Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

All That Jabez

“Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” – Hebrews 4:15.

Have you ever met someone who didn’t want God’s blessing on their lives?  I haven’t either. What would prompt you to say, “I don’t want His blessing?” Yes, we all want God’s blessing, but it is not automatic. It doesn’t happen by chance.The Bible is clear that God is ready to pour out His blessing on His people, but only when we order our lives rightly before Him and seek Him first. Psalm 67: 6-7 says, “Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God, our God, will richly bless us.Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear him.”

Jabez is one of the Bible’s least known characters. I can’t tell you exactly who he was or what he did, but I do know what he prayed. In 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 we read, “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.” That’s all there is, there’s no more about him anywhere within the Bible, but we know that Jabez was blessed and God heard his prayer.

The Bible does not say this, but I wonder if one day Jabez heard about the God of Israel, a true and personal God who did wonderful things for people who dared to call on Him. So Jabez dared to ask God to make his life larger, to extend his territory. He was convinced that God could free him from the his troubles and pain. Five powerful words end the biblical passage about Jabez” ”And God granted his request.”   

My prayer is that we will pray as Jabez prayed. I pray that we will ask God to bless and multiply everything that we do and “be with me (us) in all that I do.” Jabez not only recognized God as the one and only true God, he also acknowledged that blessings come from God alone. Jabez wanted God to be in every moment of his day. He understood the power of God’s hand to protect and to lead in the right direction. And that is the greatest blessing of all. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think it means to be “blessed” by God? What are some of the blessings God has given you in your life?
  2. When was a time that you experienced God blessing others through you?
  3. Consider one way that you could bless someone else this week, whether here or around the world. 

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