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Building A Dream Life

How You Deal With Adversity is Up to You

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Nobody Said It Would be Easy

Life is full of adversity. It comes in all shapes and sizes. We all deal with it differently.

The important thing to remember is that we don’t have to do it alone.

Most of us will never experience the amount of loss that Job in the Bible did. He was a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.

One day, a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands.”

While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds.”

While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants.”

While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead.”

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then, he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said,

“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
    and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had,
    and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”

In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

This seems like a lot of adversity. Most of us have never experienced anything close to this. We can’t imagine what this would be like.

It can be hard to relate to Bible stories. They can feel like they are from so long ago and so far away that’s hard to relate.

Horatio Spafford’s story of loss is closer to our time in history than Job’s story.

Horatio Gates Spafford became well-known for his clear Christian testimony in Chicago. He and his wife Anna were active in their church. Their home was always open to visitors, including their friend Dwight L. Moody.

They were blessed with five children and considerable wealth. Horatio was a lawyer and owned a great deal of property in Chicago.

Tragedy came in great measure to this happy home. At four years old, their son, Horatio Jr., died suddenly of scarlet fever.

Then, only a year later in October 1871, a massive fire swept through downtown Chicago, devastating the city, including many properties owned by Horatio. Despite their substantial financial loss, the Spafford’s sought to demonstrate the love of Christ, by assisting those who were grief-stricken and in great need.

Two years later in 1873, Spafford decided his family should take a holiday in England, knowing that his friend, the evangelist D. L. Moody, would be preaching there in autumn.

Horatio was delayed because of business, so he sent his family ahead, his wife and their four remaining children: 11-year-old Anna, 9-year-old Margaret Lee, 5-year-old Elizabeth, and 2-year-old Tanetta.

On November 22, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic, their vessel was struck by an iron sailing ship.

All four of Horatio Spafford’s daughters perished, but remarkably Anna Spafford survived the tragedy. Those rescued were taken to Cardiff, South Wales. Upon arrival, Anna immediately sent a telegram to her husband, which included the words “Saved alone….”

Receiving Anna’s message, Horatio set off at once to be with his wife.

During the voyage, the captain pointed out the very spot where his daughters had died.

It is said that Spafford returned to his cabin and wrote the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” there and then. The first line is, “When peace like a river, attendeth my way…”

Obviously, the voyage was one of deep sorrow as well as inspiration. This is evident in the moving and well-loved hymn.

After Anna was rescued, Pastor Nathaniel Weiss, one of the ministers travelling with the surviving group, remembered hearing Anna say, “God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why.”

Naturally, Anna was utterly devastated, but she testified that in her grief and despair, she had been conscious of a soft voice speaking to her, “You were saved for a purpose!” She remembered something a friend had once said,

“It’s easy to be grateful and good when you have so much but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God.”

In August 1881, the Spafford’s left America with several other like-minded Christians and settled in Jerusalem. There they served the needy, helped the poor, cared for the sick, and took in homeless children. Their desire was to show those living around them the love of Jesus.

This week’s sermon was on Psalms 3. This Psalm is regarding the time when David’s own son was attempting to take over as king.

David dealt with a lot of losses throughout his life. He had a great many enemies, some of which were his own family. Even with all the mistakes he made, the one thing that David was consistent in, was giving it to God.

We will experience adversity. Hopefully it’s not to the level of Job, Horatio, or David. Whatever the size and extent of the difficulties we experience…

God is the only way we can really deal with adversity.

Being on the Winning Team

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It’s Nice When Our Team Wins

The 2024 Summer Olympics are just around the corner. The Olympics are a sports fan’s dream come true. There are all kinds of different sports to watch. You can root for your favorite team and/or individual as the competition proceeds.

We like it when our team wins. Not so much when they lose.

I grew up playing basketball on our church’s league team. I watched sports, went to games, and enjoyed it.

Then, somewhere along the way, I would find myself getting upset when the team I was rooting for lost. It would affect how I acted and treated others.

