BIBLE STUDY WEEK 1 (10/15/13)

 

BIBLE STUDY "The Prayer of Jabez" BIBLE STUDY  (By Bruce Wilkinson)

WEEK 1 

(10/15/13)

 

Subject:    "A Prayer with a PURPOSE" 
                                     "It was a Prayer of blessing"


Scripture:   I Chronicles 4:10 (KJV) 

     "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested."

This week we'll Discover:
What the word blessing means.
Why you must ask in order to receive certain kinds of blessings
Why it's not selfish to ask God to bless you.
What attitudes need to be revised to agree with the Bible
How to pray the advanced prayer for the Jabez blessing.

Key:
"Forms of the verb to bless (barak in Hebrew) appear nearly four hundred times in the Old Testament.  To bless mean to favor, honor, or bestow special gifts or status.  In the Bible, for example, fathers pronounced blessings on their sons to pass along the family birthright of inheritance.  People blessed God in their worship-"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not His benefits" (Psalm 103:2).
But the kind of blessing we're talking about here is God's favor on us-His supernatural gifts that we don't earn and that we can't receive from anyone else.  That's why the Bible says, "It is  the LORD's blessing that makes you wealthy.  Hard work can make you no richer" (Proverbs 10:22, TEV).  The Bible clearly teaches that God cares about all our needs-material, emotional, and spiritual."
You can also understand blessings in terms of the basis on which they're given:
1.   A conditional blessing means there's something I have to do if I want what God has to give. If I don't do it, I won't get the blessings. Check out Christ's conditional blessing out in (Matthew 5:11-12), and the blessings and curses listed in (Deuteronomy 28-30).
2.   An unconditional blessing is one that God decides to give with no requirements. The recipient doesn't have to qualify to receive it.  Look at the promises God made to Abraham in (Genesis 12:2-3).
These blessings are based on the nature and character of God. He simply wants to give!  (Read Exodus 14:6 to see God's self-portrait).  And it is His will that we want all of what He has to give.

What do you learn about God's desire to bless in these verses?
I Corinthians 2:9
Romans 8:28-30
Romans 2:4
James 1:17

Share if you desire or just read them for more knowledge on God's blessings.

Abraham:   The man God chose to bless (Read Genesis 12:1-3)
Jacob:       The man who wrestled to be blessed (Read Genesis 32:22-29)
David:       The man who understood the source of blessings (Read I Chronicles 29:9-18)

Jabez traced his "blessing inheritance" back to Abraham, the faith of the Jewish people.  One day God promised Abraham, "I will bless you. . .and you shall be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2).  It was an unconditional covenant of generosity initiated by God.  Abraham believed God and traveled to the Promised Land (Canaan) in pursuit of the blessing.  But Abraham didn't earn God's goodness. In fact, if you trace his life story (Genesis 12-25), you'll see a man who made a lot of mistakes.  But he never stopped reaching for God's favor.  That's why the Bible calls Abraham "friend of God" (James 2:23) and "father of all those who believe" (Romans 4:11)
It's not selfish to pray, "Bless me, indeed!"  For many Christians, the whole idea of praying for personal blessings sounds wrong.  Aren't we supposed to pray for others, not ourselves?  They ask. Isn't it selfish to ask for me? Certainly asking for blessing isn't the only way to pray. We're taught to intercede for others, to confess, to worship, and to give thanks.  The Jabez prayer simply starts with our urgent desire to receive God's special favor. It is based on a racial trust that God will answer in great love.

Getting Specific:
God is pleased when, like Jabez, we trustingly ask Him for His best without specifying exactly how we want Him to bless us. But it's okay to go beyond the Jabez prayer and ask God to bless us in specific way. Those prayers please the Lord, too.  Just be careful to check your motives…and to keep your eyes open for God's surprising answers. "Blessing doesn't always equal 'health and wealth'."
Unfortunately, some teach that God wants every believer to prosper materially and that your prosperity proves God's favor.  That would mean if you don't have the house and car you want, something is wrong with your faith.  This teaching is a distortion of what the Bible clearly says in I Timothy 6:5-10.  It also contradicts not only the call of Jesus to take up our crosses and follow Him (Luke 9:23-25), but also His own example of setting aside worldly comforts to do the will of His Father, even to the point of death on the cross (Philippians 2:5-8).   So how do we pray for generous blessing without crossing over into God-dishonoring prayer?  Good question!

Read:
James 4:3 Pray with _______________________motives
I John 5:14 Pray according to God's_______________
Matthew 6:33 Seek_____________ the kingdom of God
I John 2:15-17 Make sure that a love for the world and its values has not replaced your_____
For God.
I Timothy 2:1 don't pray just for yourself but for the needs of____________
I Corinthians 10:31 Evaluate everything you do and want and prayer for, and decide if it is something that will bring God____________
Philippians 3:8-10 Ask for and pursue a growing relationship with _________________so that you can become more like Him.

Talk Points:
What is the greatest blessing you've ever received in your life?
Have you always considered it a blessing?
Can God bless you even when He appears to be saying no to a specific request?
If Jesus came to you and said, "I will bless you greatly and change the world through you, but. . .you must make sacrifices for Me," what would you say?  (see Acts 9:10-16)  How?

Extra:
The lavish generosity of the Jewish people in donating to the Temple highlighted the last day of King David. Perhaps more than any other person in the Old Testament. David understood the profound role of God in this act of sacrificial worship.

Prayer:
"Oh, that You would bless me indeed!"

Quote:
"At Least Take a Bucket"
    Asking is the beginning of receiving. Make sure you don't go to the ocean with a teaspoon.  At least take a bucket so the kids won't laugh at you."  (By Jim Rohn)

Ending Scripture:   (Psalm 67:1-2)
God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.  That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.

Statement:
My new start in the blessed life:
 To close this week study on blessing, pray the following prayer aloud, then pray it every day in the coming week.

Prayer:
My prayer for blessing……….
Dear Lord, I want every single blessing that You would love to give me, and I am sure all prayer warriors do too. Forgive us for not desiring  these enough to ask for them. Please open Your heart, and be gracious to us.  You are good, and everything You do is good.  So let us experience You today, in all of Your abundant loving-kindness, even though we are in all of our unworthiness. Touch our lives in ways that are very personal so that we don't miss Your fingerprints.  Bless us, Lord, we pray, bless us, indeed.  And we will praise You, from Whom all blessings flow. Amen.

Questions:
What do I really believe about blessing?
What does God's blessing mean?
Who else in the Bible was extraordinarily blessed?
How do I maximize God's blessings?
How do I receive God's blessings in my life?
What would my life look like if I asked for blessing?
What is keeping me from breaking through to the blessed life ?

I shall return later if anyone want to discuss anything now.  Please feel free