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2002
17th February (pm) - Jabez
1 CHRONICLES 4:9-10

It has been called 'Harry Potter for modern evangelicals' and 'the most profound sort of immaturity' by one commentator. And yet the testimonies of changed lives would lead you to the conclusion that God is doing something wonderful through a book based on two verses of Scripture tucked away in 1 Chronicles, that rarely visited book of the Old Testament. And as you browse through the various web-sites on the Internet established in its honor, your mind will be stretched on some of the biggest practical questions the Bible poses about success in life, God's will, faith and disappointment. I am talking about The Prayer of Jabez phenomenon. The book 'The Prayer of Jabez' has sold 9 million copies, it has appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times and USA Today. The Prayer of Jabez has taken the world by storm. Not only is there the book, but there is also the audio tape, the novel, the journal and the youth version. And I know that some of you here this evening are already familiar with The Prayer of Jabez. I even know of one minister, not far from here, who has done a series of sermons on these two verses from 1 Chronicles. It may appear to you that what I am talking about is something akin to a magic formula for the blessed life, yet it is for many people across the world a prayer that is prayed regularly, and a prayer that God seems pleased to answer. Read 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Jabez appears from absolutely nowhere in Scripture. There is no indication as to which of the numerous family trees he is supposed to belong. And yet the two verses which sum up his life are most remarkable. We are told four things about this man Jabez - his birth was a painful one; he was more honorable than his brothers; he prayed to God; his prayer was answered.

The life and times of Jabez is one of the unexpected twists of the opening chapters of 1 Chronicles, with its seemingly never-ending emphasis on family trees.

The Prayer of Jabez is a four fold prayer, which I believe is appropriate for Christians to pray. Jabez appears in Scripture, not as an example to be shunned, but as an example of a man of God to be followed. It is a prayer of one of God's people, which can challenge us in our prayer life today. Jabez's prayer may not easy with us, as on the face of it, it may seem a selfish sort of prayer. But at the heart of this prayer is a concern for the glory of God in the life of a believer, a concern which should be paramount in our prayer life, that God would be glorified in both our lives and in our church.

The four prayer requests of Jabez were:

1. Oh that you would bless me!
2. Oh that you would enlarge my territory!
3. Oh that your hand would be with me!
4. Oh that you would keep me from evil!

Oh that you would bless me! One of the enduring memories I have of my grandmother Colvin, is her wish that I would know God's blessing. Whether it was on a birthday card or Christmas card, whether it was on the telephone or saying good bye to her after she had been visiting with her or vice versa, my grandmother always insisted on writing or saying 'God Bless'. I suppose growing up, I never thought much about it. I reckoned that I was fairly well blessed - I grew up in a stable Christian home, enjoyed good health, did okay at school, was reasonably okay at football, knew acceptance as a young person in church life, and gained the President's Badge in The Boys' Brigade (equivalent of the Queen's Badge). I had my struggles like any teenager, but by and large, I guess I was blessed.

And I am sure many of us can relate to such experiences. And I find now, that I am adopting my grandmother's practice, and wishing God's blessing on people, usually total strangers.

It is one thing for someone else to ask God's blessing on your life, and in church we do that quite regularly at services of Baptism and at the reception of new communicants, when we sing the Aaronic blessing. It is one thing for someone else to ask God's blessing on your life, or to seek God's blessing for someone else's life, it is quite another thing to pray as Jabez prayed; Oh that you would bless me, as Jabez cried out to the God of Israel. This prayer request may seem a rather selfish and self-seeking prayer request And yet is it? In ancient times, a man and his name were so intimately related. Jabez means 'pain' or more accurately, 'he causes pain'. In other words, life was not too promising for Jabez. A name that meant pain didn't bode well for the future.

But Jabez prays this remarkable prayer, 'Oh that you would bless me'. The transformation begins. This is not the sort of prayer that seeks God's blessing on the food we are about to eat. It does not amount to a 'Christian have a nice day'.

Says Bruce Wilkinson, author of the book 'The Prayer of Jabez', [t]o bless in the biblical sense means to ask for or to impart supernatural favor. When we ask for God's blessing, we're not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves. We're crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to know about or give to us. Notice that Jabez does not pray for specifics. He leaves the content and specifics of the blessing to God, the what, how, when and where to the Almighty. The book of Proverbs tells us that the Lord's blessing is our greatest wealth (10:22).

It is not be up to us to decide the nature of God's blessing. Knowing God's blessing may come through times of hardship, as many of God's people have testified to down the ages. The point of this prayer request is wanting for ourselves, nothing more and nothing less than what God wants for us.

