PRAYER'S PRACTICALITY
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Based on a sermon by
Ray C. Stedman
Introduction
Our study this morning
illustrates the very practical impact that prayer can have on a difficult and
troubled life. I have the feeling that
many of us will see ourselves very clearly in this little study. This is not a very
familiar passage of Scripture, because it is one of those genealogies where we
get lost in all the begats and begots. Reading the genealogy of
the family of Judah in 1 Chronicles chapter 4 is like reading a Hebrew telephone book!
Here in the midst of all
the names that appear in the opening verses of Chapter 4, there is a sudden
focus on one individual, and I want to call your attention to him. This is God's way of
calling attention to him.
Though we have a brief
account of who he was and what he did, the
theme of this little story is that Jabez was a man who believed in prayer. His prayer is recorded for
us as an outstanding example of a man whose life was changed by the power of
prayer-or the person behind the prayer.
These verses call for careful
study, because certain clues are always given which, if followed through, will begin to unfold the
meaning of the story and the reason why it is included in the Scriptures. As
you look at this account, it is evident that there is something wrong in the
life of Jabez; some
shadow has fallen across his path:
9 There
was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers.
1. We are given the first
clue along that line in these words, "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers." We do not know how many
brothers he had, but that account says something more about the brothers than
it does about Jabez. When we read that he was
more honorable than they, that indicates something
of the dishonor that was attached to their character.
So
the first thing we know about Jabez is that he is of a family that has a bad
reputation; and that reputation is recorded here for us to the extent that
Jabez is regarded as a remarkable exception to a rather dishonorable family.
He would never have done a
beer commercial if he werea great ball player. He would not cheat in
business. He would not run around on his wife. He was the
type who went to church.
9b His
mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful.
2. The second thing we learn about him is that, when he was born, his mother named him "Pain," or "Sorrow." That is a strange name to give to a newborn baby, but the mother's remark was, "I named him this because I bore him in sorrow, or pain." That remark could, of course, be referring to the pain of childbirth, but I doubt if that is what it means.
If that were true it would
mean that every baby born in pain ought to be named "Jabez," so it
would be the most popular name ever, if that were the case. Jabez had several brothers
who that indicates that something else was troubling the mother when Jabez was
born. Jabez's brothers too seem to have inherited some kind of a family trait
which has rendered them a proverb of shame in Israel.
Then if you look a little
closer, you will notice some omissions which are clues to what is going on. All
through the chapter these other names are the names of heads of families --
so-and-so is the father of so-and-so, etc. -- but suddenly Jabez is introduced,
with no mention at all of his father.
She saw nothing ahead but difficulty
10 He
was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory!
3. Furthermore, it is
evident from this account that there was a struggle going on in the family of Jabez. They
seemed to be under the blight of terrible poverty, for Jabez prays, "Lord, enlarge my
border," i.e., increase my material possessions. This indicates that
something was amiss in this regard.
Here is Jabez, with no mention of his father's name, and with the additional
information that his brothers were a dishonorable lot. This is telling us
something very significant about Jabez. We have to fill in with
our imagination what has gone on, but it is very like us…
an account of someone whose inheritance has been squandered, gambled away perhaps,
or lost in some crazy scheme which probably had some illegality about it,
Irresponsibility, resulting in shame and disgrace coming upon the family.
At any rate, Jabez's mother seems gripped by very difficult circumstances.
10
Please be with me in all that I do, and
keep me from all trouble and pain!”
4. One other thing is also
given to us as a clue here.
Actually, his prayer is,
"that thou might keep me from the harm, the
evil, so that it might not pain me." There is a play on words
here. "Hurt," or "pain," translate into the name
"Jabez" again, so what he is praying,
therefore, is, "Lord, whatever it is that is in me that is wrong, I pray that you will keep
it from 'Jabez-ing' me -- from hurting me," because that seems to be his lot in life.
Put together, all of this
gives us a picture of a young man who has all the cards stacked against him. He feels within himself a
weakness from his heredity which has touched his brothers and brought them to shame
and disgrace in the eyes of the whole community; with only small way to start earning
a living & to attain to a position of honor or status in the community.
I do not know how many of
you identify closely with Jabez, it has been a tremendous encouragement to me. Many times we hear stories
of: A father abandoning his family
when kids were very young and still remember how
deeply that touched them -- even more than
realized at that time. The loneliness of growing
up without a Dad, and their envy of other boys who had fathers who could play
with them, and talk with them, and guide them.
