Today’s Reading, 1 Chronicles 3-5
Focal Scripture: 1 Chronicles 4:10 “Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only you would bless me, extend my border, let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not experience pain.” And God granted his request.”
Do you know a person that will give you a random story out of nowhere? Sometimes these stories have no purpose but every now and then the story they tell is powerful and worth remembering. I have a few people in my life that will randomly tell me stories that have nothing to do with what is happening at the moment. I often just give them a strange look and say “where did that come from?” Then there are the occasions where they drop a nugget of truth that hits like an anvil.
In today’s reading that is what happens. We are getting more genealogies. So much in fact, your eyes start crossing because of the amount of names. Then when you least expect it a biblical narrative is given in two verses. A man whose name is translated pain cries out to God. He desires to be blessed. He wants more land, desires protection and doesn’t want pain (remember what his name means). After he asks all, we are told is that God granted his request. We don’t know anything else about Jabez or how his life went. We know a prayer was given and God answered.
The takeaway for today is that the writer decided under inspiration to include this story in the genealogy. This means it must have been important. So important that God wanted his chosen people to know what happened and for future believers to read it and glean truth from it. This is a noteworthy prayer that needs to be learned and biblically applied.
The challenge for us is to understand what this prayer means. Blessing doesn’t just mean we get what we want it means we get what we need from God and it is provided in abundance. God desires to look after his people and give them the desires of their heart. The issue is that we usually ask with wrong motives and a corrupt heart. Don’t forget the previous verse that says he was more honored than his brothers. Jabez was different. His heart was in tune with the Lord.
This means when we pray we need to have a heart that knows God. A heart that desires his glory. A heart that longs for a better life. The problem with many of us is that we ask for selfish reasons not to glorify God and his kingdom. Not because we want honor for our Heavenly Father.
When you pray today, pray a notable prayer. A prayer that makes others take notice. A prayer that grabs the attention of people and of God.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading 1 Chronicles 6