Says Wilkinson, [w]hen we seek God's blessing as the ultimate value in life, we are throwing ourselves entirely into the river of His will and power and purposes for us. All our other needs become secondary to what we really want - which is to become wholly immersed in what God is trying to do in us, through us, and around us for His glory.

A prayer indeed that can be prayed if our focus is truly to seek God's glory for our lives and our church. Your will O God, not our will. Oh that you would bless me!

Oh that you would enlarge my territory!

Who would you consider to be the most influential people in N. Ireland? Politicians? Entertainers? Sports Stars? Community Leaders? Business People? Academics? Christians? If we were honest about this answer, we would probably have to say that Christians seem to have little influence in N. Ireland. Modern culture is saturated with people who seem to offer the definitive word on what ever subject they feel like talking about. Oh that Christians would exert a greater influence and have a greater impact on our bitter and divided society.

In ancient times, the size of one's territory or the extent of one's borders indicated how influential you were in society. The tribe of Judah, was the largest in terms of how much land it covered. In time it became the most influential tribe. King David was of the tribe of Judah. In today's society, the bigger you are, the more influential you seem to be. A large family firm in a provincial town, can have a lot of sway when it comes to the commercial development of that town. I have seen it happen.

Jabez prayed that God would enlarge his territory. Jabez prayed that God would give him more influence. Jabez asked God to enlarge his influence so that his life would make a greater impact for God. This is moving the boundaries of what we see as appropriate ministry for our lives. This is a prayer which seeks the extension of God's kingdom through his servants.

This is a prayer which believers ask God to give them more opportunities to serve God, to make an impact for God on the lives of others, a community or a nation. Most of us though reflect on our lives and think they are too busy already. And you would be right. We are busy people and the idea of praying for more work from God is something we shrink back from.

But look at what you do already both inside and outside church life and ask God to show you how you can make a greater impact for him in those areas - at home, at church, in your neighborhood, in your extended family, in your workplace.

On another level, here in Ballyclare Presbyterian Church, how can we begin to pray that God would increase our territory, increase the impact we and the other churches can make on this community? Rob Frost, writing in the February 2002 issue of Christianity and Renewal magazine says that this prayer, reminds us that we're short of a vision for growth, and this kind of vision only comes when we ask God to give it to us! All of us need to ask God to 'extend our territory'.

Frost continues: This kind of vision for growth doesn't come as a program, dropped from the sky in a convenience wrapped ready-to-use package. It's something God grows in us and builds in us from our previous life experience.... To many of us have set our borders too close to our own back yard. We live in our own pre-selected comfort zone, and shiver at the thought of God wanting to do more through us tomorrow than he did last year.

Is this us here in N. Ireland? I fear it perhaps is. U2 sing a song called 'Stuck in a moment you can't get out of'. I fear that this is where much of the church lies. I fear that we are caught up with things that have nothing to do with the extension of the Kingdom of God and the proclamation of the name of Jesus Christ. We are in the words of Os Guinness from his book 'The Gravedigger File', privately engaging but socially irrelevant.

This then is an urgent prayer for the church today, for our church today. That we would seek the blessings of God, even if that means hardship and pruning; that we would ask God to enlarge our territory, increase our influence in Ballyclare and beyond. But it is not a new prayer. For we often pray, 'Your Kingdom come ...' Oh that you would enlarge my territory!

Oh that your hand would be with me!

Have you ever attempted something you knew was going to lead to failure? It is a strange question, I know. It goes against all common sense. To attempt to do something that will ultimately lead to failure sets you up to look like a fool and loser. I wonder what was going through Eddie the Eagle's mind when he prepared to launch himself into his ski jump some years back in the Winter Olympics. Everybody knew he was going to finish last. And yet there was a sense of irony to his exploits - for Eddie the Eagle actually achieved some fame and notoriety as a result of his exploits.

And yet this is what God expects of his people - to attempt something we know is doomed to failure unless God steps in. Jabez's third prayer request is a prayer of dependency - dependency on God and all the resources of heaven. Perhaps Jabez has come to the realization that having a greater impact for God is not dependent on him, but dependent on God. Oh that your hand would be with me. Moses prayed a similar prayer - teach me your ways and guarantee to me your presence.

Says Bruce Wilkinson: If seeking God's blessing is our ultimate act of worship, and asking to do more for Him is our utmost ambition, then asking God's hand upon us is our strategic choice to sustain and continue the great things that God has begun in our lives. If you are a parent, then perhaps you will have had the experience when your child has attempted something beyond them, and cried out to you for your help admitting to you that they cannot do it alone.

