{"id":200,"date":"2011-06-13T17:41:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-13T17:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cherylrostek.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/13\/the-prayer-of-jabez-revisited\/"},"modified":"2011-06-13T17:41:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-13T17:41:00","slug":"the-prayer-of-jabez-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherylrostek.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/13\/the-prayer-of-jabez-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prayer of Jabez revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today in reading the scriptures Psalms 127: 3 makes me stop. <\/span>\u201cChildren are a gift from the Lord.\u201d <\/span>It almost hurts to read these words when we are surrounded by miscarriage and barrenness in so many relationships. <\/span>The words of my dear friend reverberate in my mind: barrenness is not of the Lord. <\/span>I agree. <\/span>It is not the Lord\u2019s desire for us to be barren. <\/span>And so I think of the little book that was popular a few years ago, which my mother gave me a copy of: The Prayer of Jabez<\/u>, by Bruce Wilkinson. <\/span>This book builds a message on the verse I Chronicles 4:9 \u201cOh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So today I pray with scripture to support me: \u201cOh that You would bless me and I ask that you bless me with the gift of a child! <\/span>That you would enlarge my family and my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, and remove this barrenness.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I know that God wants to bless His children! <\/span>I know this and yet, I hesitate to pray with confidence this prayer for blessing into my life and into the lives of those so dear waiting for children. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bruce Wilkinson says in his book (p23):<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

When we ask for God\u2019s blessing, we\u2019re not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves. <\/span>We\u2019re crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to know about or give to us.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In the past months it has come to my attention that I cannot create a child on my own accord. <\/span>Sure my husband and I can try and it seems that a child should be created. <\/span>But month after month, we still wait. <\/span>Our friends still wait. <\/span>The science of it is well known, and yet it doesn\u2019t always work. <\/span>A child is a miracle of God. <\/span>This has become so evident!<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In a way this reminds me of when I was first learning to drive. <\/span>My mom took me to a large parking lot. <\/span>She spoke to me of the power of the vehicle I was about to drive. <\/span>She cautioned me that she thought I was over-confident, that she thought I didn\u2019t fully grasp the position driving this vehicle placed me in. <\/span>She instructed me that I was driving a vehicle with much capability and that was to be taken seriously to avoid harm. <\/span>Now too, I think back 10 months, to first trying to have a child. <\/span>I was confident, cocky even. <\/span>We\u2019ll have no problem with this. <\/span>We\u2019re healthy, we\u2019re educated, we understand science. <\/span>We can make a baby, and in fact I think we can make one in quick time. <\/span>Sure I prayed for wisdom to raise a child. <\/span>But did I pray for the procreation of that child? <\/span>No. <\/span>Without realizing it I felt I didn\u2019t need God\u2019s hands to create the child. <\/span>Ten months ago I did not grasp that the procreation of life is a blessing and complete miracle of God. <\/span>So as my mother sought to speak words of instruction into my life that day in our mini-van to help me grasp that which I, in my over-confidence, didn\u2019t acknowledge or understand, in these 10 months the Lord has spoken wise words into my life which have humbled me.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Perhaps the parallels of these 2 examples seem somewhat weak to you. <\/span>However, I spend time on a weekly basis with teenagers as a youth leader. <\/span>Getting your drivers license is HUGE when you are in high-school. <\/span>It is, for most of the students, the biggest accomplishment yet of their lives. <\/span>It is a token of growing up, of independence, of capability. <\/span>I remember clearly getting my drivers license. <\/span>Next comes graduation, then (for me, this order) marriage, convocation, passing a stressful exam to become licensed as a professional. <\/span>Next step: start a family. <\/span>As our lives pace forward there are these momentous steps and at each step there is much to be learned. <\/span>Much<\/i> to be learned. <\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So today I pray expectantly. <\/span>I pray that God would bless Ryan and I with the gift of a child. <\/span>A gift that only God can give. <\/span>I ask that God would expand our territory, our opportunity zone to share His great goodness. <\/span>I pray that God\u2019s hand would be on our family. <\/span>I pray that He would protect us from evil. <\/span>I pray that He would fill us with the Holy Spirit and that we would have ears to hear and eyes to see.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And in this prayer, I pray the same thing for those dear to me. <\/span>For those who have lost children in the past and await the cries of their child in their arms: for CF & VF, for JW & AW, for RF & TF, for NT & MT, for RM & MM, for MK& AK, and for BG& JG.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And for those dear to us who await the birth of their child, who have not endured miscarriage and loss, but who hope for a healthy child growing within them and for wisdom to raise them well: for JR & CR, for CS & ES, for BM & AM.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“You know beyond a doubt that you were redeemed for this: to ask Him for the God-sized best He has in mind for you, and to ask for it with all your heart.” (Prayer of Jabez, p91)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today in reading the scriptures Psalms 127: 3 makes me stop. \u201cChildren are a gift from the Lord.\u201d It almost hurts to read these words when we are surrounded by miscarriage and barrenness in so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Prayer of Jabez revisited - Cheryl Rostek<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cherylrostek.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/13\/the-prayer-of-jabez-revisited\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Prayer of Jabez revisited - 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