1 Chronicles chapter 4 and we're reading from verse number 9 please. 1 Chronicles chapter 4 and verse number 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, O that thou would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thy hand might be with me, that thou wouldest bring me from evil, keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested. And we trust God will bless the reading of his own precious, infallible, unearned, and inspired word. As we say, we've been spending a number of weeks just looking at prayers in the Old Testament. We considered Abraham's prayer. We looked at the servant's prayer. In Genesis 24, we looked at a mother's prayer. and how we need mums that pray. And we spent a night looking at Hannah. We looked at Shile's prayer, we looked at Samuel, and how Samuel sought the Lord, and how God answered his prayer. We then looked at Achaan's prayer. Remember Hezekiah, he was in trouble, he was surrounded, and rather than dread it, he spread it. And he went up and he just spread it before the Lord. And what a great example we have. And as we said before, we will have a new king officially in a few months' time. Wouldn't it be great to have a king that really prayed? Wouldn't it be great? Then last week, we looked at national prayer. And the three chapter nines in the Old Testament, where men just stood up and prayed for their country. And we started with that question. I think it was John F. Kennedy. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. And one of the things we can do is pray. We can moan and we can lament and we can complain about the way things are going in the world, and rightly so, but I think it's good that we pray and pray that God would intervene. Tonight I want to look at personal prayer. This is a man who wasn't praying for someone else. He was just simply praying for himself. We'll say a little bit more about it in a moment. This prayer is only 33 words. It'll probably take about 15 seconds to read it. And yet it's recorded in scripture. God kept a record, an eternal record of this prayer. A few years ago, I was asking Graham if he remembered it, there was a little book come out just simply called The Prayer of Jabez. It was by a man, Wilkinson. It took Christianity by storm. There was something like nine to 10 million copies sold of this little book. And this little book was based on the prayer of Jabez. I had some problems with that little book because his whole argument was that if you prayed this prayer and you repeated it for 30 days, God will answer your prayer. And it was given the wrong impression of prayer. I know that God answers prayer, but God doesn't always answer it in the way that we would desire. Sometimes, indeed, God answers our prayers by saying no. It also suggests that this was a formula for prayer. But this is, again, something that the Lord told us not to. He doesn't want us to get engaged in vain repetition like some people do with what is widely known as the Lord's Prayer. I think it also could create the belief that this prayer is more important than any other prayer. And that somehow the prayer of Jabez, and we've looked at quite a number of prayers in the Old Testament, that somehow this prayer is better than all the other prayers. And this prayer is worthy of us just repeating it verbatim that God might move. It also verges on a prosperity gospel. Because the idea is that if you pray this prayer after 30 days, God will bless you in some wonderful way. There may have been some good things in the little book, but I certainly had some problems with it. Someone said on one occasion, it was a pastor, The best thing that I can do for believers is to teach them to pray. I've been trying, over the number of weeks, not so much to teach people how to pray, but really the need for prayer, and how that God answers prayer, and indeed that prayer changes things. Someone has said, prayer can do anything that God can do, and since God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent. Someone also said, all our failures are prayer failures. Nothing of eternal importance is ever accomplished apart from prayer. Robert Murray McShane said, what a man is, he is alone on his knees before God and no more. No matter about the front, no matter about the exterior, what you and I are as believers is what we are before God in prayer. E.M. Bounds in the Treasury of Prayer said this, failure to pray is failure along the whole line of life. He who does not pray robs himself of God's help and places himself where God cannot help him. Faith, hope, and patience are weathered and dead in a prayerless life. And of course, we have many scriptures encouraging us to pray. Paul says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. The Lord Jesus said that men ought always to pray. and not to faint. Paul again said, we are to pray without ceasing. And so there's no lack of encouragement in scripture for us to spend time in prayer. I want to look at this prayer in 1 Chronicles this evening. Probably if we're honest, when you sometimes set out to read the Bible through and you get to Genesis and Exodus and you come to Leviticus and you're motoring on all right, when you come to 1 Chronicles, it can become difficult. It can become laborious when you have all the begats and all the chronological things and chronologies and it's very difficult to read sometimes. And yet here in this book of Chronicles is this wonderful prayer from this man called Jabez. I want to say something first of all about hindrances tonight. Because I believe there are some hints in these two verses about hindrances to praying. that this man may have felt somehow inadequate to pray, somehow unworthy to pray. He maybe could feel that, well, I really can't pray. Others can pray so well, and sometimes that can intimidate people. Sometimes I remember a fellow telling me he couldn't pray because he was always looking over his shoulder, wondering what other people would think. I remember when I was a young believer in Coke, we came to giving