Faith Filled Fridays From Croley’s Corner of Chicklit Power

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Let Your hand become my help, for I have chosen Your precepts. Psalm 119:173
Good morning and thanks for joining me today. Grab your favorite beverage and journal. My prayer has been as you read each week’s blog that you gain sweet insight into His Word. So let’s get started.
For many who know my testimony, you know our daughter was diagnosed at the age of 11 with an incurable disease by the terms of doctors called “Gaucher” (although this disease is inherent) and there are many pieces to this puzzle, a picture that hasn’t exactly been completed but I totally trust God is in control. I can recall when she was in the third grade she came home from school, excited that on this particular day she had access to this little mound and was able to tell others about Jesus. She exclaimed in her tiny little voice, “There were a lot of kids, mom, and they listened.” Within a few short weeks her territory grew and it’s been growing ever since. Oh the heart of a missionary or even an evangelist, at that.
Which brings me to 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. This portion of scripture describes a man who was more honorable than his brothers, which tells me there must have been some dishonor within the family, and his mother called his name Jabez, because she bore him in pain. We go on to read in verse 10 that Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “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!” So God granted him what he requested.
We find shortly after Jabez speaks he’s asking for a blessing. So what do you think Jabez is thinking when asking for a blessing? Does it sound selfish? Could it be that he is requesting for a relationship with God? "Blessing" is drawing near to God, to be close to God, to walk with Him, finding Him and knowing Him personally. Oh to be filled with His wisdom and to understand His loving, forgiving heart; all of this is part of a "blessing" and this is what Jabez is praying for.
Many of us have heard different messages on The Prayer of Jabez and is a wonderful reminder because it encourages us to look to Jabez's prayer as one of many biblical models of prayer worthy of emulation. We must understand that true prayer does not consist of a set of repetitions or chants working to provoke a particular response from God. God is not a genie in a bottle, waiting to be enticed/lured out so He can grant wishes. But rather, prayer is about aligning your mind and heart with God's purposes.
Jabez is the only exception I have seen in Scripture to have a life without pain; yet sometimes pain is often necessary to mold us and shape us. Although our daughter’s healing has not manifested this does not stop her from enlarging her territory for the Kingdom. Anyone that knows her sees the heart of Jesus…yes, that’s what I said…sees the heart of Jesus. Her love for many is likened as the cry from Jabez. Can God enlarge our territory and entrust us to use it for His purposes regardless of our circumstances? Absolutely, He can! God truly wants to increase our territory to have greater influence in the world around us...and that would make us Kingdom builders!! Till next week,
Love Deb