This is when I began watching motor sports and became a big NASCAR fan. I’ve thought about this over the years, trying to figure out why I didn’t get as upset watching racing as I did when I was watching other sports.

The conclusion I came to was that even if the driver I’m cheering for doesn’t win, I still find things that I can celebrate.

For example, in this past week’s race, the driver I wanted to win didn’t…he finished second in a field of thirty-seven. Not bad. He also finished first in stage two and got stage points. That’s good.

Even though the driver that won the race wasn’t my first pick, I like him as a driver. And his dad used to be one of my favorite drivers. That’s good.

Then my favorite team also had a good day, with three of their four cars finishing in the top twelve. One finished twenty-seventh with a blown motor, but even with the motor expiring, there were ten cars that finished after him.

So, what does it mean to be on the winning team?

This answer is going to be different for everyone.

Psalms 1 and 2 are the introduction to the rest of the book. Last week, we talked about how Psalm 1 shows us that we have a choice. We can choose good, or we can choose evil.

This week in Psalm 2, we see an illustration of what good and evil look like and what the rules are.

Just like there are rules in sports, there are rules in life.

Much of the time people see these rules as restrictive, like being chained down. A lot of people see budgeting the same way. They feel like it limits what they can do.

With both rules and budgeting we are given a clear direction of what we can expect and what’s expected of us.

In Psalm 2, it’s evident which team—between good and evil—is going to win.

Unlike sports, in life, we get to choose which team we’re going to be on.

Winning is something that we strive for naturally. We want to be on the winning side.

This reminds me of something that was said in Andy Andrew’s book, The Traveler’s Gift. In chapter eight, David Ponder meets Abraham Lincoln.

They’re talking about the Civil War and who’s going to win. David askes the President, “Do you believe that God is on your side?”

Then after a little discussion the President answers,

“So your question was, ‘Do I believe that God is on our side?’ To be quite honest, I haven’t given that question very much attention. I am much more concerned with whether we are on God’s side.”

Andrews, Andy. The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success (p. 128).
Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Choose the right team and be on God’s side.

Good vs. Evil…It’s a Choice

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It’s Up to You to Choose Wisely

Reading the book of Psalms is like riding an emotional roller coaster. One-minute things are going great. The writer is on top of the world. The next thing you know they are wallowing in the mud with everything going wrong.

This shouldn’t surprise us. The theme throughout the Bible is good vs. evil starting in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve could choose to eat the fruit or not…they didn’t choose wisely. Moses laid out the choice of good and evil.

This is not a choice of being righteous or a sinner.

It’s a choice of turning our face or our back to God.

We’re starting through the book of Psalms over the next several weeks. The Psalms are big enough that we aren’t planning to do all of them at this point. But, we’ll start at the beginning.

The first chapter of Psalms addresses both things. It tells us what to expect if we do good or what will happen when we do evil.

1 Great blessings belong to those
    who don’t listen to evil advice,
who don’t live like sinners,
    and who don’t join those who make fun of God.[a]
2 Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings
    and think about them day and night.
3 So they grow strong,
    like a tree planted by a stream—
a tree that produces fruit when it should
    and has leaves that never fall.
Everything they do is successful.

4 But the wicked are not like that.
    They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 When the time for judgment comes, the wicked will be found guilty.
    Sinners have no place among those who do what is right.
6 The Lord shows his people how to live,
    but the wicked have lost their way.

If we choose good, we’re like a tree planted by a stream. We will produce good fruit and be successful. (verse 3)

“The gate to life is narrow. The path to destruction is wide and leads to death.”

– Matthew 7:13-14

Just because the gate to life is narrow doesn’t mean it’s hard…it’s narrow because it’s just one thing. The fact that it’s narrow feels restrictive. That’s why a lot of people chose the wide path. It feels more freeing.

This wide path distracts us from God. The noisy world pulls us in all kinds of different directions. It’s up to us to choose which path we’re going to follow.

