Prayer of Jabez

The Prayer of Jabez…

Follow up to the Door that Prayer won’t open

Unbelieve is the only door that prayer won’t open.

(NKJV)

9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”

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.

Introduction:

This is the follow up to the previous sermon that I have preached, “The door that prayer won’t open”.

I told you that as a believer I am in the camp that says there is nothing too hard for the Lord to do.

All of my life I heard the old folks saying things like prayer is the key, but faith unlocks the door. (Didn’t say it opened the door just unlocks it)

We talked about in beginning this journey to find out the one door that prayer wouldn’t open I started with a simple google search on prayer and this is what I found:

According to google prayer is a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship.

I notice that there were different types of prayer…

Blessing and Adoration. In prayers of adoration or worship, we exalt the greatness of God, and we acknowledge our dependence on Him in all things.

Then there is petition: These are the prayers that we ask God for things we need—primarily spiritual needs, but we are also directed to ask for physical ones as well.

In our asking for stuff we should always be careful to include a statement of our willingness to accept God's Will, whether He directly answers our prayer or not.

The Lord’s Prayer there is a line that says "Thy will be done” that demonstrates a willingness to accept that, in the end, we acknowledge that God's plans for us are more important than what we desire.

There is intercessory Prayer:

Prayers of intercession are another form of prayers of petition, but they are important enough to be considered their own type of prayer.

"Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did." In a prayer of intercession, we're not concerned with our needs but with the needs of others.

Then there is the prayer of Thanks-Giving

And then Praise is a type of prayer! Prayers of praise acknowledge God for what He is.

The Psalms are perhaps the best-known example of prayers of praise. Prayers of love or charity are another form of prayers of praise—expressions of our love for God, the source and object of all love.

It is right here that I want to stress also the importance of prayer:

Prayer is absolutely vital. If we want to make any progress on the way of life, we need to understand why we ought to pray without ceasing, as Paul exhorts in .

The way of prayer is the way of life, “… for everyone who asks receives.” and . The one who prays for eternal life receives eternal life. If he prays for more life, he will receive more life; if he prays to be preserved on the way of life, he will be preserved on it. The one who prays for power to live a better life — to make progress on the way — will receive power. If we pray for victory over everything that hinders us, over everything that quenches and hampers the life of God within us, we will get victory. “You do not have because you do not ask.” . “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

If you desire life, and life in abundance; if you want more and more of it; if you want to make constant progress, to be increasingly cleansed, purified, and conformed to the image of Christ; if you want to make steady progress — step by step — then pray and pray again: pray without ceasing! (; ; ) so then prayer is not just something we do but it is the way of life for the believer.

So for us prayer is not an option!

So you could see how I would struggle at the thought of there being anything that prayer could not do!

Especially when I considered the great prayers of the bible.

Six Prayers in Genesis:

Four Prayers in Exodus:

Nine Prayers in Numbers:

Two Prayers in Deuteronomy:

Two Prayers in Joshua:

Nine Prayers in Judges:

Six Prayers in 1 Samuel:

Four Prayers in 2 Samuel:

Five Prayers in 1 Kings:

Three Prayers in 2 Kings:

Two Prayers in 1 Chronicles:

51. Jabez for enlarged coast (33 words; ). Answered because of God’s word to give Israel all the land (; ).

52. David for Solomon and Israel (326 words; ). Answered partially, in the temporary obedience to God of Solomon and Israel.

Two Prayers in 2 Chronicles:

Two Prayers in Ezra:

Nine Prayers in Nehemiah:

Seven Prayers in Job:

Seventy-two Prayers in Psalms:

Three Prayers in Isaiah:

Eleven Prayers in Jeremiah:

Four Prayers in Lamentations:

Three Prayers in Ezekiel:

Two Prayers in Amos:

Three Prayers in Jonah:

Three Prayers in Habakkuk:

Seventeen Prayers in Matthew:

Two Prayers in Mark:

Seven Prayers in Luke:

Five Prayers in John:

Six Prayers in Acts: it was in the book of Acts that I found the answer to the question what is the one door that prayer won’t open;

(NKJV)

5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.

7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”

9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.

13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer.

14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.

15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”

16 Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

In the text we discovered that Peter was arrested and thrown in jail, but the church prayed. When the church prayed they all prayed with one purpose to get Peter out of jail…

In that we saw that through prayer what the church had been praying for was standing at the door, but they had to open the door to let Peter (the blessing in). And from that we determined that the one door that prayer won’t open is unbelief! They didn’t believe Peter was standing at the door!

We can see that there are some things God will do and somethings that you will have to do for yourself.

It was during that search that I came across an interesting prayer tucked away in so if in is the one thing pray won’t do in is some powerful things that prayer will do!

(NKJV)

9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”

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.

