to give us instruction in worship,
the worship of the Lord. In 1 Chronicles, we have instruction
on how sinners to approach God. We have instruction on God's
King. We have instruction in God's
temple, instruction on God's Ark, the Ark of the Covenant.
And the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles is all taken up
with genealogies. And these genealogies are not
just space fillers. They're important pieces of scripture. They're important because they
trace the lineage of the Lord Jesus. And I know what we think. We shouldn't think of these genealogies
as boring reading. That's what we think. And we
think that because we don't see Christ as readily in these genealogies
as we do in other passages. But it's very interesting to
me that right in the middle of this long nine chapters of genealogies,
right in the middle of it, suddenly there's two verses that are devoted
to the prayer of a man named Jabez. In this book that's written
to give us instruction and the worship of the Lord, there's
these two verses that give us instruction and prayer. And God
granted the request of this prayer. That captures my attention. I'd like to pray in such a way
that God would grant my request. Let's read these two verses,
1 Chronicles 4 verse 9. And Jabez was more honorable
than his brethren. And his mother called his name
Jabez, saying, because I bear him with sorrow. And Jabez called
on the God of Israel, saying, oh, that thou wouldest bless
me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be
with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may
not grieve me. And God granted him that which
he requested. Now, here's our first lesson
in prayer, prayers for nobodies. Prayers for people that don't
have any strength, that don't have any ability. Prayers for
people that don't have anything about themselves to commend them
to God. Prayers for people who can't
do anything for themselves. You know, we only pray about
what we have no control over, don't we? But prayers for people
that can't do anything for themselves. And we have recorded in scripture
some great prayers, don't we? Just prayers of great men, Moses,
Elijah, Daniel, Hannah's prayer for Samuel. What a prayer. And
we read those and we think, I don't pray like that. I'm not like
these great men and women, you know, in scripture. They're great
in faith. They were greatly used of God.
And maybe I find it hard to identify with them. Well, let's see if
we might be able to identify with Jabez. These two verses
of scripture are the only two verses that mention Jabez in
the whole Bible. In the middle of this genealogy,
it says this man begat this one and this one begat this one and
this one lived here and this one lived so long and then he
died. In the middle of this genealogy, there's Jabez. But we're not
told who begat Jabez. We're not told who Jabez begat.
We're not told where he was born. We're not told when he lived
or when he died. We're not told anything about him. Apparently,
he's a nobody. There's nothing really spectacular
about this man Jabez. And after these two verses, we
never hear from him again. The only thing we know about
Jabez is what is in these two verses, that God granted him
his request. Well, you know what that tells
me? God hears the prayers of nobodies. Oh, that's such good
news. God hears the prayers of nobodies.
It doesn't matter who begat us. It doesn't matter who we begat.
It doesn't matter when we were born, when we lived, when we
died. All that matters is we cry out to God in our need, that
we cry out to him in praise and thanksgiving and prayer. Just
be a nobody. Everybody's spending all their
time trying to be somebody. Just be a nobody. God hears the
prayers of nobodies. God never grants a request in
prayer because we're somebody. God grants requests in prayer
because He's somebody. God never grants us our request
in prayer because of our power. It's always because of His power.
So be a nobody and call on Him in prayer. God answered this
prayer of Jabez. Here's the second lesson we learned
about prayer. God hears the prayers of his children. Verse nine says,
Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. Now, how's that? How's Jabez more honorable than
his brothers and sisters? He got the same nature of adamant
they do, doesn't he? How can he be more honorable?
The word Jabez means to sorrow or to grieve or something that
causes sorrow or grief. I mean, what a name to hang on
a kid. You know, sorry, your name's sorrow. What a name. Well, maybe Jabez's mother had
a very, very difficult time in childbirth. Maybe Jabez, when
he was a little boy, maybe he was a stinker, you know, and
caused her grief. Who knows? But I do know this,
that nature is a nature we're all born with, a nature that
causes us and causes everybody around us sorrow and grief. And in order to redeem sinners,
in order to redeem his people, the Lord Jesus Christ became
a man, didn't he? What kind of man? A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief, because that's what we are by nature.
By nature, we're sorry. I mean, we're sorry, sorry creatures
in Adam. So the only way Jabez or any
son of Adam could be honorable is if God made him honorable.
Now who's honorable? What does scripture say about
men and women who are honorable? And we won't turn to these scriptures.
