. There are too many Christians who go around being selfish: not serving, not sharing, not being fruitful. It would surprise you if God showed you a little video where you could see event after event where you failed to take advantage of a ministry opportunity! We have to have “eyes to see and ears to hear!”

            Usually what happens, is we think about the abilities, experience, training, and time that we have, and this determines what we think is our assigned territory. But God gives us a reminder and a word of encouragement. This word is found in the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah, chapter 4, verse 6: “Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”/   Meaning, that if we allow God to work in us and through us, then we can and will do far more than we could ever imagine ourselves doing. So God’s equation, God’s math for us is like this: we put in our willingness and weaknesses and availability, and to it we add God’s will and supernatural power, and this gives us our expanded territory.

            So the good news is that when we ask for expanded territory, God will give it to us. But also, he will never put us in a situation, that with His help, we will not be able to fulfill. God will always be there with us to help us accomplish what He calls us to do, and what He sets before us to do. If it is responding to someone with a word of encouragement or teaching, God will give you the words. If it is praying for healing for someone, God will give you the power. If it is caring for a need, God will direct you to the right resources. God always intervenes when you put His agenda before yours!

II.                God’s Greatness- (2 Corinthians 3:5-6; Acts 1:8, 4:13, 5:29, 7:51, 9:27, 11:21; Ephesians 3:16)

a.      Descending to power- Now, here’s where the challenge comes before

us. We have prayed for God to bless us more. We have prayed for God to give us expanded opportunity for ministry. But then we hit this bump in the road. We might get overwhelmed; we might feel like we lack the energy or the resources to continue. We might let our focus become derailed by our kids or by an illness in the family.

            The problem is that we think we are only supposed to work for God when everything in life is calm, and good, and undemanding. But God calls us to work for Him no matter what is going on in our lives. And it is really this persevering spirit which helps to get us through all the junk that life throws our way; all the difficulties that Satan throws in our path. Don’t let life make you feel afraid, misled, uninspired or abandoned. It is at this point that the third part of the prayer really comes into play: “…Oh that your hand would be with me.”

            I know that there are many times each year that I feel this way. I feel overwhelmed by dealing with my own needs, my families needs, the congregations needs. I can allow myself to feel that I am the wrong person for the job. I can feel depressed because I think I’m not doing enough for God. I can feel stressed trying to keep up with all the expectations that I, and others put on me.

            But then, just maybe, we are supposed to feel this way. I know this doesn’t make sense, but hang in with me for a minute and it will. I know that we live in a world with false expectations. We think we have to have it all together. We think we have to solve all of our problems ourselves. We think that we have to be like the heroes in the movies, triumphant in the end. But we must understand that we have been created to be dependent!                  “Oh that your hand would be with me”

            With this prayer, we release God’s power to accomplish His will. With this prayer we allow for God to receive the praise and glory instead of us. With this prayer, we allow God to work in ways that seem impossible to us.

            As Bruce Wilkerson says: “If seeking God’s blessings is our ultimate act

of worship, and asking to do more for Him is our utmost ambition, then asking for God’s hand upon us is our strategic choice to sustain and continue the great things that God has begun in our lives.” (p. 49)

            God’s hand touches us, and the greatness of God is experienced in and through our lives. It isn’t until we come to this point of relinquishing control to God, and understanding the need to let God be in control, that we will see the touch of God’s greatness upon our lives.

            Example: It is like being with my kids at the park back when they were in pre-school. They would go over to the small slide, climb up themselves, and then slide down. But then when they moved over to the big slide, they would call out: “Daddy, will you go down with me?”/   When we seek to live out this prayer, we come to that place where we realize we need God to go with us.

b.      His hand, His Spirit- Just like a child who with their mother or father

has increased confidence and ability, so we too, holding the hand of God have increased confidence and ability. When we live on the edge like this, we need to know that God is with us! It then leads us to tell others: “God is doing this, because I could never do this on my own. God is carrying me, and enabling me to accomplish these great things!” There is nothing like having the power of God surging through you. There is nothing like experiencing this supernatural dimension.

            It is as the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant.”/  How come we, who are creations of God, try to take the credit for what God created us to do, instead of giving credit to God? When we understand that all that we already have is from God, and then realize that all that we need can be received from God, we put ourselves in that place where God can make us sufficient to do the work He brings to our lives and to our church.

            When Jabez asks for the “hand of the Lord” to be upon him, he was referring to the power and presence of God. In the Bible, when you hear the phrase “the hand of the Lord,” it is reference to God’s power and presence. For example, in Acts 11 the church saw great success. In response to this success it is said in Acts 11:21- “The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” It is only with God’s hand upon us that we can even hope to accomplish the business of God.

            Another way that the Bible talks about this is with the “filling of the Holy Spirit.” It is with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that great things are accomplished. In Acts 1:8 we are told by Jesus: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”/ Throughout the book of acts we see God’s people speaking with boldness because of the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon them.

We, like the early church, need to seek the power and presence of God’s Spirit upon us. And this is happening. People tell me all the time how they’ve been blessed by a sermon, or at the Bible Study, or by my Daily e-mail devotion. People say that they were drawn to our church because they felt the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Paul told the Christians in Ephesus to make it a priority to be “filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19) We must regularly seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit both as individuals, and corporately as a church. Only then will we see the power of God truly at work!

           

Conclusion: God is watching us, and waiting for us to ask for the supernatural power that He offers. As we are told in 2 Chronicles 16:9- “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” God is there, ready to give us the help and strength we need to reach out for Him. Commit yourself today to start praying for God’s presence and power so that you can extend your boundaries and reach out into this world to make a difference.             As I look back to how God has answered this for me, I see how God is using my Daily Bible Reading to go out to well over 100 people every day. I see God leading me to conversations where I get to share Jesus. I never expected to be doing anything like this! Let God expand your boundaries, starting today. Amen.