A CALL FOR PRAYER OF BLESSING

1 Chronicles 4:10 NIV

“Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge
my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be
free from pain." And God granted his request.’’

INTRODUCTION:

The book of 1 Chronicles is a book of Narrative History, and Genealogies.

The author appears to be the prophet Ezra who wrote it circa 430 B.C. It covers
the events from 1000 to 960 B.C. This book begins with an outline of history from
Adam through the death of King Saul. The rest of the book is about the reign of
King David. The books of Chronicles seem like a repeat of Samuel and Kings. But
they were written for the returned exiles to remind them that they came from the
royal line of David and that they were God’s chosen people.

If we are going to read Chapter 1 to 4 we might tend to miss out the

passage that we just read earlier. But, if we are going to focus ourselves on every
verse of those Chapters we will see what the Lord wants to tell us through the life
of Jabez. Who was Jabez? He is only mentioned 3 times in the Bible. The first is
in 1 Chronicles 2:55 where Jabez is the name of a town: "And the clans of scribes
who lived at Jabez..." This town in Judah was apparently located near
Bethlehem. Then Jabez is mentioned again in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10: "Jabez was
more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, 'I
gave birth to him in pain.' Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would
bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from
harm so that I will be free from pain.' And God granted his request."  

The name Jabez means "he causes pain," so we can assume that something
about his birth was exceptionally more painful than the usual birth - either
physically or emotionally. In Bible times, a name was very important. A name
often defined a person's future - what they would become. So perhaps Jabez's
mother was predicting her baby's future. It seems as if Jabez defied his hopeless
name and dysfunctional beginning to become a man who believed fervently in the
power of God. He prayed with urgency and vulnerability. He cried out to the Lord
with boldness! Jabez was honored because of his relationship with God.

Today, God wants to show that His purpose was still in effect! The nation of
Israel was His chosen people and they had been given the Promised Land for a
reason. God had a purpose of Israel and He had a purpose for Jabez. This
righteous man eagerly wanted God's blessing to be fulfilled. What about you? Do
you want God's plan for your life? Surely, He has a distinct purpose for you and
for me. So why not we all pray and call to God to bless us indeed today! Let’s go
back to what the word of God is telling us.

1. A Call to the God of Israel

a.) Verse 10 – Jabez understood the importance of prayer. “Jabez called upon

the God of Israel.” Any self-proclaimed Christian can believe in God and
completely miss a major point of the faith, in prayer.  Not only did Jabez
understand how to pray, but he prayed this prayer out loud.  He called on God.  If
I’m not mistaken, I don’t recall a single passage of scripture where someone
called on God silently. In here, Jabez was not afraid to show his faith out loud.
Jabez did a great testimony by fearlessly showing how he wanted his prayer to
answer by the God of Israel which is our Lord Jesus Christ.  How often do you pray
out loud?

Call to the God of Israel now! In the same way Jabez did it, we need to call
unto God and shout out all our petitions to Him. He is the God that can make the
impossible, a possible one so if we call upon his name He will surely answer us.

Note: Jeremiah 33:3 NIV, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great
and unsearchable things you do not know.”

b.) Here we can see (2) significant things in this passage 1.) In 1 Chronicles 4:10
NIV version, “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel”. Here I want to emphasize that
Jabez didn’t just merely call unto God but instead He call with a cry so that He can
get the Lord’s attention. 2.) In 1 Chronicles 4:10 NLT version, “He was the one
who prayed to the God of Israel”. Here we can see that it’s not other people who
can ask the blessing for you. It should be you alone.
 Illustration:

I know a Faithful Servant of God who called and cried unto the Lord for
help. This man had a knowledge that his mother got sick and needs to see a
doctor the soonest possible time. However, when he checked his pocket it’s
not enough to cover the 2D Echo Test of his mom. The only thing left that he
did is to Call upon the Lord for help. He went to his room and cried unto God
to ask for an immediate response to his problem. And the Lord did an amazing
thing. The next day when his dad went home and said to them that he got a
gold ring worth more than the amount needed for his mom’s check up. True
enough that if we call upon the Lord, He will answer us like what He promised.

