Archive for April, 2007
the prayer of Jabez…
“And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, and that Your hand would with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.” ~ I Chronicles 4:10
This has been so real and intense in my life these last 2 weeks since I started praying a similar prayer. God WANTS to bless us and I want everything He has to offer me! It feels kinda selfish asking God to bless you everyday, but the reality is that every single day, the Lord has blessing for us. This book I’m reading about the prayer of Jabez says that BLESSING means, to ‘impart supernatural favor.’ I want all of that, that I can get!
In the last week or 2 that I’ve been praying this, or like this, I’ve been blessed in numerous dramatic ways…
- All of our bills got paid in 3 days, we got blessed with some extra money, and we were given the majority of our deposit for when we move into our new place. Those examples are financial blessing, but I have a few others that are just as much a big deal and exciting! Be encouraged and praise God!
‘I want a friend…’
Ok, so we recently got back from Le Roy, Illinios and it was the best time we’ve had in a long time. We were out in the middle of the country with this amazing family and God. One night I heard Theo talking with the family about what he would do ‘if money were no object.’ The next morning I woke up to God saying to me, “Melissa, money is no object and I’m looking for a friend.” Ok, wow. So, I started meditating on that and I realized that my thoughts of friendship were kinda selfish. As I was thinking of my relationships with different people I noticed that I was analyzing each friendship by who was a better friend to me. I guess normally that isn’t so bad, but theLord caught my attention mid-thought. As I was thinking,….’I can’t be a good friend to God. Why would He want a friend in me?!’ He said, ‘I’m not looking for a selfish love-friendship, how you are. I’m looking for someone who will just sit before me and love me. I know you can’t really be a good friend to me, but I want your heart anyways. I’m not looking for the “receiving” kind of love, I’m looking for an ‘agape’ love friendship with you. I want to pour Myself out.” WOW. What an answer. I truly have so far to go before I really understand the Creator of the universe, the King of Kings, the Lion & the Lamb. His ways really aren’t our weak ways. He’s holy and passionate and so far above anything we can ever imagine. Hopefully, I’ll start to love the way He loves. I want to pour myself out in love in my relationships and consider that a good friendship….not wait to see who will pour themselves out for me to consider it a stronger friendship. It’s SO backwards! Ah, Lord help me….renew my mind! Jesus, teach me your ways! Thank You for your goodness and faithfulness! I love you.
~ I have yet to really know in my heart that ‘money is no object’ but it’s a lesson being learned even now. Our Father is the King of the universe! Praise God!
God is so good…
today’s baby shower was awesome. I just wanna say THANK YOU to everyone who came and blessed us with almost everything we could need for babies. Praise God! now we just need a place to put it! love you guys!
