AFC Meeting 1/11/03
Prayer of Jabez, Part One.
    Right in the middle of an exhausting account of genealogies, the author of 1 Chronicles came to the name Jabez and paused to elaborate on this man that was "more honorable than his brothers".  With a future ahead of him destined to be riddled "with pain" as his Hebrew name translates, Jabez cries out a life changing plea to God.
    "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!" (1 Chron. 4: 9-10)
    This asking of a "blessing" from God may be different than some think.  It isn't asking for more of what we could already get for ourselves.  It isn't asking for a new truck or more money.  The word "bless" may be casually voiced among spiritual conversations, but the true meaning of blessing is receiving no more and no less than that which God wants to give us.
    We are given life with no greater purpose than to worship and glorify God.  With God moving in big ways all around us to further advance His kingdom and bring His people closer to Him, "all our other needs become secondary to what we really want - which is to be wholly immersed in what God is trying to do in us, through us, and around us for His glory."  It is at this point where we will start to see our life marked by miracles.  "God's power to accomplish great things suddenly finds no obstruction in us.  We are moving in His direction.  We are praying for exactly what God desires."  That is living a blessed life, indeed!