Day 5 | Prayer & Fasting
Pastor Andrew Owen
Dear eNews friends, church members and all ‘Count Me In’ partners,
Day 5Prayer & FastingJabez was here
I’ve not come across too many people who tell me that Chronicles (1 or 2) are their favourite books in the Bible.I remember reading them for the first time on an annual ‘read the Bible through in the year’ plan and couldn’t wait to get to the end of them.They contain endless lists of genealogies, and I used to then read the KJV of the Bible and so it was endless ‘Begat so and so who begat so and so’.But in the middle of all the Begats, Judah’s family tree was interrupted and diverted to mention a man called Jabez.Firstly, Judah’s tribe was hugely significant, it was the lineage of Jesus himself. One of Jesus' great names was the lion of the tribe of Judah. So here we have the all - important family tree of the Messiah diverted to mention one man and his prayer, almost like an aside. It’s as if Jabez had graffitied the walls of history with “Jabez was here”.Secondly, since all scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, why did He inspire this interruption?God saw something in Jabez that caught His attention and wants us to know that.Jabez had a challenging start but an awesome ending.His mother called him Jabez - meaning ‘Pain’, but God in effect renamed him calling him blessed.The conduit from tragedy to triumph was prayer.And so, it’s his prayer that is recorded"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 Chronicles 4:9-10
Not only did God find no problem with what looks like a self-indulgent prayer, but the Bible says, Jabez was more honourable than his brothers (1 Chronicles 4:9).All the tribes of Israel carried a sense of destiny, born out of their great patriarchs’ prophecies. They would know what shape, form and legacy their tribes would take. Judah was destined to bring forth a great King, I think Jabez thought:'I want to live by my destiny not by my history, so if there’s a king coming out of my family, I need to be blessed.'He choose to believe God’s Word before his circumstances.Kings are meant to rule, and notice that Jabez prayed that God would extend his borders not his money or his wealth. I’m sure the other things must have come along with it, but extending territory is kingly talk.David was later born from the tribe of Judah and so then was Jesus - the KING OF KINGS.Jabez was only pressing in to what God had already said about him.And he did it by prayer.That’s exactly what we are doing this week, with great hunger it seems, in that we had our highest ever attendance for a midweek event like that last night.When we pray as we are doing this week, we are asking God for what He’s already promised. We are praying that God will extend our territory, give us more lives - more places - more influence, and the blessing of resources to make it a reality."Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritanceThe ends of the earth for your possession"
Psalm 2:8
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added unto you"
Matthew 6:33
Today pray for
- Your growth group to grow
- Your district location to grow
- That we will see the 20:20 vision become a reality
- For the new District Pastors as they are all set in on February 3rd
- Pray for our churches in Scotland, UK, Europe, Asia and Africa
- Pray for Surge19 as preparations are being made for an amazing time.
Look forward to seeing you on the weekend!Love you guys,Andrew
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