A MODEL PRAYER
Part 5


A. "AND GOD GRANTED HIM THAT WHICH HE REQUESTED"
  1. Thus ended the divine record of the short prayer of Jabez:
    1. And what a wonderful ending it was
    2. And how wonderful it would be if the story about our prayers would end on a note like
  2. The ending of the story of the prayer of Jabez is full of encouragement for God's children:
    1. If and when we pray so that God can grant our request, then and then only has our prayer a real purpose
    2. The sad thing of it all is that we fear that some of our prayers are unanswered for good reasons
B. "AND GOD GRANTED HIM THAT WHICH HE REQUESTED"
  1. What did he request?
    1. God's blessing - "Oh that thou wouldest bless me in deed"
    2. That was indeed a wise and meaningful request, for what is life without the blessing of the Lord
    3. God's blessings are His favors, His approval and until and unless we have these, life has no beneficial meaning either to God or to men
  2. He requested enlargement of coast:
    1. That meant that he wanted the Lord to make his life more meaningful, more useful, more beneficial to God and man
    2. That is the only wise way to think and to pray - for increase in wisdom, in knowledge, and in influence - progress
  3. He wanted the hand of the God of Israel to be with him:
    1. And that was the secret of success in his life or for that matter, in anyone's life
    2. The hand or the arm of the Lord stand for the might of His power
    3. The might of the power of God makes the difference
  4. He prayed that God would keep him from evil - that it may not hurt him:
    1. He realized that the only danger to progress in the good things of life is evil - sin
    2. That when we face trials and perplexities we are anxious that they will not hurt us
C. A MIGHTY LESSON IN THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER
  1. "And God granted him that which he requested"
    1. This is indeed, a beacon light for us not to become discouraged when we pray
    2. It is our reassurance that God does hear and answer prayer
    3. That prayer is only meaningful when God grants our petitions
  2. The prayer of Jabez is truly a pattern for meaningful prayer:
    1. It reveals the spirit of humility
    2. It aspires to things that are noble, useful to God and men
    3. It rests all hope and aspiration in the guiding hand of the God of Israel
    4. It makes no provision to misuse the blessings of the Lord for self- aggrandizement and self-glory
  3. Let us, therefore, check our prayers in the light of this model prayer:
    1. Does our prayer center in the God of Israel - are we making Him the source of our strength
    2. Are we ambitious to have an expanded life for the good of others
    3. Is purity of heart the moving power of our prayer
    4. Surely, if that is true of our prayer, then God will do to us, as he did to Jabez, He will grant to us the things we request of Him
  4. But, alas, how often are our prayers unanswered:
    1. Because they are selfish
    2. Their objectives are temporal and narrow in scope
    3. Often our prayers remain unanswered because of an unwillingness by us to forsake sin


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