Here are four things that the world has taught us that we can choose to unlearn:

  1. Taking bad advice – Adam and Eve took bad advice from the snake. They ate from the tree of good and evil and we know how that turned out. The world is full of snakes giving us bad advice. We can choose to take their advice or not.
  2. Attraction to the wrong path – These paths are wide and attractive. They’re easy to go down but lead to cliffs. We need to be aware of what wrong paths we’re being attracted to and avoid them.
  3. Sinful behaviors – These can be seemingly small things that won’t do that much harm. But they are sneaky. It’s not that big of a deal if I do this little thing. That food was really good…I think I’ll have seconds. There’s a price to pay.
  4. Cynicism – This attitude of general distrust of others leads to a lack of faith and hope. With all the negativity and pessimism out there, it’s easy to be cynical. This causes chaos and division…just what Satan wants. It makes us ineffective.

We can choose which path we’re going to travel…the good or the evil. We have control over our behaviors.

We can choose to turn our face or our back toward God.

Choose wisely.

For Such a Time as This

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The Question is: What Are You Going to Do About It?

It’s Independence Day 2024. This is when we in America celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the 56 delegates who later became known as the nation’s founding fathers. This declaration explains to the world why the Thirteen Colonies regarded themselves as independent, sovereign states no longer subject to British rule. 

This Declaration has become one of the most circulated, reprinted, and influential documents in world history. It has proven an influential and globally impactful statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence:  

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  

The signing of the Declaration came at a cost.

“And, for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” 

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships resulting from the Revolutionary War. 

Standing up for what’s right requires bravery and comes with risk. 

We see this same kind of bravery and risk in the Bible in the book of Esther. This book shows us how God works through people in a fallen world who are willing to step out bravely. 

Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, learns that Haman–King Xerxes second in command–plotted to kill all the Jews in Persia. This included Mordecai and Esther who is queen.  

Mordecai tells Esther that she needs to talk to the king about this. There’s a big risk to this. If she goes to the king without being invited, the king might have her killed. 

In Esther 4:10-14 Mordecai tells her: 

“Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. 

Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” 

Esther and Mordecai were both brave and took risks. Mordecai wouldn’t bow to Haman. Esther went to the king with her request. Both things worked out. Both Mordecai and Esther did things outside their comfort zones. 

We’re all called for such a time as this. 

Our callings may not be as big as the Founding Fathers, Mordecai, or Esther, but we’ve been called. It’s up to us to be aware of our calling and do something.  

The question is…what are you going to do about it? 

Have a great Independence Day! 

God’s Patience with Us Has a Limit

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I Would Recommend Not Pushing It

Pastor Lisa shared with us that her husband Brian is very patient, however, he has a word that he uses when he has reached his limit. When this word comes out of his mouth, people are caught off guard and are a little surprised.

This word is…are you ready for it…ALRIGHT.

ALRIGHT, that will be enough.

God’s very patient with us as well, but He also has an ALRIGHT.

We can see this throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. The people would continually lose their way and start following the worldly ways of the people around them. God would give reminder after reminder until He would reach an ALRIGHT.

God reached one of His ALRIGHTS when His chosen people were conquered, their temple destroyed, and they were taken to Babylon. Later Persia conquered Babylon and they found themselves under Persia’s authority.

Then some years later, King Cyrus of Persia’s heart was moved to send the Jewish people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. God stirred the hearts of the priests, Levites, and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-6).

We’ve all felt these kinds of nudging’s that we were supposed to do something. We may not be sure exactly what it is. We might feel that we’re not qualified to do that thing. We might think that thing is too hard or will take too long.

This kind of prodding is “HOLY DISCONTENT”.

This is what King Cyrus and the people going to Jerusalem felt. It was not an easy task. It was a long journey. When they got there, everything was in ruins, people had taken over what was left, and these people didn’t want to give it back.

There is a process for dealing with HOLY DISCONTENT.