thanks for the bread and the wine, and I was very nervous when it come to praying, and I remember getting up to give thanks for the bread and I give thanks for the wine. I got the whole thing back to front. And we do make mistakes. But people know your heart and God knows your heart. And God knows what you meant. And no one's going to criticize people who happen to make mistakes if there's such a thing we can do in prayer. But this man may have felt somehow unworthy. When you look at 1 Chronicles, look at the first three verses, I'm not gonna attempt to read all those names and all the begats and all that's going on. We then come to verse number nine, it just says, I'm Jabez. There's no mention of his father here. And I'm wondering, was his father such a character that his name's removed from the genealogies? I think there's at least a strong hint here that this young man came from a troubled home, a home where there wouldn't be much encouragement, a home where there wouldn't have been much help, there wouldn't have been much hope. If we could bring it into the 21st century, perhaps the only believer in the home. His father is not mentioned at all. Verse 9, that he was more honorable than his brethren. His brothers don't seem to be anything special. This seems to be an unhappy home. And there's more evidence. Look at verse 9. Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. And his mother called his name Jabez, saying, because I bear him with sorrow. Now, I know there's pain in childbirth. So, Marcella tells me. She tells me I know nothing about it, but I'm told there's pain in childbirth. And of course, that comes with all childbirth, but there seemed to be something here that was sorrowful. And for some reason, she calls her son sorrow or pain. Imagine having a child and calling them pain or sorrow. What a name to label a child with. It seems his mum didn't hold out much hope for him either. He was born into a hopeless and perhaps a loveless home. And maybe that's why he was praying that God would bless him. It may well have been an impoverished home Had his father squandered the inheritance, had he wasted it on riotous living, we can't be absolutely sure. But it looks as if Jabez hadn't much gone for him. And even though he seemed to come from a difficult background and a difficult home, and he certainly wasn't one of the elite, yet we find this man on his knees and he's praying. And that's what we love. about God's people, there's no big shots and there's no wee shots. And the ground around the cross is absolutely level. And the Lord Jesus Christ hears all of our prayers this evening, and maybe there's something holding you back from praying. Burdened, troubled, perplexed, and maybe that's how Jabez would have felt, and yet here we find this man praying. Someone has said, was he born into poverty? Was he born into adversity? Could he have said with Jacob, all these things are against me? But he didn't let that put him off praying. He was a man who was going to pray and going to seek God's help. I wonder what hinders you from praying. What is it puts you off praying? You see the hindrances in this man. Look at the honor of this man. Look at verse nine again. And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. When you come into the church tonight, you see up in the walls two plaques. I know nothing of it, the two gentlemen that are mentioned, but obviously the church thought something of these two men that put plaques up because they wanted to honor them in some sort of fashion. And so there was some way the church wanted to honor them. Jabez was an honorable man. Samuel was called an honorable man. In 1 Samuel 9 verse 6, it was said of him, he is an honorable man. But Samuel was a mighty prophet. Samuel was a judge and Samuel was a prophet. He was a mighty man of God. Surely he would be an honorable man. Joseph of Arimathea in the New Testament is described as an honorable counselor. His occupation was such that he was honorable in his occupation, but Jabez, He's not a great prophet, he's not a great preacher, he's not a wise ruler, he's not a king, he's not ruling any nation, he's not famous on the battlefield, he hasn't contributed a lot of money, and let the Spirit of God says he's an honorable man. Do you know why? Because he prayed. Because he prayed. And God looks upon men and women who pray as being honorable. Is there anything more honorable we can do than to just come humbly and reverently and seek God's face in prayer. Is there a greater contribution that any of us can make to the life of this church than to pray? Thank God for all the service, thank God for the giving, thank God for all the participation, but is there any greater contribution than just simply praying, praying that God would bless. You see the hindrances. You see this man was honorable. Let me say something about this man's habits. Over in 1 Chronicles 2, verse 55, we read this little statement, and the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez. It would appear that Jabez had a town named after him. And the scribes dwelt in this town. It was a place where they studied the Scriptures. I want to suggest tonight that Jabez was a man who spent time in the Word of God. A man who had an interest in the Word of God. And what a wonderful habit it is to spend time in the Word of God. And of course we discover tonight he was a man of prayer. And of course, that's a good habit, both reading the Word of God and praying, two things that are expected of every child of God. And as I said, when we've looked at prayer, we can find so many who prayed for others, like Samuel said, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord and ceasing to pray for you. Do you remember Job? He prayed for his friends and the Lord gave him twice as much as he had before, and of course we're encouraged to pray for others, but here's Chabbes and he's just praying for himself. But he's not being selfish. This is praying personally. He's not asking God for anything that God doesn't want him