"So Why Not Ask?"
1/13/13: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10; Matthew 7:7-11
Series on Prayer of Jabez (taken from the book by Bruce Wilkinson, chapters 1-2)

Introduction: Have you ever wondered how you can have extraordinary favor with God? Have you ever wondered what is the key to living the life God has for you? Today we are starting a three-part series that I believe can change your life and help our church as we go through this time of transition!! It is a short petition, a short prayer to God, by a man we find in the Old Testament named Jabez. Jabez’s name means “pain,” and was given to him by his mother because as the scripture says, ‘she bore him with sorrow.’ Maybe his name was to remind her of the thankfulness she had to God for bringing her through the sorrow of child birth; maybe it was the sorrow of a world Jabez would have to live in, a world that brings so much trouble; maybe his name was to be a reminder of how he should comfort his mother and help her to rise above her sorrow.

            Jabez was a man of high character who sought to learn about and seek God. Jabez was one who desired to know God and serve God. And because of this, we are told in verse 9, of 1 Chronicles 4, that “Jabez was honored…” And so let us take some time now to look at how this man embarked on an extraordinary journey through a simple prayer, and how we can model this life, and achieve great things!

I.                   Wanting More for God- (1 Chronicles 4:9; Philippians 4:8)

a.      A bigger vision for your life- If you are anything like me, there are

regular times in your life when you stop and wonder if you are really doing what you are supposed to be doing. You wonder if you are living the life God created you to live. And I have to say that right now I feel confident that I am.

Yet, even when I am doing what I know God has called me to do, being a minister, it doesn’t always go smoothly. Many years ago when I was working at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, and also when I was working at the Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West, there were challenges in my job. In both places there didn’t seem to be a fit between the way God called me to do ministry, and the people to which I was ministering.

When things weren’t going right in Colorado, I began to search. Tami and I had decided we wanted to come back to California. It took me about a year to find this church, and for us to agree that God was calling us to be together! That was almost 14 years ago.

            However, it took my going to Bel Air, and then Trinity Presbyterian, and then Ecumenical Church before God led me to Community Presbyterian. God smiles on us when we want to do what is right; when we want to be in the place God has for us. When we get to that place where we feel like we want more, and we are not willing to just settle for what is going on, God acts on our behalf. We have to let the unsettling of our lives lead us to God and pray for God to do more in and through us. We have to pray to God asking for God’s will to be done.

In 1 Chronicles 4:9, we are told… “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers…” But the questions we have to ask here are: What exactly did Jabez do to rise above the rest and be more honorable? Why did God answer Jabez’s prayer? The answer lies in the beauty and simplicity and power of Jabez’s little prayer. It is a prayer that helps to unleash this desire to want more; to unleash the power that God wants to work in this world through you and me.

b.      The difference that makes a difference- Someone once said: “There is

little difference between people. But it is this little difference/  that makes a difference.” Meaning that even though Jabez isn’t well known, or doesn’t stand out like Abraham, Moses, and David, the little difference that is in his life makes all the difference. Maybe we could think of him as “the little big man.” Unless you have read the book “The Prayer of Jabez,” by Bruce Wilkerson, you probably have not even heard of Jabez’s name. Which is good news for you and me, because we can be like Jabez, basically unknown, but powerful for God!! Amen? Amen!

            If you were to read the book of 1 Chronicles, you would probably get bored before you got to chapter 4, verse 9, where you would read Jabez’s name. The first nine chapters are filled with genealogy; names of one person after the other; names which have no real meaning to you and me. Names like: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan and Tubal. The names of kings: Bela, Jobab, Husham, and Hadad. For over 3 chapters these names go on and on and on! But then, all of a sudden, in verses 9 and 10 of chapter four, the author stops the listing of names and actually says something about one of the names. The author stops to tell us about this person named Jabez. Not much, mind you, but enough to show how Jabez stands apart. Jabez is not only honored, but he prays a special prayer; he says:

            “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.”