  1. Wait on God – Everything in God’s time
  2. Trust in God – He won’t lead you on the wrong path
  3. Embrace the journey – This is where God has called you to
  4. Expect opposition – There will be push back from the naysayers
  5. Expect support – The support you need will be there when you need it
  6. Watch the plan unfold – This is the part that makes the journey worth it

Too often we ignore the HOLY DISCONTENTS in our lives. If we ignore them too long, God’s patience will wear thin, and we will get an ALRIGHT. Don’t push it because we are all given a limited time. As long as we are still alive, God will continue to give us HOLY DISCONTENTS, but there’s a limited time. Don’t wait!

What Would We Do Without Dads?

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Nothing…Because We Wouldn’t Even Be Here

That’s right. We wouldn’t have been born without a father. But just being a father doesn’t mean we’re good at it.

Being a good father is a big job.

This past Sunday was Father’s Day, so it only makes sense that this was the focus of Pastor Lisa’s message.

So, what does it mean to be a father?

While it might seem obvious what “dad” means– a male parent– it’s often hard to define the role of a dad.

Dad can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. So, what do children need? After all, the definition is a male parent.

Children need many things from their parents, but let’s break it down into the main pieces. They need:

  • Necessities of life
  • Human interaction
  • Care and comfort
  • Warmth and love
  • Guidance and protection
  • To be important to someone

These relate to the different roles that dads (and moms) play.

Human parents are not perfect…some are quite bad at it. We’ve all known people who have bad fathers or don’t even know who their father was.

This is where mentoring comes in. Young men need good role models. These role models can come in the form of coaches, camp counselors, dads of friends, teachers, etc.

We all need people to look up to and try to be like. We should all try to be those people.

This is where my friend Shep’s book, Step into Your Legacy, can be helpful. His book is a guide for men, helping them strive to be people who inspire others through actions and words. Whether it’s the way we treat our families, the kindness we show to others, or the dedication at our workplace, every moment is an opportunity to make an impact.

Being a good dad requires knowing what it means to be a good dad and being intentional about doing it.

As Pastor Lisa has been taking us through the Old Testament, we have seen the kings go back and forth from good and following God to bad and not. This human condition is just that: human.

This is why we need to be aware and understand ourselves and our humanness. Then it’s up to us to be intentional in our actions and learn how to be better.

Often, we get into routines and habits and don’t realize what we’re doing. A good example of how this happens and what we can do about it is in 2 Chronicles 34:14-15; 29-33. In the Scripture, Hilkiah discovers the Book of the Law in the Temple. It is then shared with King Josiah who makes changes and promises to do what’s right.

The best example of how to be a good dad (or mom) is our Heavenly Father and we learn this by reading His Word.

Regardless of what our father here on earth is like, God is our Heavenly Dad. Sure, we wouldn’t have been born without an earthly father. But, the same is true for our Heavenly Father.

I hope you had a great Father’s Day. Going forward, I hope you strive to be more like our Heavenly Father.

VBS – What a Great Place to Share the Message of Salvation

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Salvation, What Does That Mean?

VBS is a common acronym used for Vacation Bible School. Many of us grew up going to VBS and have good memories from it.

Vacation Bible School can be traced back to Hopedale, Illinois in 1894. Sunday School teacher D. T. Miles was a public-school teacher. She felt limited by time constraints in teaching the Bible to children. So, she started a daily Bible school that taught children during the summer. The first Bible school enrolled 40 students and lasted four weeks. A local school was used for classes, while an adjoining park was used for recess.

While not under the title of Vacation Bible School, Dr. Abraham L. Latham, of the Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania, initiated a five-week, four-hour day summer Bible school in 1912. While at its peak, it had 650–700 students. This was claimed to be the world’s first summer Bible school.

Today, many churches run their own Vacation Bible School programs. Some churches use themed curriculum programs from their respective denominations. Others use independent publishing houses which provide easy preparation and include marketing tools.

Our church had VBS last week. Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

What a great place to share the message of salvation.

So, what is salvation? Salvation is the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc. It is a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc. Deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption.

In Romans 10:1-13, it says, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.’ Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’.”

Salvation comes at a cost, but the price has already been paid.

“Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:6-8)

It’s up to us to believe and accept this gift.

Sharing the message of salvation in VBS is great, but it shouldn’t stop there. All of us who believe need to be bold and share this message beyond VBS.

