Day 14 - 21 Days of Prayer Devotional

21 Days of Prayer DAY 14 - 1 Chronicles 4:10 10 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. CONSIDER THE CONTEXT Jabez only has one small paragraph written about him in the Bible. He was part of the Clan of Judah - one of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel. Jabez is best known for his short but powerful prayer of growth through the Lord. CONSIDER THE IMPLICATIONS Jabez must have thought it pretty simple. Ask and you will receive (John 16:24). He wanted more. He wanted more blessing. He wanted more territory. He wanted more of God and he wanted more protection. Sounds pretty greedy, doesn't it? Why not ask for more of what God has made you to be? Jabez thought that was appropriate and so should we. Jabez wasn't necessarily praying for more of the things that would benefit him. It seems that Jabez was praying for more of the things that would glorify God through him. See the difference? Now, if Jabez thought less of God's goodness because he didn't get the size territory he thought he deserved, then his prayers were coming from a place of wrong motivation. But, if at the end of Jabez's day he could sit content with the goodness God gave him through His presence, than Jabez could pray for expanded territory again the next day with the right motives in his heart. CONSIDER THE PRAYER Lord I pray for more and more from you. I pray for more of your presence. I pray for more of your goodness and more of your greatness. I ask that you bless me and my Church with expanded territory for your glory. If that means greater and greater success, we welcome it as we welcome you. If that means something different, we ask it to come all the more. God we are growing in the knowledge that we can't do any of what you want done alone. So we ask for more. Let the people of my Church experience more of you. Let the people they come into contact with see that you give more of yourself and want that in their lives as well. Thank you that your desire is to bless us with the richness of your presence. Expand our territories with that kind of love. Amen.