Whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 1 Cor 6:17
United with Jesus and with the power of his Holy Spirit,
we can surrender our will to him and
decide to choose what his Son has always chosen:
to do what is pleasing to the Father.
CCC 2825
United with Jesus and with the power of his Holy Spirit,
we can surrender our will to him and
decide to choose what his Son has always chosen:
to do what is pleasing to the Father.
CCC 2825
OUR FATHER (LORD’S PRAYER)
Our first prayer of surrender should be familiar to everyone.
"This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' Matt 6:9-13
In this simple prayer, Jesus teaches us to praise God, seeking only His kingdom and His will.
He also challenges us to:
- Rely on God for our daily needs and to be satisfied with what God provides.
- Forgive others, specifically asking God to only forgive us as much as we forgive others.
Finally, Jesus tells us to pray that God would protect us from temptations and from Satan.
PRAYER OF JABEZ
1 Chronicles starts with the genealogy of Israel, beginning with the sons of Noah, and then the sons of his sons, etc. This goes on for nine chapters, covering all the tribes of Israel. There is almost no additional information about anyone, just the sons of so and so were such and such, and then on to their sons. Then, near the beginning of chapter four, there is an interesting little paragraph about someone named Jabez:
Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 1 Chron 4:9-10
The New King James version has a slightly different ending:
…keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.
That’s it—nothing about where Jabez fits into the genealogy, who Jabez’s father was, or who his sons were. It just shows up out of the blue with no obvious connection to anything before or after it in 1 Chronicles.
Bruce Wilkerson wrote a very popular little book about this called “The Prayer of Jabez – Breaking Through to the Blessed Life.” He challenges Christians to pray this prayer daily, trusting in the power of God to answer their prayer by working through them to take over territory for Him. Unfortunately, while he tried to make it clear that it was not to be considered a prosperity prayer, Wilkerson got a little carried away, saying in his Preface that this is “a daring prayer that God always answers,” and later challenging Christians to "attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed…unless God steps in!" God does always answer our prayers, but it is not always in the manner we expect, and it is wonderful to attempt something so large that it can only succeed with God’s help, but only if we do so because God told us to.
EXPANDING JABEZ
As I meditated and prayed about the problems with the prayer of Jabez, I felt inspired to expand the prayer, using both the NIV and NKJ endings, but more importantly, making it clear that it is a prayer of surrender to God, seeking only His will and His glory. I also expanded it from a prayer for “me,” to a prayer for myself, my family and God’s Church:
Father - Bless myself, my family, and your Church indeed, and expand our territory for your kingdom. May your hand be with us, guiding us, uplifting us, strengthening us, unifying us, and filling us with the joyful fire of Your merciful love. Keep us from any evil, that we might not cause any harm, any pain or any suffering. Also protect us from any evil. I pray this in Jesus name—that it will be in Your will and only for Your glory.
Everything in this prayer is based on scripture. For example, “May your hand be with us, guiding us, uplifting us and strengthening us,” is based on Isaiah 41:10: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. These thoughts are echoed in Psalms 31:3, 89:211, 119:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:2-4, and Ephesians 3:16-17.
This prayer is actually very similar to the prayer that Jesus taught us. I find that this prayer reminds me:
- How much the Lord has blessed me and my family, and at the same time, how totally dependent we are on His blessings and grace.
- That we all should be praying that everyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ, regardless of where they live or what they wear or who they worship with, will eventually be unified in the one true Church.
- That my only desire should be for God’s kingdom, and that I might be useful in furthering His kingdom.
- That I should rely on Him for strength and guidance.
- As Jesus taught us, we should never cause harm to anyone else, while relying on God to protect us from evil.
MORE TO COME
Along with the Our Father, I pray this prayer each day, and it has helped me in my desire to surrender fully to our Lord and do only what He wants me to do, when He wants me to do it, and how He wants me to do it. However, God was not done with this prayer. I soon learned this was only the initial seed that God was going to use as a framework for an amazing prayer that I will share later in the course.
