What if the most significant thing about your life is not what you have accomplished but what you have prayed? This past Mother’s Day Sunday, Pastor Chip Dean continued the God of Revival series with a message centered on one of the most obscure men in the Bible and four prayer requests that could change everything.
A Name That Meant Pain
Tucked inside nine chapters of genealogies in 1 Chronicles is a moment that almost no one would notice. Five hundred to six hundred names scroll by. Then God stops on one. A man named Jabez.
His name literally meant pain. His mother gave it to him at birth because of the suffering she endured bringing him into the world. Every time someone called his name, he was reminded of it. Pain, come here. Hey, Pain, we need you. His life appeared to be shaped by a label he never chose.
But God stops on Jabez and calls him more honorable than all of his brothers. Not because of what Jabez achieved. Because of how he prayed.
On a day that is beautiful for many people, Mother’s Day also carries real pain for others. Maybe your mom is no longer with you. Maybe you always wanted to be a mom and are still waiting. Maybe you have a child who is far from Jesus. Maybe you are walking through infertility like Pastor Chip and his wife Michelle did for nine years. Whatever your pain is, Jabez’s story is a reminder. God sees you. He knows your pain. He deeply cares.
Pastor Chip also shared five promises of pain from scripture. God is present in your pain. God has a purpose in your pain. God grows you in your pain. Your pain is not meant to destroy you but to strengthen you. God will heal you from your pain, either in this life or fully in eternity.
Jabez did not let his pain become his identity. He did not let it stop his purpose. Instead, he prayed.
Prayer Request One: Blessing
Jabez prayed, “Oh, that you would bless me indeed.”
Pastor Chip cleared something up right away. This is not the prosperity gospel. God is not promising to make you rich if you just believe hard enough. But it is also not the poverty gospel. God does not want you walking around defeated and empty.
The Hebrew word for blessing is barak. It means to kneel. When we kneel before God in humility and ask him to bless us, we are submitting our lives to him and positioning ourselves to receive what he has. Whatever God blesses us with, we use it for his glory and his kingdom.
Pastor Chip told the story of his daughter Brooklyn. He gave her a little drawing tablet. She took it, wrote his name on it with a heart, and gave it back to him. He said that girl can have whatever she wants. Is that not exactly what we are supposed to do with God? Whatever he blesses us with, we give it back to him in worship and in service.
This week’s challenge: get on your knees and pray, “Oh God, would you bless me indeed?” Not for your own kingdom. For his.
Prayer Request Two: Influence
Jabez prayed, “Enlarge my border.”
In his day, everyone had a plot of land with borders. Jabez was asking God to expand his territory. For us, that prayer sounds like this. God, give me more finances so I can be more influential for you. God, enlarge my family, my career, my business so I can be used more for your name.
Everything God blesses you with is meant to be leveraged for the gospel of Jesus. Genesis 1:28 says God blessed them and told them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Fruitfulness means becoming more like Christ. Multiplication means others around you begin to grow because of what God has done in you.
Pastor Chip was honest about his own prayer. He is asking God to give him more influence as a pastor, not for his own reputation or fame, but so that God can use him for the name of Jesus in Powder Springs and beyond. He invited every person in the room to pray the same.
This week’s challenge: pray, “God, would you enlarge my borders? Give me more influence for your glory.”
Prayer Request Three: Presence
Jabez prayed, “That your hand might be with me.”
Pastor Chip explained that in scripture, God’s hand is a picture of his presence. As a dad, he uses his hands to let his kids know he is there. He puts a hand on them in the middle of the night when they are scared. He holds their hand when they walk together. He scoops them up when they fall.
He told the story of Cruz going down a zigzag slide backwards and head first because he told his dad to hide. Cruz got up crying and hurting. Pastor Chip scooped him up, held him until he stopped crying, took his hand, and asked if he wanted to play some more. That is what God does with us in our pain. He does not leave. He picks us up. He holds us. He says, I am here.
Moses said the same thing in Exodus 33. When God told him to lead the Israelites, Moses responded that if God’s presence would not go with him, he did not want to go at all. That is the kind of desperation we need. God, if you are not going, I am not going. God, if you are not in it, I do not want it.
This week’s challenge: pray, “God, let your hand be with me. I need your presence.”
Prayer Request Four: Protection
Jabez prayed, “Keep me from harm so that it will not hurt me.”
Pastor Chip made a point worth writing down. The closer you get to God, the harder the enemy works against you. If you are not living for God, the devil leaves you alone. He already has you where he wants you. The moment you start pursuing God, pursuing revival, pursuing more of Jesus, the enemy takes notice.
Jabez knew this. He was asking for blessing and influence and presence, and he also knew those things would make him a target. So he asked God to protect him from the harm the enemy would bring.
Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 6:13. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Pastor Chip closed with the story of a village in Germany called Oberammergau in 1633. When a plague began devastating the region, the entire village got on their knees and prayed. They asked God that if the plague would skip their city, they would dedicate their town to Jesus. History records the plague stopped. Every decade since 1633, that town has put on a passion play showing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to the entire world. Because they said, God, if you save us, we will use everything we have to tell others about you.
Pastor Chip looked at the room and said it plainly. There is a plague sweeping through our world called sin. The only way to stop it is Jesus.
There’s a Seat for You
Whether you are carrying a name that has felt like pain or you are simply ready to go deeper with God, you belong here. We are a church that believes revival starts with prayer. Prayer starts with showing up.
Plan Your Visit and come be part of what God is doing in our church and our community. Or take your next step and Get Connected with our church family. We would love to pray alongside you.