This Entry is titled “Wassup my homie Jabez.” I’ve never read the book, the prayer of Jabez. But I have some thoughts on blessings, and after having read the verse several times I have some thoughts on how to possibly interpret the verse. So without further adieu, I present “Wassup my homie Jabez.”

“Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that Thou would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast [territory], and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou would keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!’ And God granted him that which he requested.” 1 Chron 4:10

I’m sure all ya’ll have heard how prayer doesn’t change God, but God rather transforms us into his image as we seek him in earnest. So we see in this verse, Jabez request that God would bless him indeed. I suppose this raises the question, “what is a blessing?” Webster defines it as “confering well-being or prosperity on.” … Keep Reading On!

Well we know that as Christians, our satisfaction lies in Christ. Would you not look at satisfaction in Christ as the ultimate blessing? So in essence, I view the prayer of Jabez, as a request for God to cause your spirit to find satisfaction in Him somehow. Now, Christ may use different means of showing us Himself, and blessing us. But regardless, the result of whatever incident, He will satisfy us with Himself, and ultimately bring glory to Himself.

Ok, maybe this’ll make all that reasoning and philosophizing a little more clear. So here we are, praying this prayer, “Lord, please bless me…” And several days later, you get an unexpected gift of money. And you go back to your knees “Lord, I thank you for the blessing of money.” This would be a really neat thing to happen. But look at the end result again, what does the gift of money acheive, sure it may provide for one’s financial needs, but it causes the recipient to give praise to God.

So how should we truly trnaslate Jabez’s prayer. I think we should begin asking God to bless us yes, but also to bless situations. And as a result of His blessing in all aspects of our lives, we will see Jesus Christ more clearly, and find true blessing and satisfaction in the person of Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, I ask that you would truly bless me as Jabez also asked you to bless him. Lord I ask that you would bless me with yourself. That I would truly find your blessing in every situation of life. I know that the ultimate blessing, is to have my spirits refreshed in You. Please Lord, let me truly seek your face only to be blessed by You. Thank you for your love, thank you for the blessings you have already given to me. I pray that only you would be glorified in my life. In the name of Jesus we pray these things, Amen.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 6th, 2003 at 10:12 pm and is filed under Front Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.