The amazing thing is that this is the only place in the whole Bible that you will find any information about Jabez! But what important information it is; and what an important prayer it is. All that is good and honorable that is attributed to his name comes because of this simple, but powerful prayer.

            If you look at this prayer closely, which we will do in our three-week series, you will see a nobleness to the prayer. And isn’t nobleness something that God honors. The apostle Paul tells us this in Philippians 4:8- “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

       This prayer is a noble prayer; a prayer that God is willing and waiting to honor.

c.      Living beyond limits- When is the last time that you felt God work

through you? I mean, without a doubt you knew it was God because it couldn’t have happened without God doing it? Or when was the last time you saw a miracle happen in your life? The truth is, as followers of Jesus Christ we can and should see miracles happen regularly in our lives! The power of God should be experienced on a daily basis. And this is what this prayer helps us to do, experience the power and miracles of God.

            Example- Bruce Wilkerson, the author of the book “The Prayer of Jabez,” was in Dallas a few years ago teaching on this prayer of Jabez, and after the session he was eating lunch with some people from the conference. One man he was eating with said to him, “Bruce, I heard you preach the message of Jabez fifteen years ago, and I haven’t stopped praying it. The change has been so overwhelming I have just never stopped.” Then across the table another man agreed; he’d been praying it for over 10 years. Then another man said that he’d been praying it for over 5 years. (p. 16)

            Now, I’m not trying to tell you that this is a magical prayer, and that praying it magically alters your life. What we will be learning, is that the principles prayed in this prayer help us to extend our limits for what we will do for God, and extend our limits in how we will open our lives to God, and extend our limits in how we will respond to people and situations that God brings into our lives. And as our limits are extended, then we put ourselves in a place where God can work in and through us more powerfully. We put ourselves in a place where God will do a miracle!

            Bruce Wilkerson says it like this in his book: “Instead of standing near the river’s edge, asking for a cup of water to get you through each day, you’ll do something unthinkable—you will take the little prayer with the giant prize and jump into the river! At that moment, you will begin to let the loving currents of God’s grace and power carry  you along. God’s great plan for you will surround you and sweep you forward into the profoundly important and satisfying life He has waiting.”(p. 17)

II.                Boldly Asking God- (1 Chronicles 4:10; Proverbs 10:22; Matthew 7:7-11;

James 4:2; Exodus 33:18, 34:6)

                

a.      Thinking differently- The prayer of Jabez starts out with these words:

“Oh, that you would bless me indeed.”/  This seems so contrary to what the Bible seems to teach us. We are not taught to focus on ourselves, on our own needs and desires, as much as we are to focus on others. We aren’t called to focus on trying to bless ourselves, but focus on being a blessing to others! Yet here we see Jabez praying for God to bless him. In fact, he starts the prayer with this seemingly selfish request. And yet, just maybe this is right. Doesn’t God want us to ask for more? Doesn’t God want us to ask for blessings? The answer is “yes.” In our asking we need to understand what kind of blessings to ask for. Jabez’ prayer helps us in this.

            As I said before, Jabez’s name literally means “pain.”/  How would you like to go through life with a name like this? Your name would remind you of the pain your mother went through in childbirth. In Bible times, names were given for specific reasons, and the name given to someone was intimately related to their life.

            And yet, we see that Jabez didn’t let his name have negative consequences on his thinking and living, but used his name to challenge him to do great things. Jabez believed in a God that could lift us up from our pain. Jabez believed in a God that could use our pain to bring about good things in and through our lives. So Jabez prayed: “Oh, that you would bless me indeed…”

            It is actually a prayer of vulnerability, not a prayer of selfishness. It is Jabez asking God to do great things in his life, and help him to rise above his name. It is a prayer asking God to give him a future of hope. It is a prayer that believes in the life only God can give; a life of blessing from God, not for selfish purposes, but for bringing honor to God.

            But before we go out and start asking for God’s blessing with confidence, we need to understand what this word “bless” really means. We say this word in regards to our kids (Lord, bless my kids), we say it in regards to food, we say it to people when they sneeze. But to bless in the biblical sense is asking for God to impart His supernatural favor. It is a crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to give.

