Prayer of Jabez [part 3]

1 Chronicles 4:10 (NKJV)

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “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 what he requested.

That Your hand would be with me . . .

"In order to expand your borders beyond where they are, God wants to move you beyond where you are--all the way out on a limb, you might say. Why? Not so He can leave you hanging there to let you fall, but so you will learn to cry out for His hand, His help, His touch on your life. Only then can He do through you what you can't do alone. And only then will He be glorified by your accomplishments--because it's obvious that they couldn't have happened any other way!"

"When Jabez prayed for God's hand, he was literally asking God to give him every kind of divine help possible for every challenge or opportunity he faced."

But now we have it even better! We have His Holy Spirit . . .
"When we ask our heavenly Father to place His hand upon us, we are asking that His presence and provision come to us through the power of His Holy Spirit. It is not our power but God's power in and through us that we are seeking."

"It should come as no surprise that experiencing God's hand on us is essential as we seek to expand our territory."

"God is not limited by our weaknesses but liberated by them! Through our weaknesses God gets to be great and reveal His amazing power." 2 Corinthians 12:9 anyone??

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

"Often we get this wrong...when we feel weak, rather than asking God for His strength, we try harder to be strong on our own...we rob God of an opportunity to reveal His perfect strength through our weakness." 

But . . . "Isn't it wonderful to realize that we are all works in progress? God knows exactly where you are in your Christian walk and what you're capable of understanding. Remember, God is more than willing to teach you how to depend on Him on a regular basis."