Take time during prayer to hear from God

February 17, 2003

LifeWay Family Bible Series for March 2

Take time during prayer to hear from God
___ 1 Chronicles 4:9,10; 1 Kings 3:5, 7-10; Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
___By Tim Owens
___First Baptist Church, Bryan
___Christians believe prayer moves God into their lives and situations. The unlimited potential of prayer as seen through the promises of the Bible is staggering. Yet so little praying is done. Why?
___The experience of prayer in the lives of many Christians seems to be an experience of discouragement. The way prayer is approached may be the cause of discouragement. It seems often the purpose of prayer is moving God to a human point of view, rather than to discover God's point of view.
___The Bible illustrates prayers that please God and move God to answer. From three Old Testament passages, it can be learned that God delights in blessing petitioners who pray with godly motives.
___
___Pray with passion to

___experience fullness of God
___
___1 Chronicles 4:9-10 introduces a man named Jabez. God describes him as "more honorable than his brothers." The word "honorable" means "to be weighed down with blessings."
___Why was this man experiencing the fullness of God's blessing upon his life? Part of the answer is that God saw the passion of Jabez. He wanted all God, in his grace, was willing to give to him.
___Jabez cried out to God, "Oh, that you would bless me!" If Jabez had written his request, the words "Bless me," would be bold-faced, capitalized and underlined! He was intense about his request.
___To say, "Lord, bless me," is to ask God to pour out his abundant goodness. When people pray this, they are not asking for more of what they think they need or want. They are asking for an abundance of God's sovereign grace to be at work in their lives. They are crying out for God's boundless goodness, a goodness only God has the power and the wisdom to give to them. It is a prayer in which Christians leave the what, where, when and how of God's blessing to him.
___The irony of the prayer, "Lord, bless me," is that the focus is on God, not self. Instead of asking for material or selfish gain, the prayer of Jabez is asking for nothing less than what God wants to do.
___The nature of God is to share his love and faithfulness in such abundance that it overflows into the unworthy lives of his people. God's bounty of love and faithfulness is limited only by the Christian's willingness to ask for it, not by God's willingness to give it.
___
___Pray for the spiritual virtue of wisdom
___
___In 1 Kings 3:5, 7-10, God invited Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted. Solomon requested "a discerning heart to govern the people and to distinguish between right and wrong" (3:9). Solomon could have requested health, wealth and prosperity; he asked for wisdom.
___Wisdom brings two major blessings to one's life. First, wisdom protects the Christian from needless detours. Wisdom protects Christians from "temptations, traps and many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction" (1 Timothy 6:9). Wisdom recognizes that "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and that some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:10).
___Wisdom protects Christians from the temptation to let the trials of life lead them into doubt and despair. Wisdom accepts the testing times of life with the confidence that God is always working all things for the ultimate good of his children (Romans 8:28). Wisdom also protects Christians from the bitterness that often accompanies unfulfilled expectations of earthly reward for doing what is right. Wisdom looks forward to the eternal, heavenly reward a gracious God has prepared for his children, while it accepts the reality that earthly life will always fall short of the heavenly ideal.
___The second blessing is that wisdom moves the Christian to God's point of view. Wisdom is determined to find God in every circumstance of life. If times are good, wisdom gives thanks to God, for it is God "who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" (1 Timothy 6:17). If times are tough, wisdom submits to God and chooses to walk by faith. Wisdom is certain the fulfillment of God's ultimate will is absolutely perfect. God is always working according to his perfect plan, but without wisdom the Christian will either actively resist God's way or passively lose heart. Wisdom allows Christians to see God at work in their lives, during the good and the tough times.
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___Pray with a willingness to listen and obey God
___
___Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 teaches the Christian how to approach God in prayer. In a complex, noise-filled world, God invites people to approach him with simplicity and quietness. To approach God in prayer means to come with a readiness to hear God speak and obey his word. Jesus warned his hearers to consider carefully how to listen, for "whoever obeys what they hear will be given more; but whoever does not obey what they hear, even what they think they have will be taken away" (personal paraphrase of Luke 8:18). Christians are invited to approach God with an eagerness to learn more about him, so they can obey him more.
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___Questions for discussion
___ What keeps Christians from praying the bold prayer of Jabez, "Lord, bless me indeed"?
___ Why do Christians struggle with being still before God?

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