Choosing to believe is a decision that you have the power to make or not…it’s up to you.

Be Who God Made You To Be

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Don’t Be Afraid to Witness Boldly

God made each and every one of us exactly how He wanted us to be. We are unique and different and have skills that are specific to us. 

It’s up to us to be willing to use our skills the way they were intended. 

As a Christian, it can be scary to talk about our faith. We may not know what others believe and don’t want to impose our beliefs on them. This “kid glove” viewpoint seems to be more and more common.  

A recent article in The Washington Stand, written by Sara Holliday pointed out that 40% of British Christians prefer not to share their faith. According to a recent survey, British Christians seem to be going through a bit of a “self-confidence crisis”, as phrased by the researcher. 

“Authorized by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) and steered by Whitestone Insight, the survey, “Britain’s attitudes to faith in public life,” received responses from 2,064 U.K. adults between May 1 and 2 of 2024. Author Dr. Jake Scott emphasized, “Data were weighted to be representative of all U.K. adults.” Among several key findings, perhaps the most eye-opening was that roughly 40% of the Christian respondents prefer to keep their faith to themselves and out of “the workplace and politics.” 

Some other statistics include “49% of religious respondents” who were opposed to seeing more religion in the media, and 27% felt religion was not necessarily “a force for good in society.” This isn’t exactly encouraging news.”  

This doesn’t sound very bold. 

“However, there were two positives — maybe even encouraging — aspects to these results worth recognizing. 

First, there was a distinction between “exclusivist” Christians and “cultural” Christians — the former being “those who believe their religion is the only true faith,” and the latter being “those who were baptized but attend church infrequently and do not strongly identify with the Christian faith.”  

The exclusivists were far more willing to share their faith, as they are called to in Scripture. And we can’t be too surprised the cultural Christians, who don’t appear to take their faith seriously, don’t take intentionally sharing their faith seriously. 

The second encouraging point was the influence faith seems to have on younger generations such as Gen Z. As reported, “69% of respondents within the 18-24 year old bracket believe their faith significantly impacts their lives,” 72% “find faith helps them find purpose in life,” 78% “feel their faith has shaped their moral values,” and 53% “believe their faith to be the only true religion.” 

Reading about Christians intentionally keeping their faith to themselves and not having an optimistic view of their faith should motivate us to offer some encouragement. Moving forward, let’s not focus on these statistics.  

Scripture calls us to be bold, not timid. It calls us to share our faith, not purposefully keep it to ourselves. 

In Acts 4:1-13, Peter and John are arrested and taken before the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law because they healed a crippled man. Peter told them that the power that healed the man was Jesus, the man they killed.  

The members of the council were amazed at the boldness of Peter and John because they were just ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. But they were with Jesus. 

Being bold doesn’t mean we shout from a mountain top or get up in someone’s face. We can be bold by living our daily lives the way God made us. 

We are all ordinary. Made just the way God wanted us. It’s up to us to witness boldly the way He made us. 

Dedication is a Lot More Than Just a Word

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It Requires Action and Commitment

The past several weeks, we’ve discussed prayer and some of the different reasons to pray. There have been examples of prayer from Scripture and examples of people praying. 

Prayer is how we communicate with God. 

The first week, we discussed Hannah and her remembrance to thank God for her answered prayer. Second, David’s recognition that God knows our thoughts and prayer is our realization of this. Third, David repented for his mistakes. Forth, Solomon asked for wisdom. Fifth, Elijah called Ahab out for his mistakes in leading the people to do the wrong thing and their acceptance and changing. Sixth, Hezekiah took situations to God in prayer and we should do the same. And finally, last week Jabez’s prayer was an example of how simple prayer can and should be. We often make prayer too complicated. 

This week is about Solomon’s dedication of the new temple and a physical location to connect with God. Like in the beginning of this series on prayer, we talked about the stacking of stones as a good physical reminder. The same was true for the temple. 

So, what is dedication?  