Let me give you four scriptures, four different ways scriptures
describes a person who's honorable. First is this, the man of God
is honorable. 1 Samuel 9 verse six, behold
now there is in this city a man of God and he's an honorable
man. A man of God is honorable. Second,
who's honorable? The man who's chosen of God and
a man who has a heart, who's been given a heart that's after
God, a man after God's own heart is honorable. 1 Samuel 22 verse
14. Ahimelech answered the king and
said, who's so faithful among all thy servants is David, which
is the king's son-in-law and go with thy bidding. and is honorable
in thine house. The man who has a heart, this
heart has been given him after God's own heart, chosen of God,
that's an honorable man. God made him honorable. Third,
the man who knows he's a sinner, the man who knows he's a leper
is honorable because God showed him he's a sinner. We looked
at Naaman last week in 2 Kings chapter five, verse one. Now
Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria was a great
man with his master and honorable, because by him, the Lord had
given deliverance unto Syria. And he was also a mighty man
in valor, but he was a leper. And Naaman knew it. The man who knows he's a sinner
is an honorable man. God made him honorable. And fourth,
this sums it all up. People who believe Christ are
honorable. They've been given faith in the
honorable one. Acts 17 verse 12 says, therefore,
many of them believed also of honorable women, which were Greeks
and of men, not a few. Everyone who believes Christ
is an honorable man or woman. God's children are honorable. And the reason they're honorable
is they're God's children. They've been born again in the
new birth. God gave them a new nature that's honorable. That
nature is honorable because it's the nature of Christ. If you're
made partaker of the divine nature, you're honorable. You have a
nature that's honorable. Now your nature in Adam's unchanged.
Sorrow, grief, that's our nature in Adam. But our nature in Christ
is honorable. Jabez was more honorable than
his brethren because God made the difference, didn't he? God's
grace did, just like he makes a difference between anyone a
believer and unbeliever. And God hears the cries of his
children, that he's begotten with his word and with his spirit.
So you keep crying to God and don't quit. You keep crying to
God because God will hear the cries of his children. Now here's
our third lesson in prayer. And this is very obvious, but
we probably ought to point it out. If you would be heard in
prayer, call on the right person, call on the true and living God.
Look here at verse 10, Jabez called on the God of Israel. Jabez is very exact about who
he's calling on in prayer. He identifies the character of
God that he's calling on, the God of Israel. He's calling on
the covenant God. He's calling on the God who promised
salvation. He's calling on the God who purposed
salvation for his people, who purchased salvation for his people,
and who applied that salvation to the hearts of his people.
Well, his prayer is, Lord, you're the covenant God. You promised
to have mercy on somebody. Would you have mercy on me? Oh,
would you have mercy on me? Please have mercy on me. Jabez
calls on the God of the Bible. Now I know lots of people go
through a motion, you know, what we call prayer. But now if they're
just calling out to some idol, it's not prayer. Jabez calls
on the God of the Bible, the God who has revealed himself
in his word, not the God of man's imagination, but the God whose
character is revealed in his word. God's character is both
just and justifier. That's who Jabez is calling on.
The character of God is both holy and gracious. The character
of God is to be both righteous and merciful. That's the God
we call on. We call on the God who punishes
every sin without exception and yet forgives sin through the
blood of His Son. That's who we call on. We call
on the God who's sovereign over all things. I don't have any control over anything.
I mean, nothing. Well, shouldn't I call on the
one who does? God's sovereign over all things. We need things
in this life, don't we? Our Lord taught us to pray, give
us this day our daily bread. Well, if I need some in this
life, wouldn't it be wise to call the one who can give it
and ask him for it? And I know I need forgiveness
of sins. I need to be washed in the blood
of Christ. I need to be made righteous.
Well, I better ask the only one who's able to do it. This one
who's sovereign in all things, the God of the Bible. That's
who we call on. If you want to be heard in prayer,
call on the right person. Now here's our fourth lesson
in prayer. If you have your request granted, ask for the right things. Don't ask like a child, a childish
things to be used up on your own selfishness. Ask for the
right things. Jabez has four requests. And God granted his request.
I want to look at each of these requests and look at them in
a spiritual light. Look at these requests as spiritual
requests that we would ask of God. And here's his first request. He called on the God of Israel
saying, Oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed. Now, the beginning
of this request, Oh, that is means this is a very serious
cry. Oh, that you'd bless me indeed. But this phrase, it also means
it's a conditional cry. Not, oh, would you bless me because
I'll do this. Not, oh, would you bless me because
I've done this or that right. Oh, would you bless me, conditioned
on who you are, conditioned on your character, in spite of who
I am. Oh Lord, would you bless me because
of who you are, because of your character, Now, I don't have
any doubt, Jabez is just like us. He desires and he needs material
physical blessings. I have no doubt about that. But
his cry here indicates he's asking for something more than physical
blessings. He says, oh, would you bless me indeed? Would you
altogether bless me in every way? That's what that phrase
means. Would you altogether bless me in every way? Now, our Lord
taught us to pray, give us this day, our daily bread. So I have
no doubt Jabez is asking for his physical needs, you know,
for the day. Would you bless me with my daily
bread? But he's asking, would you bless me altogether? Lord,
you promised blessings to sinners in Christ. Would you bless me
for Christ's sake? Would you bless me? Would you
fulfill your promise and bless me in Christ? Lord, you promised
mercy for sinners in Christ. Oh, would you bless me altogether? Would you have mercy on my sinful
soul? Lord, you promised, and this
is a request conditioned on who God is. God promised to save
sinners through the blood of his son. Oh, Lord, would you
take my sin away? Would you wash me in the blood
of your son? Lord, you promised you'd give
rest to the weary soul who comes to Christ. Oh, would you give
me rest in him? Would you draw me to Christ and
give me rest in him? Lord, bless me, not for my sake,
but for your glory, conditioned on your glory. And God granted
that request. He granted that request that's
based on his character that's revealed in the word of God.
