"Bible Study on Prayer" by Andrew Telford

Never has there been a greater need in the Church of Christ than there is today. The Church of Christ is being pressed hard against the wall by the forces of evil which are invading the spiritual camp of the saints. In order to carry on an aggressive and effective warfare against the enemy, we need to know something of the maximum value and experience of the power of prayer. The privilege and duty of prayer has been placed at our disposal to disarm the enemy.

How weak and wanting is that Christian who has not found the value and importance of prayer! As a young man on a farm I was converted to Christ. I was the only believer in the household. In the evenings after the chores were done, I took my Bible and went to the woods; I knelt beside a large stone and read, and marked my Bible, then I would walk through the woods on the wagon trail, and pray out loud. I would weep as I prayed, and sometimes I didn't return to the house for three hours. In those first months of my Christian life, God did something in my soul that I will never get over in time. I felt close to God and I knew God was close to me. God greatly helped me to witness for Him. I knew how to take my burdens to the Lord and leave them there. May we all learn to do this.

There isn't a problem that touches our lives which is beyond the reach of prayer. That the messages of this book may stir our souls to a deeper life of prayer is the burden of my heart.

If you want to keep your motor car running smoothly and in good condition, you will be wise to take it to the garage from time to time for a "Check up". Car manufacturers require it to be done every so many thousand miles. Unless it has this, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd or routine inspection you cannot be confident that it is in perfect running condition. This systematic service is essential to the satisfactory maintenance of the car. It is no less necessary for the clear smooth running of a spiritual life.

Every Christian needs a periodic check up to see whether he is in the best of working order. Certain aspects of our life in its relation to God need to be tested.

One of those aspects is our "prayer life". A man's life can be tested by his "prayer time". What a believer says and asks for on his knees before God is a sure guide to his spiritual state. What we plead for at the Throne of Grace, reflects the innermost longings of the soul. When we make our requests known to God we reveal the true condition of our souls. Would you be prepared for a tape recording of your prayers to be played before a congregation? We are going to hear a man pray. Hear his petition.

Jabez was eager for the best God could give him. He was aware of his own need. This is where we fail. We are self-sufficient and self-satisfied. He knew that God had more to give him. He wanted it. "Bless me indeed." There is a wealth of yearning in that word "indeed".

Oh, sure he had received many a blessing and was thankful for them. He knew and was sure that God had more to follow. He longed to have his life lifted to the level of its fullest and utmost capacity. He prayed for himself. As he prayed for himself I see:

He hungered after God. He wanted the genuine benediction. Jesus said, "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after the righteousness: for they shall be filled". (Matthew 5:6). Our deepest desires should be spiritual benedictions. Earthly needs will not seem important when we set beside our craving for God.

This personal benediction is there for the asking. But, we must be eager to claim it at any cost. We have not because we "Ask not". "Ask and ye shall receive". (James 4.2b and John 16:24b) Did you appeal to God this morning for personal benediction? Then ask.

C. He Availed himself of what God had abundantly supplied. Can it be we are surrounded by divine bounty and lack the appetite to benefit by it? There is a pathetic story of a sick woman who went to Italy for her health. In every letter home, she wrote of the wonderful luxurious growth wherever she looked and of the abundance of food on her table. Her letters ended on the sad note of, "If only I could eat, I would soon get well, but I have no appetite". Before long she died out there in the midst of plenty, not from lack of food, but from lack of hunger.

Is there a danger that we starve for lack of appetite? Ask God to bless us indeed!

Jabez wanted a wider scope. He felt hemmed in. (John T. Hatfield was saved while working in his uncle's store and shouted, "This place isn't big enough for me." He went out as a great evangelist.) Jabez wanted a wider scope. He felt hemmed in.

He wasn't lazy. He was looking for more work. He was dissatisfied with his little sphere of activity. He wanted to glorify God in an extended service. He wanted his life to be filled to its capacity in service for God, and he never thought of a heart attack or a nervous breakdown.

He coveted the regions beyond. They were part of his promised possessions. They belonged to the lot of his inheritance. In a previous generation they had been forfeited. His brethren had been careless, and had nearly lost all their territory to the enemy. Jabez felt the shame of such inroads. We have lost our love for God and surrendered it to the lesser loves. We have not lost our old fashioned prayer meetings. The enemy hath done this. We have lost our love for souls. Oh, the shame of it! Jabez longed to possess his possessions once again. He desired to claim his full portion even though it meant a costly fight. So, he prayed that God "would enlarge his coasts."

He prayed for extension. He wasn't content with any circumscribed service. He would carry the warfare into enemy territory and win back lost ground for the Lord. Now this issue in prayer is likened to action. Having prayed, he wouldn't sit back and wait for the answer to come from God. If we pray we will be led out into the battlefield for God. Praying and doing nothing is not practical. "If you are doing nothing, you are not praying." Can you not see the great and vast areas that are now under satanic control? Pray that God will enlarge your coasts of service and witness for Him. Go out in faith. The field is large. The opportunities are large.

He wanted Divine Guidance. He wanted to be sure he was in the way of the Lord. He would not choose his own path. He was ready to rely on the Lord.

He desired that, and he asked for it. He wanted the providential direction of God. He wanted the promised direction.

He felt he needed to look up for grace. He felt he needed to look up for guidance from God. He knew God could lead him and he wanted anchorage.

This is Godly grief he is talking about here. Godly grief is only brought on by sin.

Jabez was aware of sin's sinfulness. He feared sin even more than he feared God. He believed in prayer. He prayed to Lord to keep him and keep on keeping him from evil. Moral evil was foremost in his mind. Jabez is pleading before God to spare him from:

What a prayer! What a man! He was a giant among dwarfs. He was an oasis in the desert. (I Chron. 4:9) He lived in a world of little people. He was a man of God among men. He was an honored saint where spirituality was a problem and a premium. A few words were sufficient to describe other people in these chapters, but not this giant. "And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren." (I Chron. 4:9)

This man's greatness was a rare thing. It grew strong in the spoil of adversity. See verse 9b. His sadness begat dignity. He was spiritually famous. He had an intense longing for God. He believed that "the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Do you? His faith was in God and in none other. Is yours? His faith in God increased his stature and so will yours. He knew the secret place.