            As the writer of proverbs 10 says in verse 22: “The Lord’s blessing is

                        our greatest wealth; all our work adds nothing to it.”

You see, Jabez doesn’t try to dictate to God what blessings God will impart to him, but leaves it open for God to decide. This is the kind of trust that Jabez had in God, and the kind of trust we need to have in God. It is the thinking that we want nothing more and nothing less than what God would want for us. And when we do this, we will see one miracle after another occur in and through our lives. This is the blessing that God promises to us, and the kind of blessing I see regularly in my life.

b.      Ask and you will receive- There is a story of a man named Mr. Jones, 

who dies and goes to heaven. Peter is waiting at the gates to give him a tour. Mr. Jones sees the golden streets, the beautiful mansions, and the choir of angels. But then he notices an odd-looking building. He thinks it looks like an enormous warehouse—it has no windows and only one door. He asks to see it, but Peter responds with hesitation, “You really don’t want to see what’s in there.” ‘Why would there be any secrets in heaven,’ Mr. Jones wonders. So he asks Peter again, and this time Peter lets him see. As Mr. Jones looks in, he sees row after row of shelves, floor to ceiling. On these shelves are boxes, tied in red ribbons and with names on them. Mr. Jones goes to the box with his name on it, and when he opens it he sees that it is filled with all the

blessings that God wanted to give to him while he was on earth, but that he never asked. (p. 27)

            In Matthew 7:7, Jesus says to us: “Ask and it will be given to you…” In James 4:2 we are told, “You do not have because you do not ask…”/  Each day we go through our lives failing to ask God for things He desires to give us. And so consequently we miss out on so many of the blessings of life. Maybe we are too concerned with the things we think we are supposed to be doing. Maybe we get caught up in the busyness of life. We probably have our focus wrong too often. But whatever the reason is, we do not ask God for the blessings He desires to give to us.

            OR, maybe you don’t think you are a candidate for God’s blessings; maybe you don’t think that you are worthy. Maybe you think that once you are saved, once you have asked Jesus to be your savior and Lord, God’s blessings just naturally fall down upon you. We need to be bold and ask as Moses did on Mount Sinai, when he said to God in Exodus 33:18, “Show me your glory.” And God answered Moses with a description of Himself in Exodus 34:6 with these words: “…the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient, and abounding in goodness and truth.”

            Isn’t this wonderful, that the nature of God is goodness, and that He wants to share this goodness with us in abundance so that it overflows into and out of our lives? Even though we might feel unworthy, even though we might be unworthy, God wants to pass on His goodness and blessing to us. But we have to ask, and we have to commit ourselves to the blessings God will choose to give us. We cannot think that we can dictate to God what blessings He should give us. We cannot get upset when the blessing that comes isn’t the blessing we expected. Ask without any expectation, and then rejoice when the blessing does come!

I am amazed at what God does in and through my life because I try to be like Jabez, and seek the blessings that God has prepared for me. For example, when Tami and I first moved here almost 14 years ago, we knew we wanted Tami to stay home with the kids, but didn’t know if we could financially make this happen. God has done a miracle and worked this out for us. And this is with us faithfully giving 10% back to God and the church of what we make!! A second example is how God brings people into my life that need a word of encouragement, or a prayer, and by helping them, God’s blessing comes upon me. Another example is the kind of ministry God has allowed us to do, and the difference we make in people’s lives in this church and in this community.

Conclusion: The important point for us to note here this morning, is that through a simple, believing prayer, you can change your future. You can bring more blessings into your life. You can extend your limits of what God can and will do through you. You can make more of a difference with your life.

            It comes through a prayer where you express that you want God’s blessings in your life. It is a prayer that states that you want to honor God with your life. It is a prayer that believes that God wants more for you than you have right now.

I hope today that you will begin to pray this prayer, and maybe even memorize it. And next week, we will discover even more treasure that is captured inside this prayer. Amen.