DISCUSSION
The whole point of these lessons is for each of us to seek God’s will for us. Along with the Our Father, try praying the expanded Prayer of Jabez to see if it resonates with you and your spirit. Seek God’s guidance whether this is a prayer that He can use to help you on the path to total surrender. Later we will put several of these prayers together in a Surrender Trilogy.
SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSE
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 1 Cor 6:17
Our first prayer of surrender should be familiar to everyone.
"This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' Matt 6:9-13
In this simple prayer, Jesus teaches us to praise God, seeking only His kingdom and His will.
He also challenges us to:
- Rely on God for our daily needs and to be satisfied with what God provides.
- Forgive others, specifically asking God to only forgive us as much as we forgive others.
Finally, Jesus tells us to pray that God would protect us from temptations and from Satan.
PRAYER OF JABEZ
1 Chronicles starts with the genealogy of Israel, beginning with the sons of Noah, and then the sons of his sons, etc. This goes on for nine chapters, covering all the tribes of Israel. There is almost no additional information about anyone, just the sons of so and so were such and such, and then on to their sons. Then, near the beginning of chapter four, there is an interesting little paragraph about someone named Jabez:
Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 1 Chron 4:9-10
The New King James version has a slightly different ending:
…keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.
That’s it—nothing about where Jabez fits into the genealogy, who Jabez’s father was, or who his sons were. It just shows up out of the blue with no obvious connection to anything before or after it in 1 Chronicles.
Bruce Wilkerson wrote a very popular little book about this called “The Prayer of Jabez – Breaking Through to the Blessed Life.” He challenges Christians to pray this prayer daily, trusting in the power of God to answer their prayer by working through them to take over territory for Him. Unfortunately, while he tried to make it clear that it was not to be considered a prosperity prayer, Wilkerson got a little carried away, saying in his Preface that this is “a daring prayer that God always answers,” and later challenging Christians to "attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed…unless God steps in!" God does always answer our prayers, but it is not always in the manner we expect, and it is wonderful to attempt something so large that it can only succeed with God’s help, but only if we do so because God told us to.
EXPANDING JABEZ
As I meditated and prayed about the problems with the prayer of Jabez, I felt inspired to expand the prayer, using both the NIV and NKJ endings, but more importantly, making it clear that it is a prayer of surrender to God, seeking only His will and His glory. I also expanded it from a prayer for “me,” to a prayer for myself, my family and God’s Church:
Father - Bless myself, my family, and your Church indeed, and expand our territory for your kingdom. May your hand be with us, guiding us, uplifting us, strengthening us, unifying us, and filling us with the joyful fire of Your merciful love. Keep us from any evil, that we might not cause any harm, any pain or any suffering. Also protect us from any evil. I pray this in Jesus name—that it will be in Your will and only for Your glory.
Everything in this prayer is based on scripture. For example, “May your hand be with us, guiding us, uplifting us and strengthening us,” is based on Isaiah 41:10: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. These thoughts are echoed in Psalms 31:3, 89:211, 119:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:2-4, and Ephesians 3:16-17.
This prayer is actually very similar to the prayer that Jesus taught us. I find that this prayer reminds me:
- How much the Lord has blessed me and my family, and at the same time, how totally dependent we are on His blessings and grace.
- That we all should be praying that everyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ, regardless of where they live or what they wear or who they worship with, will eventually be unified in the one true Church.
- That my only desire should be for God’s kingdom, and that I might be useful in furthering His kingdom.
- That I should rely on Him for strength and guidance.
- As Jesus taught us, we should never cause harm to anyone else, while relying on God to protect us from evil.
MORE TO COME
Along with the Our Father, I pray this prayer each day, and it has helped me in my desire to surrender fully to our Lord and do only what He wants me to do, when He wants me to do it, and how He wants me to do it. However, God was not done with this prayer. I soon learned this was only the initial seed that God was going to use as a framework for an amazing prayer that I will share later in the course.
DISCUSSION
The whole point of these lessons is for each of us to seek God’s will for us. Along with the Our Father, try praying the expanded Prayer of Jabez to see if it resonates with you and your spirit. Seek God’s guidance whether this is a prayer that He can use to help you on the path to total surrender. Later we will put several of these prayers together in a Surrender Trilogy.
SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSE
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 1 Cor 6:17