He was from a poor background! He was born with sorrow! But he refused
to let His background bury his back on the ground! What did he do? He “called
on the God of Israel!” And he cried and said “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 what happened
afterwards? “And God granted Him that which he requested!” Do you know this
man’s name? JABEZ!!! (1 Chron. 4:9-10).
Never a time do we need men who can “refuse God peace until he
hears/answers their prayers” than our day! We need persistent, fervent prayer
people who will not take NO for an answer! God is not a father who doesn’t care
about His people. But it his principle to be the “rewarder of them that diligently
seek him” (Heb. 11:6b).
God seeks for a broken and a contrite heart! The effectual fervent
prayer of the righteous still produces incredible results till tomorrow! Our
dearth of the miraculous is the shameful evidence of the poverty of our prayer
lives! . God not only hears prayers! He answers prayers! And he still speaks to
those who care to seek him without care! Hannah was such a believer! She was
tired of her barrenness! She was tired of having a very loving husband for whom
she can’t even raise a child! His love for her drove her desperate to raise him
a child! But rather than seek the men of God, she sought the God of men!
She considered in her heart to vow her yet unborn/un-conceived child
to God by faith! What a woman of faith! Maybe we need to identify the areas of
our barrenness and move with faith to God to fix us! Until we get tired of our
barrenness, we may never get the persevering faith that provokes results from
God...
Today’s hardship all around us, the sorry state of our Nations,
Families, and church offers us a unique opportunity to seek the God who rewards
those that seek him diligently! May our challenges bring us to the point of
challenging ourselves to seek God for a change in our lives, nation and generation,
like Daniel, Jabez, Hannah, Jacob, and all the faith fore fathers that have
gone ahead of us! Amen.