More than that, The felt shame of that father's abandonment had cast upon the family, and the
poverty in which it left them, struggling
to keep body and soul together, eating from hand to mouth
through the days of theirr “ Depression.” All
of that left a sharp impression upon your spirit, so in reading this account
you feel very close to Jabez.
This story would not even
be here if it did not tell us that Jabez had found an answer; he knew where help was to
be found. The
remarkable thing about this little incident is this prayer that he prayed.
Again, we have to supply
some of the details from our imagination. I cannot help but feel
that Jabez's mother was probably a godly woman. You often find that kind
of situation of a man who is blowing it, who is careless about his
responsibility, living only for himself, yet he is married to a
woman who stays at home, who tries to keep the family together, struggling
valiantly against all the unhappiness and misery of poverty trying to teach her
children something about God.
At any rate, no matter
where he learned this, Jabez learned that there was a God, and that he answered
prayer. It may be that he learned
this from Jewish gatherings the stories of Abraham obeying God to go to the
promise land…Of Moses being used by God to lead his people
out of slavery to the Promise land…of Joshua…taking over the
land that was promised to them.
Something about that,
perhaps, had spoken to Jabez's heart, so he prayed this remarkable prayer. Jabez called on the God of
Israel. He knew whom he was talking to. Do you know the Lord
personally?
"Oh
that thou wouldst bless me and enlarge my border, and that thy hand might be
with me,
and that thou wouldst keep me from harm so that it might not hurt me!" {1
Chr 4:10b
RSV}
At first glance that looks
like a very self-centered prayer. It sounds like that famous prayer of the man
who prayed, "Bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and
no more." But Jabez is really not being selfish, because
he is praying for something God wanted him to have.
That is the difference
between being personal and being selfish. Selfish prayers are
prayers which ask God for something he does not want us to have, at least not at that time,
demanding prayers that are interested only in our own immediate welfare, for
our own satisfaction. That is selfish praying.
But God is a God of the individual. He
promises great and mighty things to us personally that we
may lay hold of, so to pray in this way is not selfish, but personal. Let us look a little more
closely at these four requests. What is Jabez asking for?
Jabez
called on the God of Israel, saying "Oh that thou wouldst bless me …
Well, 1st he asks, "Oh, that thou wouldst bless me."
What do you mean when you
pray, "Bless me," "Bless my children," "Bless the
missionaries," "Bless the translators of the Bible," or
whatever? If you are like me, you
use that phrase as a lazy way to escape thinking of anything more specific. But
this phrase is often used in Scripture, and it is a proper prayer if we mean
it.
Blessing is wholistic:
Material (Financial)…more than that.
Spiritual, Mental/ emotional, Social, Physical
The Priestly Blessing Numbers 6
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell
Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:24 ‘May the Lord bless you
and
protect you (Keep you).-----------------------------physical, healthiness
25 May the Lord smile on
you----------------------------- spiritual, walking in the light
and
be gracious to you.social
26 May the Lord show you
his favor (prosper)-------- social, finances, work
and
give you his peace.’---------------------------------mental, emotional
27 Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the
people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”
So what do we mean by it? To be close to God, to
understand his will, & to share in his life. Somehow in this lonely,
neglected boy's life there has come a deep sense of awareness that the key to
life is hiss relationship w/ God, so this is what he is praying for. It is what we all ought to
pray for.
The New Testament tells us
that if you do not have this …then you cannot handle life properly at all. You will feel lost, lonely
and neglected, and you either react with anger and rebellion, or with self-pity
and introspection.
…and
enlarge my border,
Then 2nd , Jabez prays, "Enlarge my border."
This is a prayer for opportunity, for the
restoration, in his case, for a place to stand in the midst of the culture of
his day in which he might gain some sense of status and respect. Translated into our own
terms, it means to find a way to break out of whatever may be limiting
us, hemming us in and enslaving us.
Some of you may feel this
because you are in the grip of some habit, some attitude of mind and
heart. Some of you may feel that
you are in a situation in which you have no opportunity to grow, to advance, to be fulfilled and satisfied. If that is the case, this is the proper kind
of prayer to pray, "Lord, give me that opportunity.
Let me find it. Open the
door for me." Jabez prays
that earnestly….
…and
that thy hand might be with me, 10: “Let your hand be with me…”
Then the 3rd petition is, "Let thy hand be with me."
This is a prayer that comes naturally to his
lips as he thinks of the uncertainty of the future he faces. All of us feel this way at
times. We do not know what is coming down the road. We do not know what
sudden, unexpected changes may occur in our lives in the next few days, months,
or years. Now this is what Jabez is
praying for: "Lord, be with me. Go into the future with me.
