Tag: prayer

God Answers Jabez’s Prayer

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 9, 2009

After Jabez’s short and concise prayer comes encouraging words of confirmation and affirmation.The Bible simply notes that “God granted him what he requested.” How exciting!

Although I don’t know the mind of God, I suspect that had Jabez made his requests for selfish reasons, the results may have been different.

Indeed this is something to consider in our own prayers. If we see things through God’s perspective and pray accordingly, the outcome will likely be different than when we selfishly give God our list of “gimmes.”

[Read more on The Prayer of Jabez; 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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Tags prayer, Prayer of Jabez

Bible Insights

Jabez Asks God: Not Cause Pain/Do Good

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 6, 2009

The fifth and final line in Jabez’s prayer is

“that I may not cause pain.”

At first glance this is an unclear and somewhat wordy request. However, it can be reworded for clarity. To not cause pain, is simply to do good.

Here Jabez is reminding himself—as much as he is telling God—that the purpose of his prayer is not self-serving or self-centered, but to do good for others.

Indeed, his first two requests address this desire directly, while the next two are to provide for help and protection in doing so.

His motives are pure and his intentions are good. His prayer’s conclusion confirms that.

[Read more on The Prayer of Jabez; 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV]

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Tags prayer, Prayer of Jabez

Bible Insights

Jabez Asks God: Keep Me From Evil

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 4, 2009

The fourth line in Jabez’s prayer is: “that you would keep me from evil”

If this request sounds vaguely familiar, there is good reason. In the best known prayer in the Bible, often called “The Lord’s Prayer,” there is the line “deliver us from the evil one.”

Just as Jesus taught his followers to pray, Jabez is doing the same, asking for protection from the attacks of the devil.

Remember that Jabez has just asked for more blessings to bless others and for more opportunities to help others. The devil, opposing both those initiatives, will go after anyone attempting to do so.

This is why Jabez next asked for God’s help, following it with this request for protection.

[Read more on The Prayer of Jabez; 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV, Matthew 6:13 NIV]

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Tags evil one, prayer, Prayer of Jabez

Bible Insights

Jabez Asks God: Enlarge My Territory

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 30, 2009

After Jabez asks for blessings so that he could be a blessing to others, he then adds:

“and enlarge my territory”

In Bible times, territory meant power via increased authority, responsibility, and influence.

As, such, a request for “more territory” is not a petition for more “stuff,” as much as a metaphor implying greater authority, responsibility, and influence.

Again, this is for the purpose of benevolence, to help and aid others, not to be used selfishly or for personal gain.

Jabez wanted to have greater authority to assist those in need of an advocate, to be responsible to aid those who were less fortunate, and to positively influence his culture.

That is the good and proper use of power—and Jabez asked God to give it to him.

[Read more on The Prayer of Jabez; 1 Chronicles 4:9-10]

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Bible Insights

Jabez Asks God: Bless Me, Indeed!

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 28, 2009

The first line of the prayer of Jabez, is:

“Oh, that you would bless me, indeed…”

First of all, the word “indeed” is a way of adding emphasis, much like we would do with an exclamation point. It wasn’t enough for Jabez to merely make his request, he made it passionately and emphatically.

The request of Jabez is that God would bless him, really bless him. This is an entreaty for supernatural favor. The desire to be blessed, however, is not so that Jabez could have a better life or live in comfort and with ease.

He sought blessings so that he in turn could be a blessing to others. This is what God earlier promised to Abram (later called Abraham), when he said, “I will bless you…and you will be a blessing.”

Asking for blessings for ourselves would be selfish and self-serving and not likely to receive a favorable response from God.

However, once we realize that all we have is God’s, which can therefore be used to help others, a request for blessing is in reality a plea to be able to help others even more.

Indeed!

[Read more on The Prayer of Jabez; 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV, Genesis 12:2 NIV]

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Tags prayer, Prayer of Jabez, supernatural

Bible Insights

The Prayer of Jabez

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 24, 2009

The prayer of Jabez is a short prayer and is found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10; it is also the subject of a recent popular book by the same name.

After a short, very short, bio of Jabez, his equally short prayer is given, followed by a concise commentary.

