Today we are continuing our preaching series on an oft-passed over piece of Scripture called the Prayer of Jabez. The first week we began with the phrase, “Oh, that you would bless me” as we looked at the appropriateness of asking God to bless us and what we are truly asking for in that endeavor. Two weeks ago we took the passage, “that you would enlarge my territory” as we unpacked the strength that is required for this type of petition. Today we are going to examine the next phrase, “Let your hand would be with me” as we look to what this means for us today in our lives.
We Can Be Our Own Worst Enemy
A ridiculous story made the rounds a while back. It is about a pilot and three passengers--a boy scout, a priest, and atomic scientist--and a plane that develops engine trouble in mid-flight. The pilot rushes back to the passenger compartment and exclaims, "The plane is going down! We only have three parachutes, and there are four of us! I have a family waiting for me at home. I must survive!" With that, he grabs one of the parachutes and jumps out of the plane. The atomic scientist jumps to his feet at this point and declares, "I am the smartest man in the world. It would be a great tragedy if my life was snuffed out!" With that, he also grabs a parachute and exits the plane. With an alarmed look on his face, the priest says to the boy scout, "My son, I have no family. I am ready to meet my Maker. You are still young with much ahead of you. You take the last parachute." At this point, the boy scout interrupts the priest: "Hold on, Father. Don''t say any more. We''re all right. The world''s smartest man just jumped out of the plane wearing my knapsack!"
Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. Sometimes we are so full of ourselves that we think we can do it all on our own and we begin to take steps to remove God from our lives. Relying on our own power, our own steam, and no longer relying on God to be our strength and driving force. Jabez is a wonderful model for us in this regard.
Remember two weeks ago we talked about the absence of Jabez's father in the genealogy listed here in I Chronicles? We surmised that the reason behind his omission was probably because of some indiscretion and a few bad choices and that he probably made. And we also mentioned that this would have made Jabez's life much more difficult. All of this could have been the precursor to Jabez praying this prayer. But regardless of the reason Jabez understands the necessity of what he is asking God for. He understands the appropriateness of asking God to bless him. He understands the responsibility of asking God to enlarge his territory. And here he understands how vital it is to ask God to be with him.
Is God's Presence Important?
So the question here is why is God's presence or guidance in our lives so important? After all God created all of us with a tremendous intellect right? God gave us the ability to reason right? Absolutely! But by nature we are devoid of righteousness. By birth we are prone to sin. And Jabez understood that. Jabez knew that to be blessed by God and given more responsibility by God that this would often lead him to places he could not navigate by himself. And the only way he could survive, much less thrive, is by God's hand.
So let's look at the original text. Jabez uses the Hebrew word ^d>y" for hand to ask for God's presence. ^d>y" literally means an open hand, one that leads. Jabez understood that for God's blessing in his life, for the enlarged territory that would be given to him by God, to have any lasting impact, for any of it to bear worthy fruit, God had to be in control. God had to be the leader, the sole influence.
Folks, for God to be with us does not mean that God simply gets in line with our thinking, gives a rubber stamp approval, and opens the doors we tell God to open. For God to be with us, we take the back seat. We become the tool and God the carpenter.
If you go to Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, there is a church you can go to that is shaped like a tear drop. It is called Dominus Flevit, or “The Lord Wept”. From this spot you can see the entire city of Old Jerusalem. This is the spot in Scripture where Christ envisioned Jerusalem's destruction all because they would not listen to him. And this image stirred up so much pain and grief within our Lord, that Jesus wept. Luke 19:41-44 recounts the scene, As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." The people did not recognize God right there in front of them. Jesus, God in the flesh, had come to bring peace and reconciliation, to be their hand.
How Can God be my Hand?
So how can God be our hand? One is to read Scripture. For you to listen to God, to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit you have to be able to recognize his voice. And one of the best ways to do that is to spend time with God in the Word. Get that Bible out and read it. Read it every day. Whether it is a verse or two, a story or two, or to take part in the Bible Challenge I put on my blog each week where you read four chapters a day. Just read. Read, study, examine, and memorize the narratives of love God has for you in Scripture.
Another way to help you recognize the voice of God is to pray. Pray daily for God to be the driving influence in your life. Pray for God help you set aside your earthly desires and give you Kingdom ones. Pray for God to give you wisdom to listen and courage to obey. Pray in any way you can, in whatever way you need, that will make God your focus.
The Challenge
Each week I try to give all of us a challenge to work on. Something that will help us draw closer to God. Well my challenge for this week is a bit different. As all of you came in this morning you received a card with a name and address on it. This is a “Pray for Me” card. On one side is a wonderful quote from James Montgomery expressing our natural desire to pray, “Prayer is the soul's sincere desire” along with a very brief sentence or two about the basis of prayer. There is also a box with a challenge and a set of instructions:
Therefore, I encourage you to embark on a journey for the next 30 days.
- Place this card where you will see it daily.
- Pray for the person(s) on the other side of this card for at least a month.
- Send a handwritten note of encouragement to this person(s) and let them know you are praying for them.
On the other side is a wonderful piece of Scripture from Jeremiah 29:11 that reminds us that good things come when God is our hand, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope”. And below that is a name. That is a person that I would like you to pray for, for the next 30 days. And there are some prayer starters below that.
If we as a congregation can do this, pray for each other specifically, I can only begin to imagine what will happen. If we all do this, then each one of us will know we are being prayed for by name for the next month. If we can be that congregation that prays like this for each other, then there is no limit to what we can accomplish for the Kingdom.
Jabez wanted God to be his hand. He wanted God to direct his life so that he could make an impact for God in his world. I am wanting us to ask God to be our hand now, so we can make an impact for this world. Do not be afraid, do not place more importance on our ways over God's ways. Be open, be receptive, be prayerful, be obedient. God's ways are perfect, God's ways are better. God's hand is open, I pray you will take it.
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