There is a special prayer and many of you may know it. It is the prayer of Jabez. There are a number of prayers in the bible that are incredibly important, but the reason why theologians place special emphasis on this prayer is because it is so impactful!
First, look at its strange location in the bible. If you've ever opened the book of 1st Chronicles you will know that it is nobody's favorite book of the bible. For 9 chapters there are just lists and lists of decendents and then all of a sudden there's Jabez. Out of these lists and lists God teaches us something special using one man named Jabez, and what he teaches us is how we should pray...
"Lord, oh 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, and that I may not cause anyone pain!"
Second, it's powerful!
"So God granted him what he requested."
I have this prayer memorized and I am a firm believer, as is my husband, that God blesses us as a direct response to praying this prayer, and so we try to do it almost daily and whenever it comes to mind. I encourage you to give it a try as well and watch his blessings pour over your life =D
Today I prayed this prayer and one of the requests got me thinking..."enlarge my territory". I've thought about how God enlarges our territory in many ways and one way is in the children or people that he brings into our households am I right?
Then I got to thinking, how do I want to enlarge my household territory? Do I want to have a biological child or two? Do I want to adopt again from foster care? What about internationally? What about taking in an exchange student (there are three boys that I know of now that need homes for the school year)? What about a refugee or a special immigrant juvenile? There are so many different ways out there to do so!
Well, this is my gut feeling today, it could be completely different tomorrow =) If I was in this alone I would have him expand my territory through adoption exclusively. Yes, its true, I would forego biological children.
But don't you want to have your "own" baby biologically...at least one???
For some reason I have no itching desire to do so and for the life of me I cannot figure out why. Maybe its because I'm terrified of labor. Maybe its because I see the discomfort of being pregnant and I know that the lack of sleep in the first 5 months could very well be the end of me ha. Maybe how God opened my heart to adoption the first time is still a driving force in my life because he wants me to do so again and again. I'm not really sure the reason. What I do know for sure though is that God is causing more and more of his people to feel the call to adopt these days because the need is so great and so many of his children are suffering.
Either way, expanding one's household is a blessing and I love to see people bringing new babies into the world and as well as welcoming new arrivals through adoption...it just puts a smile on my face from ear to ear =D
The great part is that he will expand your territory if you just ask...1 Chronicles 4:9-10
So, how will he expand your territory???
Blessings for the weekend! ~Rachel
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