A Prayer that Gained its Blessing

Tucked away in a long section of genealogies (Chaps. 1–9) is a sudden, shining scenario of a man who asked in prayer and received (cf. ). The man Jabez is unknown in Scripture except for these two verses, but they profile much about a life that counted in prayer.

Who is Jabez?

His Distinction (9)

Jabez was, says the chronicler, distinguished in three relationships.

In the circle of his family. He had brothers, but he stood out among them as more honorable. In this, for sure, Jabez was notable as a living force among his family members. Or his distinction might be in his spiritual walk as a whole, of which prayer is a strategic expression.

In the conviction of his mother. The one who gave birth to Jabez was impressed with the special pain he brought her in coming into the world. She named him for this, for Jabez means grief or sorrow. His mother thought of him early as linked with ill fortune, for a name was sometimes given for what an early act seemed to portend (cf. , “son of my sorrow”).

He unintentually hurt someone he loved!

His mother named him because of the pain he caused!

Sometimes people won’t let you forget when you hurt them.

When Jabez prays, he speaks against the testimony of his name and lets go of the shame it covered him in.

God can overcome human apprehension, and transform things into distinction in success instead of sorrow. God specializes in name changes!

In the context of Israel’s family lines. The writer did not in verse 9 do his normal thing in Chaps. 1–9. He gave no family names (genealogy), but thrust in comments about a remarkable prayer and a remarkable answer from God.

HIS FOCUS OR DESIRE

Four details in verse 10 expound this.

The principle he acted on. Jabez was cast under a dark shadow hovering over his background, the grief remembered about him. One of his challenges is that he had to overcome the fact that he was trying to be a good man with a bad name!

It would seem from the text that his brethren rejected him and were not “noble” men of character. Jabez overcame his name and his family problems by turning to God in prayer and asking for His blessing.

Prayer is only as good as the object it depends upon. Jabez called on the God of Israel. This God had shown in a long relation to His people His covenant compassion, commitment to what was good, and power. He was the right one to approach by this principle of prayer. Jabez probably remembered accounts of God’s answers to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua, Moses and others. Many testimonies of effectual prayer were a treasury available to inspire his spiritual stride, and even more exist to cheer those on today.

Know who to call in times of trouble!

The very first thing Scripture tells us about Jabez is that he cried to the God of Israel. Jabez states God’s lordship and headship over his life. When you pray, begin by acknowledging who God is!

The progress he aspired to. Jabez pleaded before God his desire to have His blessing and enlargement. Like Caleb who set his heart on a territory God was able to give, this man desired an increase in his land.

“that you would multiply my territory” – Many think that Jabez is simply referring to physical land when asking to multiply territory. However, if we look at the lineage of Jabez we can understand that he is not merely speaking in terms of wealth and prosperity but in terms of impacting the kingdom of God. He wanted his spiritual territory to increase, to claim generations for the Lord of Israel. Do you need to claim or reclaim some of the land Satan has taken from you?

When you pray, ask God to multiply your territory and to do more through you!

“That you would bless me” Jabez not only recognizes God as the one and only true God, he also acknowledges that blessings come from God alone.

Are you chasing broken promises and blessings that the world tries to entice you with?

Are you striving toward prosperity on your own strength?

When you pray, do it with a heart fully invested in the blessings of God.

The presence he valued. Jabez had passion to experience the presence of God. His cry was that “Thy hand might be with me.” This is a witness to his sense of values. Many speak as if the really important thing is to have power in their own human strength, abilities, plans and the like. Jabez wisely put his trust in what God was able to do. He was convinced, as David in , that “power belongs to God” (11). In that context, David waits for God only, his hope is from God, God is David’s rock and deliverance, his stronghold who keeps him from being shaken. Jabez, too, made his quest the Presence that wins.

“your hand be with me” – Jabez wanted God to be in every moment of his day. He understood the power of God’s hand to protect and to lead in the right direction. Blessings will become curses if it is not God's hand providing and guiding. When you pray, request more than blessings and provision but that God’s hand would lead you through any circumstances and trials that come your way. THAT is the greatest blessing.

The protection he sought. To overcome the stigma of his name and perhaps the suffering of his mother and family, Jabez learned to pray. He prayed so much that he became known as a man of prayer, and his prayer life set him apart as being honorable and distinguished, far more so than his brothers. Note the boldness of his prayer and the fact that his prayer was for himself. He prayed …

• for God’s richest blessings upon himself

• for God to enlarge his territory or property holdings

• for God to be with him, to lift His hand to help him

• for God to keep him from evil, from all trouble, harm, and pain[1]

Pain from others or from his own sin could lay treacherous hurt on Jabez. He prayed that God would guard his life.[2]

Make me a blessing!

[1] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (2003). 1 Chronicles (p. 45). Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

[2] Rosscup, J. E. (2008). An Exposition on Prayer in the Bible: Igniting the Fuel to Flame Our Communication with God (pp. 659–663). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.