2. A Call to Understand God’s Favor

a.) Verse 10 We can see that since Jabez was a descendant of David.  He knew
the story of “the man after God’s own heart.”  He knew the story of David
defeating Goliath, showing strength from God in the midst of trials.  He knew the
bond David had with Jonathon, showing true love for our brothers and sisters. 
Knowing the back stories to one of the greatest men to live on earth, Jabez
understood what God’s favor was all about. “Oh that You would bless me and
enlarge my territory.”   He knew how God had blessed David, no doubt.  He knew
how amazing the power of God is by how David conducted his own life.  So, with
that in mind and a sincere heart, Jabez asked God for more provisions.

A Call to Understand God’s Favor! In the same way, how Jabez understand
that the Favor of the Lord was upon Him. We also need to ask God for more
understanding on how to get His abundant favor in our lives.

Note: Psalm 5:12 NIV, “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You
will surround him as with a shield.”

b.) The (2) significant things that we can notice from these verses are: First, In
1 Chronicles 4:10 NIV version, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my
territory”. Here I will focus on the word “enlarge” – in Merriam Dictionary this
word means “to make (something) larger or to become larger. In here, the Lord
wants us to ask him to make our scope and limits larger that what is currently on
right now. He doesn’t want us to settle for less but to ask for more. 2.) In 1
Chronicles 4:10 NLT version, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my
territory”. On the other hand, here I will focus on the word “expand” – same with
the first one I consulted Ms. Merriam as well and she gave me the meaning “to
increase in size, range, or amount: to become bigger. The Lord wants us to be
promoted, He wanted us to experience a high end life wherein we can enjoy His
blessing and goodness. The only way for us to get these is to call Him to
understand His favour in our lives.

Illustration:

There was this Engineer who applied to a well-known Engineering Company.

When he went to HR for interview he was so nervous to the extent that he
already speaks in vernacular which supposed to me in English conversation. He
thought that he will not make it because of that, so he prayed to God and ask his
favor to be upon him and the Lord heard him and he passed. Until now, he’s still
with the company and soon he will be recognized and be promoted by God’s
favor still.

3. A Call for God’s Own Hand to give His Blessings

a.) Verse 10 Jabez also knew other amazing things about David, including all of
the war stories and Psalms that he wrote.  David constantly was calling on God for
protection, provision, and strength. Jabez knew that God is powerful enough to
look on His enemy to bring destruction, such as the plagues in Egypt when
Pharaoh refused to let Israel go free.  God doesn’t even have to move.  He can
think things into motion.  Jabez was confident in the power of God, so calling on
God to keep His hand on him was his way of showing his reliance on God.

A Call for God’s Own Hand to give His Blessings! God loves us and wants to
bless us. He wants to show His love for us by rejoicing over us! God is always
faithful to us that He wants us to receive the blessing instore for us.  God granted
Jabez’s request, I believe, because Jabez believed in

Note: Psalm 37:4, which says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give
you the desires of your heart.”
 Nothing happens outside of the will of God.  Jabez understood this and so he
must have prayed in accordance with the will of God.  If you really are
“Delighting yourself in the Lord”, you will always be asking for things according
to His will.

b.) I want you to see here two significant statements here: First, In 1 Chronicles
4:10 NIV version, “Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I
will be free from pain.” And God granted his request”. Our Lord like our earthly
parent He wanted to hold us all the time so that we will be free from all harmful
things that can hurt us. 2.) In 1 Chronicles 4:10 NLT version, “Please be with me in
all I that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain! And God granted him his
request”. The same way, he always wanted to me with us so that he can direct us
to the right path to keep us from trouble in this dangerous world.

CONCLUSION:

The prayer of Jabez is one tiny little verse of 1 Chronicles, but it is packed
with a valuable testimony of Jabez’s understanding and loyalty to God. Would you
like to be bless as how God bless Jabez? Are you ready to ask Him of the things
that you immediately wanted to be fulfilled? May we all strive to pray like Jabez
did!  God bless you as you live a life worthy of the calling!