Tag: prayer

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Bible

Enlarge My Territory

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.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bless Me, Indeed!

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. See 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, NKJV and Genesis 12:2, NIV.)

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

The Prayer of Jabez

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.

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

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

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth — Not

Moses gave a curious command: “Show no pity: life for life, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”  This seems to be an excessive response when one is wronged, but given the culture of that day, it was actually a move towards moderation.

For example, when Jacob’s daughter Dinah was raped, her brothers avenged her violation by killing the perpetrator and all the men in his village and then sacking the city.  That is excessive—and what God, through Moses, wanted to rein in with his “eye of the eye, tooth for tooth” imperative.

Jesus, however, took this one step further when he told us to love our enemies and pray for them.  That’s how we should act today—lovingly, not vengeful.

[See Deuteronomy 19:21, Genesis 34:1-31—especially verse 2 and 25, Matthew 5:38-48—especially verse 44.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Our Daily Bread

When the Israelites left Egypt, they spent 40 years in the desert before proceeding on to the land God had promised them.  During this time, God miraculously gave them food each day, which they called manna. 

All they needed to do was go out in the morning and pick it up off the ground.

What is interesting is that they were told not to stockpile it and save it for the next day (except on the sixth day, when they were to gather enough for the seventh day, as well).

Regardless of how much each person gathered, he or she had enough to eat.  However, if they tried to save some for the next day it would spoil (Exodus 16:14-21).

Does this daily provision of food sound a bit familiar?

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, one of phrases was “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3).

Of course, for most of us, the daily provision of food is something that we give little thought to.  However, on a spiritual level, we do stand in need of other things on a daily basis.

This might be making God-honoring decisions, using our time wisely, not wasting money and using it for good and not selfish purposes, or making sure we spend time with God.

Regardless of the situation, be our need physical or spiritual, the lesson to be learned is to rely on God for what we need each day.

Rather it is a literal plea or a figurative request, we all need to say, “Give us today our daily bread.”

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

The One About the Fig Tree

Have you ever heard the story about Jesus and the fig tree?

Jesus is heading into Jerusalem and is hungry.  Seeing a fig tree, he searches its foliage for something to eat.  Finding nothing, he seems to get a tad irritated, declaring that it will never again produce fruit.

The fig tree withers and his disciples are amazed.  Jesus uses this as an opportunity to teach them about praying in faith (Matthew 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-14, 20-26).

I agree with that lesson; it is astonishing, remarkable, and encouraging.

However, I also have a secondary thought about this story.  The purpose of the fig tree is to produce fruit.  When Jesus finds no fruit, he dismisses it and the tree dies; his disciples say that he cursed it.

As followers of Jesus, we are also supposed to bear fruit.  If we do not bear fruit, will Jesus dismiss us as well?

This is a sobering thought and one that is reinforced when Jesus says that he is a vine, we are his branches, and he cuts off all branches that don’t bear fruit (John 15:1-8).

If this leaves you a bit flummoxed, balance this concern with the assurance, found in the next verse, that Jesus loves us (John 15:9).

So, pray in faith, produce fruit, and know that you are loved.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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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:

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.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

When You Fast…

In the Bible, Jesus tells his followers to fast. It is not optional. He doesn’t say, “If you fast…,” but rather, “When you fast…” (Matthew 6:16-17). Jesus’ teaching applies to us too.

Fasting is intentionally going without something in order to better connect with God, such as to focus on prayer or seek his leading in making a decision. Typically, fasting is specifically going without food for a period on time. The length of time could be for a few hours, up to several days.

It is important to remember that the focus of fasting isn’t about suffering, but about seeking.

When we fast, we become understandably hungry for food, reminding us of the importance of being hungry for God. Imagine craving time and intimacy with God as much as we crave eating—three or more times a day.

[See Fasting for the Right Reasons.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Who is Barsabbas?

Barsabbas is by no means a familiar character in the Bible. In fact, he is only mentioned twice—both times in the book of Acts. What makes him an intriguing fellow is his character and integrity.

You see, Barsabbas, along with Matthias, were both considered to become Judas’s replacement. Instead of conducting interviews (as would be done nowadays) or even taking a vote, the decision was made by a game of chance. That seems a cavalier and unspiritual thing to do.

To do this, the people prayed for God’s guidance in this process, trusting him in the outcome—and then they drew lots. Matthias, not Barsabbas, was selected (Acts 1:23-26). Barsabbas could have pouted, felt rejected, left the group, or been mad at the leaders.

He could have even been angry with God. After all, if God’s hand was really in this selection, as they had prayed, then it was God who decided to not pick Barsabbas. It’s one thing for a person to tell you “no,” but for God to say “no” carries much more weight.

Yet we don’t hear of Barsabbas having any of these negative responses. Apparently, he stuck around and continued to make God his priority and focus, for we next hear of him in Acts 15:22 where he was chosen to be part of an important delegation sent to Antioch.

He proved his character in how he reacted to not being chosen—that’s integrity.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

God as Your Copilot

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.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.