The Prayer of Jabez

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV

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

These 2 verses have a lot to unpack. Jabez made 5 requests to the Lord:

1. That he would be blessed by God

2. That God would enlarge his territory (Samaria)

3. That God's hand would be with him (ask and receive)

4. That God would keep him from evil

5. That he wouldn't cause pain (new name)

The name Jabez means pain or distress. Note that Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. Just because his mother named him after her painful birth experience doesn't mean that's his destiny. God's plans for us are always higher! We have hope regardless of what people have labeled us or called us because God will give us a new name (Isaiah 62:2 & Rev 2:17)

John 4:34-38 NLT

'You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” '

This is a picture of the harvest that leads into the story of the Samaritan woman.

John 4:39-42 NLT

'Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.” '

This is what it means to have our territory enlarged! Our territory is God's kingdom! We should long to see more souls saved, from Barnhart to Imperial to Mexico to Uganda. God is enlarging our territory.

James 4:1-6 NKJV

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Jabez asked and God granted - his requests were from a pure heart. Scripture said he was an honorable man. God gives grace to us when we are humble. Humility is not thinking LESS of yourself, it's thinking of yourself LESS. It's wanting increase so we may be a blessing, so we may be more Christ-like not more like the world.

Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

What are you asking the Lord for? Are you prepared to receive what you are asking for? Now is the time to make your requests known. Align your heart with the Lord's heart for the Kingdom of Heaven. Prioritize your prayer life. Ask for wisdom, ask for discernment, ask for the gifts to flow freely from Heaven. Operate in the supernatural daily. Sometimes it's as simple as loving your family well! Asking God if there is someone you need to bless before you walk out of the store. Practice listening to that still small voice and allow the Lord to work through you as you grow in your relationship with Him.