Dedication is the act of devoting something to a divine being for sacred use then setting it aside for a particular purpose. Dedication goes back to the 14th century. Back then, it referred to the solemn act of dedicating something–such as a calendar day or a church–to a deity or for a sacred use. Centuries later, it was used for the act of devoting time and energy to a particular purpose. Nowadays, dedication commonly indicates loyalty or commitment to a cause, ideal, or purpose. 

After the completion of the temple in Jerusalem, Solomon’s prayer of dedication included praise, guidance, and requests. This temple was a physical reminder of how big and special God is. 

There were seven requests to God in this prayer: 

  1. Discernment to judge fairly between people when someone wrongs someone else. 
  1. Forgiveness when we start living like the world and turn back. 
  1. Teaching us to follow the right path. 
  1. Giving Your people what they deserve based on how they act. 
  1. That all people everywhere will know who You are. 
  1. Help with fighting life’s battles and enemies. 
  1. Sending us reminders that we can’t do this on our own and we need to seek You in all things. 

We need to remember that the temple is not God. We need to remember that rules are not God. We need to remember that pomp and circumstance are not God.  

God is not a building or some physical statue. God is alive! 

In this fallen world, we are going to mess up. This does not mean that we can’t be forgiven. However, forgiveness is not a pass for messing up either.  

We need to dedicate ourselves to God through our actions and commitment.

We Should Pray Like Jabez

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And How Did He Pray?

As names in the Bible go, Jabez is not someone who we hear a lot about. He is mentioned in 1 Chronicles in middle of the genealogy of Judah. As you’re reading through the long list of names there in Chapter 4 Verse 9 and 10, Jabez pops up. 

Another thing that’s a little different is that rather than telling who his father, bothers, or sons were, it says… 

There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request. 

And that’s how we should pray.  

Then in Verse 11, it goes right back to: so and so was the father of so and so and on and on. 

Other than the fact that Jabez’s prayer is stuck in the middle of this genealogical list of names, what makes it a good example of how we should pray? 

Prayer is our direct line of communication with God, our way of expressing our hopes, dreams, and desires. Among the countless prayers that have been uttered throughout history, this one stands out. 

This prayer resonates with those who long to move beyond the limitations of their current situation and experience God’s abundant provision. 

But what makes this prayer so different?  

It’s the simplicity of it. In a couple of short sentences, it recognizes our need for God’s power to transform our lives. It’s the boldness to ask for God’s favor, knowing that He delights in blessing His children. It’s the faith to believe that God can take us from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from the mundane to the miraculous. 

There are the four simple but powerful points to Jabez’s prayer –  

  1. First, Jabez asks God to bless him. - This is a recognition that all blessings come from God and that we are dependent on God’s favor and provision. Jabez desires God’s blessings in all areas of his life, both spiritually and materially. 
  2. Next, Jabez asks for an enlargement of his territory. - This can be understood as a request for God to expand our influence, impact, and opportunities. Jabez wants to make a greater difference in the world and fulfill his God-given purpose. 
  3. Then, Jabez asks for God’s hand to be with him. – This is a plea for God’s presence and guidance in his life. Jabez recognizes that he cannot accomplish anything without God’s help and desires to walk closely with Him. 
  4. Lastly, Jabez asks God to keep him from harm and free from pain. – This is a request for protection and deliverance from any form of evil or suffering. Jabez desires to live a life shielded from harm and filled with peace. 

And the last words of Verse 10… “And God granted him his request.”  

Too often we make prayer something too lofty and grand. Something that, as flawed and imperfect sinners, we have no right to tell God. After all, He made everything and can do anything.  

We need to stop kidding ourselves. God already knows our hearts and minds. He knows what we want before we do.  

This doesn’t mean that God isn’t all powerful and shouldn’t be honored. What it does mean is that there is a balance of honor and relationship.  

God wants a relationship with us.  

We are supposed to honor our earthly parents, but we’re also supposed to have a relationship with them.  

Jabez spoke to God honestly, openly, and respectfully and God heard him. 

If we align our desires with God’s, He will hear our prayers as well.