The
third request is to ask Him to stay with you. The progression
here makes a lot of sense. When we ask God
to send spiritual favor, He will shower us with His blessings. These blessings
are then transformed into ministry opportunities as we transfer our blessings
to others. When God expands our territory/life/ business/ ministry, we’ll be
overwhelmed by the possibilities and may begin to feel burned out.
It’s at this
point that we need to beef up our reliance upon God. Wilkinson puts it this
way: “… 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.” Jabez is praying, “Lord, be with me. Go
into the future with me. Remind me that you’re there. “
…that
thou wouldst keep me from harm so that it might not hurt me!"
Then the last 4th request was, "Keep me from the evil so that it might not hurt me."
I see in that request a
deep awareness of a tainted heredity in this young man s life. Something he has inherited
from his dissolute forebears has taken up residence in his own genetic makeup;
he senses a weakness within that frightens him. I see this in many people.
I feel it myself.
It may be a tendency
towards a hot temper, which destroys many opportunities that could be used for
advantage, wrecked by a display of temper that turns everybody off and ruins
everything. Maybe it is a lustful
sexual life which constantly dwells on sexual themes so that the mind is continually bombarded with
desires that race through the blood and awaken passions that ought to be
subdued.
Maybe it is avarice, some
desire for the acquisition of material gain so that you will be safe and
secure, have abundance, and do what you want.
Perhaps that is the
weakness that is inside that Jabez fears. Whatever it was --and the text does not tell
us -- he knows that God is able to handle it. Now I do not know anything
more hopeful in all the Scriptures than that realization.
Psychiatrists and psychologists
tell us that the two great areas which lead us astray -- and the two great
causes of crime in the world today -- are a bad environment and a tainted
heredity. Here is a young man who
has both, yet in the midst of his sense of weakness, of his sense of the
impossibility of rising above his circumstances, his only recourse is to fall on his knees and
cry to the God of Israel that he would have mercy upon him and grant him these
four desires.
I do not think he prayed
this prayer just once, on a Sunday afternoon. It is the kind of prayer that comes again and
again to human lips if you really are concerned about where you are, and you recognize
how impossible, how difficult the situation looks from the human standpoint.
…And
God granted what he asked.
That brings us to the last
word we have here in this passage about Jabez: "
God did it.
I do not think Jabez
experienced any kind of special angelic appearance to reassure him. There is no account of any
voice from heaven to give him the promise that God had heard and was going to
answer. What I think doubtless
occurred was that, as Jabez went on, he found doors opening suddenly, unexpectedly.
Opportunity was given for
him to buy a little piece of land, perhaps, and to raise a crop on it. More
money was given him, perhaps, and he was able at last to restore his. Gradually, as he did so,
he established for himself a reputation for honesty and fair dealings with
others.
Though his brothers had a
bad name in the community, Jabez gradually earned a name of respect and honor
until one day, looking back on his life, he suddenly became aware that God had
answered all his requests.
He
had been with him, brought him through, delivered him, opened the door and set
him free. I do not know whether this
happens to you or not, but oftentimes I find that answers to my prayers come in
such quiet, natural ways that at first I am not even aware my prayers are
answered until I look back and see how the hand of God has guided and
fulfilled, so that quietly it all began to happen.
This is a beautiful
picture of how adequately God answered this young man's prayer. How practical, therefore,
prayer becomes! I do not know how many of
you feel close to Jabez. What encouragement it
gives us that prayer is designed to meet us right where we are! We can bring our requests
and make them known unto God, and as we do so, in the realization that he loves
us and cares for us and is individually involved with each of us to the fullest
degree, he will lead us through all the present difficulties of our life,
impossible as they may look, and bring us through to glory.
That is what prayer is all
about. It is a way of laying hold
of the greatness, the glory, the wisdom and the knowledge of God, not in dramatic interventions,
but in quiet daily ways by which God works through the normal ---circumstances
of our lives to lead us to the fulfillment of our deepest desires.
I don’t think he prayed this prayer just once,
or for that matter, just once a day. This
prayer was his life. He sent these requests to the God of heaven throughout the
day and probably uttered them thousands of times over the course of many years.
Are you willing to do the same thing?
Action Steps
I want to close
by giving you action steps:
- Pray the Jabez prayer every morning for the month of January.
- Write out the prayer and tape it to your mirror, car dashboard etc. to remind yourself
- Pray this prayer for your family and for FCC.
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