A Prayer to Change Your Life
In his book, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby makes a simple but significant statement in that while it is important that we seek God's will for our life, it's much more important that we seek to discover God's will; that is, where he is working and what his plans are, and ask that we can be a part of his plans. This is a certain way to experience God and receive his blessing.
Second, "Please be with me in all that I do." When we receive Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we have his promise that he will never leave us. He said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."4 If this statement were translated literally, it would read, "Jesus said, 'I will never, never, never, never, never leave you or forsake you.'" However, when we ask God to be with us in everything we do, we need to make certain that everything we do is in harmony with his will and then we know that he will be with us.
Third, "Greatly expand my borders." Having prayed this prayer almost daily for years, as I look back over the past, it amazes me to see what God has done and how he has answered this prayer. In a compressed time capsule, we started ACTS literature outreach ministry in Adelaide, South Australia, in an extremely small way on a shoe-string budget with an old typewriter and a borrowed old-fashioned duplicating machine. We began by mailing our first gospel message, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian," to high-school students in Adelaide, then to families throughout South Australia and then to families all over Australia.
ACTS then expanded to New Zealand and then to North America and has been used of God to share the gospel with millions of people around the world. And now throughout North America ACTS literature is being used by other organizations to touch the lives of thousands of business and professional people.
Jesus said, 'I will never, never, never,
never, never leave you or forsake you.'
Furthermore, ACTS gospel messages have been placed on the world-wide Internet which has the potential of sharing God's message of life with untold millions of people in the years ahead. Talk about expanding borders—ones I never would have dreamed possible!
I have just kept praying day after day, year in and year out, the prayer of Jabez and that I and ACTS would be a part of what God's plans and what he is doing in the world today.
Fourth, "Keep me from all evil, harm and disaster." Knowing my human frailty, I know that in my own strength I cannot live consistently in harmony with the will of God. So every day I commit and trust my life to God and ask him to keep me from falling into evil or disaster.5
I encourage you to pray Jabez' prayer every day, too, for the rest of your life. If prayed with the right motive, you can be certain that God will hear and answer you just as he did Jabez.
* Note: If in doubt about your relationship to God, click CLICK HERE for the article "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian."
1. 1 Chronicles 4:10 (Paraphrase).
2. James 4:3 (Paraphrase).
3. Psalm 145:18 (Paraphrase).
4. Hebrews 13:5.
5. See Psalm 56:11.
All articles on this website are written by
Richard (Dick) Innes unless otherwise stated.