to have. There used to be a little, I don't know why you could call it a poem or not, that used to do the circles, and it was really illustrating the point of us being selfish in our prayers. Bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and no more, amen. And I'm sure some of you have heard that before. That's not how Jabez was praying. He's praying for himself, but he's not praying selfishly. He's asking for something that God wanted them to have. And of course, we can pray for ourselves. Lead us not into temptation. Give us this day our daily bread. Deliver us from evil. Notice this prayer in verse number 10. And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, O that thou would bless me. indeed. You know, he prayed repeatedly. Jabesh called. It's an imperfect tense that tells us he was praying repeatedly. He prayed intelligently. He called on the God of Israel, he knew that God is the one who could meet him at the point of his need. He prayed earnestly, oh that thou would bless me indeed. He prayed repeatedly, intelligently, he prayed earnestly, he prayed specifically. He was asking God to do something in his life. I wanna break it down in another way this evening. I want to suggest first of all that he prayed to his God. Jabez, in spite of his background, in spite of all the hindrances and things that would put him off, he prayed unto the God of Israel. The covenant-keeping, promise-keeping, powerful, loving God. He prayed to his God. He prayed for grace. Look what it says again. the sincerity. He wanted God to bless him. Oh, that thou would bless me indeed. He wasn't satisfied with the status quo. He never got to a point where he said, I have made it, I'm there. of nothing more to gain. He never stopped pressing on for the goal and the prize that was set before him. He never became complacent. Oh that thou would bless me indeed. He recognized what was the most important thing in life. He wanted the richest, fullest, blessing from God. It wasn't money or fame or possessions, although God can bless people with these. He wanted what God wanted for his life. One commentator says, God's blessing is God adding everything to our lives that's worth having. God adding everything to our lives that's worth Do you remember Jacob when he prayed, he wrestled with God and he said, I won't let you go except thou bless me. Do you remember what God said to him? What is thy name? And Jacob said, Jacob, now that may seem just a normal statement, but Jacob means supplanter. And Jacob was saying to God, I'm a cheat, I'm a supplanter. And when he came honestly to God, then God was gonna bless him. And Jabez is coming humbly and reverently, and he's asking God to bless him. He's looking for the grace of God. Bless me. Indeed, in the midst of his difficult home life, difficult life, he was looking for the grace of God. He prayed to his God. He prayed for grace. Look what else he prayed for. He prayed for growth. And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh, that thou would bless me indeed and enlarge my coast. As we consider. his inheritance. He wanted to occupy more. He wanted to grow. He wants to enjoy all that God intended him to have. In a spiritual sense, Lord, enlarge my coast. Use me in a greater way. Give me a greater vision. Give me a heavier burden. Lord, open a door for me to do more for you for your honor. Lord, enlarge my coast. I'm not happy doing what I'm doing. I want to do more for you, Lord. I want more opportunities. I want to be more useful. I really want to be a channel of blessing. Peter said we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. Growing means to grow and become more and more like him. As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby. I wonder what's holding us back from growing. Is there some sin in our lives? And we need to say, Lord, help me to see beyond myself and even beyond time. Let me see the things that are of eternal value. Lord, help me to be what you want me to be. He prayed to his God. He prayed for grace. He prayed for growth. He prayed for guidance. Look at verse 10 again. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou would bless me indeed, enlarge my coast, that thine hand might be with me. He wanted the hand of the Lord to be upon him, like Elijah. in 1 Kings 18.46, and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel, a hand that would provide all of his needs. Numbers 11, verse 23, is the Lord's hand waxed short. Thou shalt see whether thy word shall come to pass unto thee or not. Isaiah 51, behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot see him, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear. A hand that will provide for us, a hand that can reach us wherever we are, a hand that's not waxed short, a hand that can meet us at the point of our need. A hand that is powerful. Joshua 4 verse 24, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you fear the Lord your God forever. That you might fear the Lord your God forever. A hand that will produce fruit when it's upon us. Acts 11 verse 21, the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed. He wants the hand of the Lord to be upon him. He's facing an uncertain future. Much was unknown, but he wanted to know that the hand of the God was with him for guidance. We want God to guide us daily. Isaiah 58 verse 11, and the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones and thou shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. The Lord will guide us eternally Psalm 48 verse 14, for this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even on to death. Do we want the guidance of God day by day? Do we want God to guide us how he could go? Well, we find his guidance in scripture. Psalm 73 verse 24, thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory. He will guide those who are meek. Psalm 25 verse nine, the meek will he guide in judgment and the meek will he teach his way. There needs to be meekness. He will guide those who are close to him. Psalm 32 verse