Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Prayer of Jabez Part II


Bless Me Indeed!
1 Chronicles 4:10a
We can learn a lot from studying the prayers of the Bible. Over the next four weeks we will examine the four parts of this very special prayer which was brought to worldwide recognition by Dr. Bruce Wilkerson in the book The Prayer of Jabez.   Today we venture into the four-part prayer of Jabez with the first request asking to be blessed.
To “Bless” means - to invoke divine favor upon; to bring the benefits of God upon.

I. Go Ahead and Ask ... Recognizing the Need to Be Blessed 
Oh
, that You would bless me indeed

Hate is an anchor of the soul and life.  There can be no new life with old hate.
The only power that can remove the anchor of hate and bring freedom to move on is forgiveness.
Jabez did not conform to the world’s image of his life but was transformed by God.
The blessing of God cannot be fully experienced outside of His will.
II. Go Ahead and Ask ... Recognizing the One Who Blesses 
Oh, that You would bless me indeed

A. The Blessing of God

1. is consistent with the person of God. 

2. is accomplished by transformation by God. 

3. is secured by the power of God.

4. is sustained by the presence of God. 

God’s bounty is limited only by us, not by His resources, power or willingness to give.
III. Go Ahead and Ask ... Recognizing What A Real Blessing Is 
Oh, that You would bless me indeed
A blessing is a specific gift from God, for a specific time and a specific purpose, to bring increase into our life.
We have wrongly defined ‘Blessings” as material increase.
Satan can reproduce material blessing but not spiritual blessing.
Interestingly, most problems of material possessions are caused not by scarcity but poor stewardship.
IV. Go Ahead and Ask ... Recognizing the Greatness of the Blessing
Oh, that You would bless me indeed
When you are asking Almighty God to bless your life, Don’t be timid!

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