Enlargement in the Place of Prayer

‘Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.”  And God granted his request.’1 CHRON. 4:10

The mother of Jabez had so named him because she “gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez however, didn’t allow the circumstances of his birth to shape his life. He “cried out to the God of Israel.” Your circumstance or situation right now might be considered painful. But it doesn’t need to continue this way. Like Jabez, cry out! Don’t hold back. Cry out to the God of Israel.

There are four things that Jabez cried out for in his short but life-changing prayer:

“Oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed.”

Make that the cry of your heart as well, that God would bless us indeed in this life. God himself has said, “In blessing, I will bless thee.” This cry is in line with His promise. In fact, in Christ, He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Our prayer is only to appropriate those blessings.

“Enlarge my territory.”

That should be your prayer too, that we would be set free from small-mindedness, as an individual Agent of Change. Many times the scope of God’s grace upon our lives is large, but our hearts are small and thus we limit God’s move. The stone that was cut out without a hand in the book of Daniel enlarged and filled everywhere.

God’s vision is to fill everywhere with His glory like the waters cover the sea. Trust God to enlarge your territory and grant you a large heart to occupy them.

“Let your hand be with me.”

The hand of God is figurative of God’s power. As a matter of fact, even the finger of God is full of power, as was revealed from the working of miraculous signs in Egypt, to delivering the Israelites and to writing the Ten Commandments. Jabez didn’t ask for a finger, he asked for a hand. What a large heart. The blessings you seek, and the enlargement of your coasts will happen by the hand of God. May we cry for his hand to be upon us.

“And keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.”

Like Jabez, you should not be ignorant of the devices of your enemy. He delights to bring upon you the chief evil of sin and its consequent pain. Pray that as God enlarges you, He would keep you from harm and pain in all forms.

The blessedness of this story is its conclusion:

‘And God granted his request.’

That is the confidence we also have in Him, that whatsoever we ask in accordance with His will, He grants. Trust God that all your prayers will also be granted by our God. He will be blessed indeed and our coasts will be enlarged.