January 9-Jabez
Day 4
HOW DO I MAXIMIZE GOD’S BLESSINGS?
INSIGHT #I
“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 radical trust that God will answer in great love.
For the verses provided below, write out what you discover about God that would encourage you to boldly ask for blessing:
I JOHN 3:1. We are God’s loved____________________________
ROMANS 8:16-17. We are not just God’s children, but His_______________
MATTHEW 7:9-11. Compared to an earthly father who wants to bless his child, our Father is ________________ to give us good things.
MATTHEW 7:7-8. Jesus promised results in our prayers if we ________, ________ and __________
EPHESIANS 3:20. God is able to do “__________________above all that we ask or think.”
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 a 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.
INSIGHT #2
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 1 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?
JAMES 4:3 Pray with _________________________________________ motives.
1 JOHN 5:14 Pray according to God’s______________________________
MATTHEW 6:33. Seek _____________________________ the kingdom of God.
1 JOHN 2:15-17. Make sure that a love for the world and its values has not replaced your __________________________ for God.
1 TIMOTHY 2:1. Don’t pray just for yourself but for the needs of___________.
1 CORINTHIANS 10:31. Evaluate everything you do and want and pray 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.
Can God bless you even when He appears to be saying no to a specific request?
How?
HOW DO I MAXIMIZE GOD’S BLESSINGS?
INSIGHT #I
“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 radical trust that God will answer in great love.
For the verses provided below, write out what you discover about God that would encourage you to boldly ask for blessing:
I JOHN 3:1. We are God’s loved____________________________
ROMANS 8:16-17. We are not just God’s children, but His_______________
MATTHEW 7:9-11. Compared to an earthly father who wants to bless his child, our Father is ________________ to give us good things.
MATTHEW 7:7-8. Jesus promised results in our prayers if we ________, ________ and __________
EPHESIANS 3:20. God is able to do “__________________above all that we ask or think.”
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 a 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.
INSIGHT #2
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 1 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?
JAMES 4:3 Pray with _________________________________________ motives.
1 JOHN 5:14 Pray according to God’s______________________________
MATTHEW 6:33. Seek _____________________________ the kingdom of God.
1 JOHN 2:15-17. Make sure that a love for the world and its values has not replaced your __________________________ for God.
1 TIMOTHY 2:1. Don’t pray just for yourself but for the needs of___________.
1 CORINTHIANS 10:31. Evaluate everything you do and want and pray 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.
Can God bless you even when He appears to be saying no to a specific request?
How?
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