I've been reading The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson these last few weeks.  (I know, I'm about six years behind the times).  Anyway, I've been intrigued by this little book and the prayer that it represents.  To be honest, I had avoided the book for a number of years because of the notion that it would somehow be presumptuous to ask God to bless me.  After all, I do live in America.  I have a nice car, an awesome family, a good job.  How could I ask him for more.

Then I stepped out into this ministry thing.  I got scared.  I was suddenly dependent ... dependent on God to show up.  And something else started happening.  I began wanting him to show up. 

I had always thought that I wanted him to show up before, but this was different.  Before, I wanted him to show up as a bonus, as a nice extra on top of what I could do.  Now -- now I wanted him to show up because if he didn't -- well, I had no other cards to play.

And so God said, very clearly, twice in the same day, read the Prayer of Jabez.  I ordered it, read it and began praying it.  And something interesting started to happen.  I found myself expecting more of God.  I began to wonder if maybe I had been keeping God in too small of a box.  It was a nice box, neatly trimmed and easy to carry.  I could bring it out when I wanted to show it off, and it was compact enough to stash if the circumstances warranted.  Most significantly though, like a fine swiss watch, it was honestly more of a luxury item than a necessity.

"Bless me indeed," Jabez prayed.  "Enlarge my territory." (1 Chron 4:10).  What a bold request!  Surely God wouldn't honor such a demand.  But then the thought hit me.  If God really did place a call on my life, as I believe he has for each of you as well; and if that call was known by him before the creation of the world (Eph 1:4), if there really is a desire of my heart that is most true of me and that he longs to fulfill in me (Psalm 37:4), then how could he not want to bless that.  And if he does want to bless that, and I don't want him to bless that, than am i not at that moment hiding my God box.

And so I say "Bless me Lord, increase my influence, anoint me and keep me from evil".  My God box is out in the open now.  It's too big to hide, too bulky to cover up.  Let's see what happens.