Jabez’s five line prayer is:

Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and
enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!

The prayer concludes with the affirmation that God answered this prayer.

There is much that can be learned from his petition, as well as wrong assumptions that can be made. Check out this short prayer and meditate on it. In upcoming posts, we will look at it more closely.

(Jabez is alternately pronounced with either a long “a” sound or a short “a”.)

[Read more on The Prayer of Jabez; 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, the New King James Version is quoted]

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Tags prayer, Prayer of Jabez

Bible Insights

Fasting for the Right Reasons

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 5, 2009

Fasting for the Right Reasons

Although many people ignore its practice, fasting is demonstrated in the Bible and is an encouraged practice. (See the blog entry, “When You Fast…“.)

However, fasting rightly requires fasting for the right reasons. Here are some of them:

To humble ourselves before God [Ezra 8:21]
To prepare for spiritual battle [Matthew 4:1-2]
To ready ourselves to hear God [Acts 13:2-3]
To seek God’s mercy [Matthew 4:1-2]
When praying for others [Daniel 9:3]
When seeking God’s guidance [Ezra 8:21]
When mourning death or loss [2 Samuel 1:12]
To repent from sins [Jonah 3:5]

Wrong reasons for fasting includes to earn God’s attention or favor, out of a sense of duty and obligation, or to gain the respect of others.

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Tags fasting, mercy, prayer

Reviews of Books & Movies

Book Review: Miracle Workers, Reformers, and the New Mystics

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 5, 2009

Miracle Workers, Reformers, and the New Mystics

By John Crowder (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)

The subtitle of this book serves as an apt description of what to expect: “How to Become Part of the Supernatural Generation.”

Building upon the understanding of a Christian mystic to be “one who lived a life of deep, extensive prayer,” Crowder expands that definition to encompass “miracle workers and all who pursue a supernatural journey of divine experience.”

Towards that end, this book is essentially education by example, with over 50 mystics from the past two millennia being exposed and elucidated.

The accounts of their lives, spiritual devotion, and God-powered accomplishments are inspiring and motivating.

Although a common thread among these mystics is the intentional, dedicated, and purposeful pursuit of God, the point is made “there is simply no formula for hearing God.”

Nevertheless, if you want to pursue a mystical adventure, this book will get you started.

[Miracle Workers, Reformers, and the New Mystics, by John Crowder. Published by Destiny Image Publishers, 2006; ISBN: 978-0768423501; 391 pages.]

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Tags miracle, prayer, supernatural

Bible Insights

Is God Your Copilot?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 24, 2008

A friend asked for prayer, that she would allow God to be her copilot. This is a good step for her, but it misses the point of what God truly desires.

You see, a copilot is there to help the pilot should unforeseen circumstances occur or the pilot become incapacitated. The pilot is still in charge and is the one flying the plane; the copilot is there in a secondary support role.

God doesn’t want to be our copilot; he wants to be in charge and for us to depend on him to take us where he wants us to go.

That is hard to do, especially in a world that tells us that we need to always be in control and remain independent.

Relegating God to copilot status maintains our control, doing things our own way, yet keeps God close enough to rescue us if we get in a jam.

Having God be our copilot is certainly better than us flying solo, but what he really wants is to pilot our plane, taking us where he wants us to go.

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Tags prayer

Bible Insights

What Does the Lord’s Prayer Really Say About Forgiveness?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 22, 2008

Don’t Withhold Forgiveness

When you pray, be careful what you pray—I’m serious, be very careful.

In the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples (also called “The Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father”), one part says:

“Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.”

Some translations use the word “sins” or “transgressions” in place of debts, but the intent is the same.

The request is that God will forgive us…to the degree we forgive others.

That is, if we forgive fully, we are asking God to forgive us fully. However, if we only forgive partially—keeping grudges, holding on to ill-feelings, or harboring hate—then we are asking God to only forgive us partially.

Our lack of forgiveness towards others could limit the amount of forgiveness we receive. Ouch!

So when I pray that prayer, I do so carefully and with some trepidation; some days, I even want to skip that part!

However, skipping it is not the answer.

A better solution is to be steadfast and diligent in forgiving others—then we can likewise expect the same from God.

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Tags forgiveness, prayer