THE PRAYER OF JABEZ

I related yesterday how I had read the book about Jabez and his prayer and had begun praying it on a daily basis. The verse of Scripture is found in I Chronicles buried among a list of the Israelite people of that time. It reads as follows:

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "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, that I may not cause pain." So God granted him what he requested.

And the result, as I said, was that I had an increase in classes, i. e. students for the year.

I will have to say that in looking back, that year of teaching was one of my best ever. We read a few verses from the Bible everyday and discussed them. The students for the most part really were interested in what we were studying and the discussions were involved and enlightening. One would think after talking about the same subject for six classes, that I would be more than ready to move on to the other lessons for the day. But it didn’t work that way. Every class had something unique to add to the few verses that no other class had thought of. I would be absolutely amazed at the insight they would have about something I hadn’t seen or had never thought of.

And then I had a very special young lady in the sixth and final class of the day. She was one of the most remarkable students I have ever taught. When we would get to the end of the day and once again someone would read the verses for the day, she could come up with an idea that no one else had thought of all day. But she was not intrusive about it; she always waited to hear what others had to say first and then add to it. She was very popular with all the students, so when she spoke, they listened. I will always consider myself blessed to have had her in my class for that year, which wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t added the two classes to my schedule. Her name? Mattie Jackson, daughter of Denise and Alan Jackson.

That year certainly was’t easy for me. I had a total of 109 students and essentially no free periods. But as I said, it was one of if not the most rewarding years I ever had.

But be careful about praying that prayer – God may answer in a way you didn’t expect!