The Prayer of Blessing and Protection
Updated: Jan 13, 2022
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The Power of Prayer
Why is prayer so powerful? The power of my prayer is not linked to how good or holy I am. Its power is not determined by whether I checked off all of the boxes on my Spiritual To Do list this week.
"Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it...." Max Lucado
Clearly prayer’s power lies in the God who hears it and not in the one who utters it.
"Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty." E.M. Bounds
So, what kind of prayers are we to pray? I find that people may be intimated or steer away from prayers of blessings. Maybe there is a feeling that we shouldn’t ask God to bless us, that it may be selfish or prideful? But, we serve a God that loves to bless and give.
Matthew 7:7-11
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
There is a balance to asking and expecting in a humble way and in a prideful way. We certainly do not go to God in prayer demanding that He does and performs exactly how we want.
"There is no activity in life so important as that of prayer. Every other activity depends upon prayer for its best efficiency." M.E. Andross
One known obstacle to a consistent prayer life is TIME. But is the problem really that we don’t have time or that prayer is just not a priority.
There are 525,600 minutes in a year.
· If you averaged 8 hours of sleep a night, you would spend 175,200 minutes a year sleeping.
· This still leaves 350,400 minutes to work, play and do whatever else you need to do.
What would happen if you set aside 30 minutes a day for God? It is so easy to use the excuse that we do not have time to spend with God. But, even if you took 30 minutes a day for God (10,950 minutes in a year), that would still leave 339,450 minutes a year to do everything else you need and want to do.
I want to bring us to one of my favorite and most prayed prayers in Scripture. This is a prayer that I pray daily for my wife, my kids, and our church.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
10 Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.
Bore in Pain:
This is Jabez’ name meaning in Hebrew. This defined, more than likely, the difficulty that his mother had in birth. However, a name also could define and project someone’s future and path.
There is great encouragement that we do not have to be defined by our past or what someone else calls us. What matters is what God calls us: saved, rescued, redeemed, loved, a friend, new creation, a life with a plan – purpose – and meaning…
There are four simple yet powerful components to Jabez’ prayer that may encourage you today:
1. Bless Me God!
Bless me to be a blessing!
Psalm 5:12
For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.
Psalm 90:17
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
Numbers 6:24-26
24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance[a] upon you and give you peace.
2. Enlarge My Border!
Influence and Favor
Does not necessarily mean to increase your property or material possessions.
What does a prayer for influence, favor, and growth look like Spiritually?
To give you favor with neighbors, co-workers. To put you in positions of influence…
Psalm 90:17
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
Psalm 61:1-2
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;
3. Your Hand Be with Me!
God's hand that guides us, protects us, disciplines us, and holds us.
Psalm 139:7-12
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
Psalm 73:23-26
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
4. Keep Me from Harm!
Remember – his (Jabez’) name refers to pain. What an opportunity to pray that God would turn your pain into your testimony. Of what was to an incredible ministry of what is.
God is greater than any evil in this world that we may face.
Psalm 28:6-7
6 Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
1 John 4:4
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
2 Thessalonians 3:3
3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
I challenge you and encourage you to pray this prayer in all areas of your life and see what God may do!
“Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!”