We cannot do it alone, we cannot make an impact for God on our own, in our own strength. We need the empowering of the Almighty. But more than that we need to recognize our need of the empowering of the Almighty.

Of course such recognition and dependence requires humility on our part, something we are not good at. It requires that if we want to know the Lord's blessing on our lives, if we want to have a greater impact for the Lord in our community, if we want to know God's hand on our lives, then it begins by us getting down on our knee. U2 once sang that if you want to touch the sky, then you better learn how to kneel.

It is by humbling ourselves before God that we learn dependence on God. So do our lives reflect a dependency on God? Does our church life reflect a dependency on God? Or do we plan our lives and then ask for God's blessing on our plans rather than truly seeking God's plan and vision for our lives and church? How much time do we who are in leadership, and I don't just mean the ministry team, devote to prayer and a seeking after God's heart for this church? Are we a praying community, truly seeking God's hand upon us, that we would know God's ways and plans for our lives and church?

But let us be honest - for we struggle to be dependent on one another, to share and carry each others burdens in our relationships with each other. We are at times more akin to a bunch of individuals rather than a church family and community. If we struggle to be dependent on each other, is that because we struggle to depend on God? Oh that your hand would be with me!

Oh that you would keep me from evil!

It is true that in any arena in life, the higher you go, the more successful you become, the greater the fall from grace, the opportunities for failure increase. Just look around at successful Christian leaders who have fallen into sin, dropped out of Christian ministry, and left in their wake untold numbers of shaken, disappointed and disillusioned people. Bruce Wilkinson reminds us that blessedness is the greatest of perils because it tends to dull our keen sense of dependence on God and make us prone to presumption. Hence Jabez's final prayer request: Oh that you would keep me from evil.

A life of knowing God's blessing, of making an impact for God in our community, of knowing dependence on God, means one thing, we are making advances on the enemy, and the enemy is upset. He doesn't like Christians on fire for God. He would rather keep us insipid and focusing on things which are not really important. Indeed C. S. Lewis's book The Screwtape Letters is a masterpiece in showing us how Satan and his legions attempt to destroy Christians, lure them away from what is important, ensnare them in his traps. Satan does not like Christians who keep their focus, who keep the fires burning.

Oh that you would keep me from evil. Easier prayed than done. 'Lead me not into temptation', as Jesus would instruct his followers many years later. If we are not knowing temptation, that is not a sign we are winning the battles against Satan, it is a sign that Satan has got us where he wants us.

Oh that you would keep me from evil is a prayer which reflects quite rightly that in our walk with God, we will know times of tempting, and that is why praying to be kept form evil is a vital part of a life that is blessed, for it recognizes that we are in a battle. Part of the battle is not entering into the enemy's territory. Oh that you would keep me from evil is no good if we are going to let ourselves be open to influences which are evil.

A sign of growth in our walk with God is not being unaware of sin, and having no struggle with sin. It is rather a growing awareness of sin, a growing battle with evil and temptation because the closer we walk with God, the fiercer the battle, because the more uppity the devil gets.

That is why Paul talks about putting on the armor of God in Ephesians. That is why Jesus once shouted, 'get thee behind me Satan'. That is why Jabez prayed 'Oh that you would keep me from evil'. We need to pray to keep the legacy safe.

A remarkable prayer, that is found in the most unlikely place in Scripture. But maybe not, because in the midst of those names, God is reminding us that there is a story behind each an every one. Jabez carried a legacy from birth that he would be a pain in the neck, but he prayed and grew to be more honorable than all his brothers, his life made an impact, because his prayers were answered.

What sort of life are you seeking to live? Jabez challenges us to look at our priorities, to ask the hard questions about our lives and our church. Are we living a self-centered Christianity, or a God-centered Christianity? The Prayer of Jabez asks us to make the connection between our faith and everyday living. For if we are a Christian, then our primary identity is not what we do, or what denomination we are, or what gender we are. Our primary identity is that we are a Christian, therefore our primary concern ought to be that God would use us in the extension of his Kingdom, and the proclamation of his Son, Jesus Christ, and the glory of His name.

The Prayer of Jabez, tucked away in 1 Chronicles, is the invitation and the challenge to be people who desire to walk close to God, because they desire his blessings, his goodness in their lives, because they desire to make an impact for God in this world, because they desire to live an honorable life.

Pray this prayer for yourselves.

AMEN!