eight, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Jabez is coming, he says, Lord, I need guidance. Sometimes we are given directions. I'm the worst in the world at taking directions. I was visiting someone last night. I'll not mention where it was. But anyway, instead of heading towards Rifrailand, I found myself heading towards Castle Whelan. I don't know how I ended up there. And so I turned right and went up a road called Flush Road, some of you will know it, then onto the Lackan Road, and then I knew where I was, I was able to get home. There's no point giving me directions, you nearly need to come with me. That's what the Lord does. The Lord's not just giving you guidance. He says, I'm gonna be with you. My hand's gonna be upon you. I'm going to lead you every step of the way. And this is what Jabez is praying with, that the Lord's hand will be upon him. You see, if we take a wrong turn, then he can correct us. And sometimes we do take the wrong turn. If we fall down, he's there to lift us up. If we're tired, and sometimes we are weary, if we're tired, he can Give us the strength that we need. If we're afraid, just to hear him say, fear not. Just to hear those little words, fear not. If we're attacked, he's there to protect us. I think these are some of the things that Jabez wanted. Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou would bless me indeed, enlarge my coast, that thine hand might be with me, he prayed to his God. He prayed for grace. He prayed for guidance. He prayed for growth. He prayed for godliness. Look again at verse number 10. In only 33 words, didn't he get a lot out? Sometimes we can have a lot of words in our prayer, and we say very little. In very little words, this man said a lot. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, that hand make me with me, that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. This young man knew that temptations would come his way. He knew the devil would try to cause him to stumble. And he's praying that he would be kept from evil. He knew his own weakness. He knew that he couldn't make this journey on his own. As I said to young people recently, you can't trust yourself. You can't trust yourself in front of the internet. You can't trust yourself. You need to know the Lord's with you and you need to set certain things in order that it protects you from watching something or listening to something you shouldn't be doing. knew that he could fall. He knew that he could fail. And he's praying that God would keep him from evil, that it may not grieve me. And he knew that the way of the transgressor is hard, and that if he sinned, sin could take him further than he would want to go. He prayed to our God, what a privilege tonight. He prayed for grace, oh Lord, bless me. He prayed for growth. Enlarge my coast. He prayed for guidance. Take my hand and lead me. He prayed for godliness. Oh, Lord, keep me from sinning. We sometimes sing, take away the love of sinning, Alpha and Omega B. God leads his dear children along, some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. We looked at the hindrances. We looked at how honorable this man was. We looked at his habit, the word of God and prayer. And then we see his help. Look at the end of verse 10. And God granted him that which he requested. It's simple, isn't it? What if he hadn't asked? What if he had kept quiet? What if he had not been a man of prayer? How much would he have lost out on? When we're praying we get help for our labors, when we're praying that God will bring sinners to salvation, when we're praying that we might impact the world, can you imagine what happens when we don't pray? And I've just simply, over these weeks, and I've said it over and over again, prayer makes a difference and prayer works. And God granted them their requests. We can look back over this year already and we could list how God has granted us our requests. What if we hadn't prayed? I wonder what you're missing out on if you're not taking time to pray. What a difference your prayers could make in your life. A new pastor came to a church on one occasion and someone asked, How's he doing? He said he's doing fine, but our former pastor asked God for things the new pastor doesn't even know the Lord has got. And sometimes we're like that. What a treasure chest is open to us through the key of prayer. We're looking to the Lord to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing. I wonder, in the words of James, could it ever be said of us, ye have not. because he asked not. If you forget everything else tonight about Jabez, take the end of verse number 10, and God granted him that which he requested. He prayed, God answered. That's how simple it was. And again, we ask the question, what if he had not prayed? Next week, I'm going to look at the most daring prayer the most courageous prayer that anyone can ever pray. I wonder, would you and I be brave enough to pray it? That's what we hope to look at next week. Let's just bow in a moment's prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you that we, sinners saved by grace, have access right through to the throne of grace. And Lord, as we look at this man, Jabez, and Lord, we have speculated much about him tonight. We can see certain hints in scripture. But Lord, whatever was going on in his life, it didn't hold him back from praying. And Lord, we thank you for the example he has set. We thank you, Lord, for his willingness just to come simply, humbly, and reverently. But Lord, we thank you above all for our God, for a God who heard, A God who was interested and a God that granted him that which he requested. Lord, there may be many of God's people here and they're holding back on praying. Lord, whether it be at home, whether it be publicly, it makes no difference. Lord, whatever's holding us back, let us see it for what it is. It's something that Satan is using to hinder us. And Lord, may it be said of us that God granted him or her that which they requested. First in our Savior's precious name we pray. Amen.