The Prayer of Jabez (2) // God Wants to Bless You, Part 2

<p>You know, I used to think that getting things done in this world was all about having control. If I could just control this and that, then I’d be able to achieve X, Y and Z. But the older I get, the more I’ve realised that it’s all about influence and not control. Because as things turn out, influence is far more powerful than control.</p> <h4><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>EXPANDING YOUR INFLUENCE</strong></span></h4> <p>Well, if you were able to join me last week on the program you’ll know that we chatted about the prayer of Jabez – a man who had a pretty rugged start in life. His name literally means ‘You’re a Pain’, and yet he stood head and shoulders above his brothers and the hundreds of other names listed in the nine chapters of genealogy in the middle of which we find him.</p> <p>Why did Jabez stand out from the crowd? Because he prayed a prayer for God’s abundant blessing. Here it is again:</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>Jabez was more honourable 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 will be with me and that you would keep me from evil that I may cause no pain’.</em> <em>So God granted him what he requested</em>. (1 Chronicles 4:9,10)</p> <p>We’ve seen the power so far of asking for the first part,</p> <p style="padding-left: 40px;"><em>O God that you would bless me indeed. </em>(1 Chronicles 4:10)</p> <p>Bless me abundantly, bless me just the way you want to bless me. That’s a powerful prayer. Ask God to bless you and then leave it up to Him … His Father’s heart to choose how He wants to bless you. God wants to bless you abundantly, He really does. Not with trinkets and toys but with the sort of blessings that will fill your heart with joy and flow through you and over the top of you and right into the lives of other people. That’s how things work in God’s economy of blessing.</p> <p>You know that line ‘faith wit