He granted this request that's asked, not for Jabez's glory,
but for God's glory. Oh, that you'd bless me indeed.
Here's his second request. In verse 10, Jabez called on
the God of Israel. Oh, that thou wouldest bless
me indeed and enlarge my coast. Now people, take this and perverted
it, I hear that all, would you enlarge our coast, would you
enlarge the borders of my tent, you know? And Jabez, what he's
asking is enlarge my coast, enlarge the borders of my property. And
again, I don't have any doubt Jabez is asking for more land. But it doesn't appear that this
request is a request that's based on the greed of the flesh, something
he would use on himself, or the Lord wouldn't have granted it,
would he? Now, if we're going to understand this request, think
about where Jabez lived. Well, he lived in Canaan. He
lived in the promised land. And what he's asking for is,
Lord, would you give me more of what you promised? Would you
let me see more of the glory of this land that you promised
to give to the seed of Abraham? And spiritually, what we ask,
when we ask the Lord, would you enlarge our coast? We're asking
for more of what the Lord promised. Lord, you promised mercy for
the miserable. Would you enlarge my coast and
give me more? You promised salvation. Would you enlarge my coast and
let me see more of that salvation? Let me see more of the glory
of it and enjoy more of it. Lord, you promised the forgiveness
of sins. Would you enlarge my coast? And
let me see more how my sin is forgiven in Christ alone. Let
me see more of the glory of how you've forgiven sin through the
death of the substitute. Oh, would you let me see more
of that? Our coasts are our limit. You know, the coast is the limit
of the sea. It doesn't go any further. And
we go to the beach, See, that's the limit of where I can walk.
The more I see about sharks and stuff out there, the more that's
my limit. That's my limit. When I ask the Lord to enlarge
my coast, what I mean is enlarge those limits. Enlarge that area
that's within my limits. Enlarge the area where I can
go. Lord, my faith is so limited. I'm ashamed how limited my faith
is. Would you enlarge my coast, enlarge
this area of my faith that I might believe you more? Though my love
is so limited, my love is so self-centered and selfish. Would
you enlarge my coast that I might love you more and I might love
my others more, love myself less? Or my peace is so limited. We
have peace in Christ Jesus, but to me, it seems so limited. Well,
Lord, would you enlarge my coast? Would you let me enjoy more that
perfect peace that we have in Christ Jesus? Here's one, my
patience. That's pretty limited, isn't
it? Very limited. Lord, would you enlarge my coasts?
Would you make me more patient to wait on thee? Would you enlarge
my coasts and make me more patient with others? Lord, my meekness
is so limited. Oh, would you enlarge my coasts,
make me less proud and more weak? Would you enlarge my coasts?
Lord, my charity is so limited. Would you enlarge my coasts so
I'd be more generous to people? Lord, would you enlarge my heart?
Would you? Coase here, just think of that
as your heart. Would you enlarge my heart, the borders of my heart
so that I'd be a better husband? So I'd be a better wife. So I'd
be a better son or daughter. So I'd be a better father or
mother. Or would you enlarge my heart? So I'd be a better
friend. Make me a better friend. Make
me a faithful friend. Make me a better brother in Christ
by enlarging my coast. Now see, when you look at it
in that light, that's not a selfish request, is it? That's not asking
for more and more and more for me. Lord, enlarge my heart. Enlarge my coast so I might be
a blessing to others, that I might bring more honor to the Savior,
that I might Not embarrass the Savior. There's
a phrase I've heard, a preacher feels so bad he gets done preaching.
