Daily Devotion (February 21, 2025)
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
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.
Imagine being named Pain or Sorrow. As a child, you might hear others say, “Here comes Pain.” My mother once told me I was the reason she did not have more children. I first believed it was my perfection, but it was actually the pain I caused her during childbirth.
Jabez lived a challenging life but remained faithful, being more honorable than his brothers. In prayer, he boldly asked God to enlarge his territory. We should pray similarly, asking God to expand the opportunities, influence, and responsibilities He has given us.
We see in Jabez’s prayer a genuine expression of his desires and needs. He asks God for His blessing, protection, and guidance. Jabez had a faith and trust in God’s ability to provide and protect him.
Jabez is bold in his requests. He exhibits confidence in God’s power and willingness to bless him.
God not only heard his prayer but granted Jabez’s prayer. James writes in James 4:1-4
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
- You desire but do not have, so you kill.
- You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.
3.You do not have because you do not ask God.- When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Because Jabez boldly came before God seeking His favor God granted Jabez’s request. His name was “pain” or “sorrow,” but his life was transformed. We too should be seeking God’s blessing in our lives. Not self-centered blessing but the real and true blessing of God.