Daring to ask God for More

I hope yesterday got you thinking.  If you didn’t get a chance to read yesterday’s blog, click here. After finishing the writing of this post I am already excited for tomorrow!  Today I am going to start pushing the envelope so to speak. Let’s talk about daring to ask God for more.

Let us continue to look at these two crucial verses:

I Chronicles 4:9-10

^9-10 Jabez was a better man than his brothers, a man of honor. His mother had named him Jabez (Oh, the pain!), saying, “A painful birth! I bore him in great pain!” Jabez prayed to the God of Israel: “Bless me, O bless me! Give me land, large tracts of land. And provide your personal protection—don’t let evil hurt me.” God gave him what he asked.

So who is this guy Jabez and what kind of selfish prayer is it that he is praying. Wasn’t he just an ordinary guy like you and me? What makes him so different?

Today, we are going to look at the following part of the prayer,

Picture a great spiritual mentor or teacher you really look up to in your life.  They happen to cross your path. You follow them as they are on their way to a room for prayer.  As they get ready to pray, you put your ear against the door in anticipation and excitement. Now to hear such a person pray!  Then you hear the first thing out of their mouth, “Bless me oh Lord, yes bless me greatly.”

Being Stunned By What Some People Pray

As you stand stunned for a moment, thoughts begin to roll through your head. <<you can fill in the blanks here from what’s in your own head>>

How could they start with such a prayer?  That is for immature Christians to pray as they don’t yet understand or know enough yet. This is for those selfish Christians who equate wealth with spirituality.

Here are some thoughts about the word blessing.  We have turned the word into a greeting or nice gesture like sneezing, “Oh, (God) bless you,” or “have a blessed day.”  It’s been watered down over the years.  It’s meant to be a supernatural favor of God’s goodness. It really has absolutely nothing to do with our works.  Again, this is different than ‘health and wealth’ philosophies or prayers.

It is About God’s Desires

The focus of this is what God wants, not what Scott (me) wants. 

Thoughts in Scott’s head: “I want, I want, I want, me, me, me, me, mine, mine, mine, mine, now, now, now, now.” From the movie Hook – Carmen and I have watched what seemed like a hundred times with my oldest when he was little.  It’s not about our selfish desires and wants.

It is His purpose and will for us to have supernatural favor in what He is doing through us and around us, and not what we selfishly desire. We find, create, and get stuck in roadblocks and obstructions when going after it on our own.  When in God’s will there is always a way over or around the obstructions.

Blessing Someone Means to Lift Them Up

God’s nature is to bless!  Aren’t you glad?  I am.  But let’s put that into context. 

Names were prophetic or given as a blessing in the old testament.  To be named Jabez was not a good sign (Jabez means pain).  I was born a Ramsey – in our neighborhood, that wasn’t a name of any recognition or blessing either. But God is bigger than what is behind a name. 

Expand My Reach Oh Lord – Expand my Boundaries

Recently Carmen and I spent a year doing short-term rental. We entertained people from all over the world at our small 5-star short-term rental “resort!”  God is blessing us.  We are asking God to Bless us, indeed!  We are asking God for the supernatural favor of His goodness.  This is going to be bigger than we can imagine.  If we were able to reach people from all over the world in our tiny house, what does He have in mind next! Dare I ask God for more?

I always think to myself, “I am just an ordinary person if that.”  I’ve missed it plenty of times along the way.  It’s not where I am (if you look at me that way you will surely be disappointed).  But it is about where I am going – on God’s journey for me and Carmen.  In that view, it’s amazing where I have come from and where God (in his mercy and grace) is taking me.

Challenge for today – What will you dare to ask God for?  Make it a commitment to ask God for it, and for it INDEED.  So be it!

Don’t take anything from above out of context yet. It will all start to come together over the next few days. Stay tuned in!