I feel like I let the Lord down. Would you enlarge my heart? As
I go through my daily life, I might not let the Lord down. Enlarge
my coasts. Here's his third request. And
that thine hand might be with me. Lord, let your powerful hand
be with me. Let your hand of creation, that
hand that formed everything, let that hand of creation be
with me and create in me a new heart, a clean heart. Let your
royal hand of rule be with me to rule over me and to rule in
me. Lord, let your hand be with me
to give me direction. Use your hand to guide me where
I should go. Use your hand to guide me in
your service. When Savannah was little, it
was easy to guide her everywhere I wanted her to go. Because when
she's anywhere, she wanted to hold our hand, you know? When
a hand of her father or mother was with her, it was easy to
guide her where she should go. Lord, hold my hand. Have your
mighty hand be with me, guide me, and lead me. Consecrate me
for your service. Look in Exodus chapter 33. I love these two verses. I told you this before, it's
my prayer every day. It's my prayer before every service,
I think of these two verses. Lord, let your presence be with
me wherever I go. Exodus 33 verse 14. And he said, my presence, God
said to Moses, my presence shall go with thee and I will give
thee rest. He said unto him, Moses said
unto the Lord, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not
up hence. If your presence is not gonna
go with me, don't let me go. Don't let your presence be with
me everywhere I go. Look in the book of Acts, Acts
chapter four. Lord, use your hand. Put your
hand upon me to accomplish your purpose. Your purpose of grace. Your purpose of mercy and forgiveness.
Your hand's going to accomplish... I know this. God's hand is going
to accomplish His purpose. This is the sovereign hand of
the Almighty. He's going to accomplish His
purpose. Well, Lord, put that hand on me. That Your purpose
might be fulfilled in me. Your purpose of forgiveness and
grace. Don't make me like Pharaoh where you use me to accomplish
Your purpose by... showing your power in destroying
and judging sin, use your hand, that mighty hand on me to fulfill
your purpose of forgiveness and the glory of Christ in redemption. Look here at Acts 4 verse 27.
For I have a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Whatever it
is God's hand determined to be done was done, wasn't it? Well,
would you use that mighty hand on me to accomplish your purpose
of forgiveness? Look over in Acts chapter 11.
Lord, let your hand be with me as I go to tell others about
you. In his prayer, Dan asked that
the Lord would bless the preaching of his word, that he bless us
as we tell others about Christ. Lord, let your hand be upon me
as we tell others about Christ. And Acts chapter 11, verse 19.
Now they, which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that
arose about Stephen, traveled as far as Phenicia and Cyprus
and Antioch, preaching the word to none, but unto the Jews only.
And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when
they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, they spoke
to the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus. and the hand of the
Lord was with them. And a great number believed and
turned unto the Lord. Lord, would you be with me as
I preach to turn your people to you. Give them faith in Christ.
That's what he's asking. Now here's his last request.
First Chronicles four, verse 10. That thy hand might be with
me and that thou wouldest keep me from evil. Lord, would you
keep me from evil? He says here, would you keep
me from evil that it may not grieve me? Would you keep me
from evil that it might not grieve anyone else too? That it might
not grieve you? That it might not grieve my brothers
and sisters? Because I promise you, that's
what I'll do by nature. Jabez' name, remember, means
sorrow and to grieve. I'm gonna grieve others. That's
my nature. Lord, would you keep me from
it? Would you keep me from that evil? Now that's a good request. We'll see this in our lesson
this morning. It's the request our Lord taught
us to make in prayer. Keep us from evil. Keep us from
the evil one. In the message this morning,
we'll look at what happened to King David when Satan got his
hand on him. Lord, keep me from evil that
I might not grieve people. Lord, keep me from Satan and
from his evil that would draw me away from you. Lord, keep
me from the evil of this world, this present evil world. It's
so wicked. Lord, keep me from it. Keep me
from being like this world and make me more like Christ. Lord,
keep me from the evil that's in me. I mean, there's nowhere
I can go. I can escape this evil nature I carry around. Lord,
keep me from that evil. Keep me from acting like myself.
Keep me from my own wicked, sinful nature because of everything
that grieves me. That's what grieves me most.
Disappointing, sorry, just, oh, Lord, keep me from myself so
I don't grieve you, so I don't grieve my brethren, so I don't
grieve, oh, just, Lord, keep me from evil. Now, that's a good
request, isn't it? And the Lord granted his request.
Now, Jabez, He's a nobody from nowhere. God hears the request
of nobodies. Jabez was a child of God and
God hears the cries of his children. Don't you hear the cries of your
children? I do. How much better is God our father?
He hears the cries of his children. You just keep crying to him.
He hears the cries of his children. Jabez called on the right person.
He called on the covenant God, the God of the Bible, the God
as He's revealed Himself in His Word. And based upon the promises
and covenant of God. If you would plead with God,
plead His Word, plead His character, He'll honor His Word. He said
He would. And he called on God with good
requests. You know, I'll tell you a good
part of this, keep me from evil. Keep me from requesting evil
things. Keep me from requesting having
childish and selfish requests, but give me a heart that would
cry out to you, make the request of my heart be based upon the
promises of God, upon the word of God, upon the character of
God. Give me the grace, give me the heart that would truly
pray for God's glory. And you know what? God would
grant that request. He surely would. And he granted
that request to Jabez. And he grant those requests to
you and me. We're nobodies. Call on the right
God, the right person, with the right request. All right. The
Lord will bless that to you.