God bless us all!

1. BEHIND
PRAYER

2. James 2:17 NIV
17…faith by itself, if it is
not accompanied by
action is dead.

3. 1 Chronicles 4:10 CEV
10 One day he prayed to Israel’s God,
“Please bless me and give me a lot of
land. Be with me so I will be safe
from harm.”[c] And God did just what
Jabez had asked.

4. Jabez
-prayed for
* prosperity.
* safety.

5. Prosperity
attracts danger.

6. Proverbs 13:8 CEV
8 The rich may have
to pay a ransom,
but the poor don’t
have that problem.

7. Jabez
-prayed for
oprosperity.
osafety.
- was wise.

8. Do not
- indulge in
- be the object of
covetousness
or envy

9. Proverbs 14:24 GNT
24 Wise people are
rewarded with wealth.

10. Wise people
- plant.

11. Planting is behind
wise prayer.

12. Wise people
- plant.
- plant correctly
and wisely.

13. Ecclesiastes 3:2 CEV
2There is a time…
for planting and
reaping…

14. PLANT
- BEFORE –
- SO –
YOU COULD
HARVEST!

15. Ecclesiastes 11:4 CEV
4 If you worry about the
weather and don’t plant
seeds, you won’t
harvest a crop.

16. The “reward”
good people get
are only
-automatic
-natural effects
of their “good
and wise” ways.

17. Galatians 6:7 CEV
7…You will harvest
what you plant.

18. Hosea 8:7 CEV
7 If you scatter wind instead
of wheat, you will harvest a
whirlwind and have no wheat.
Even if you harvest grain,
enemies will steal it all.

19. JABEZ’S PRAYER WAS
1. Not just
an empty wish/
desire/ want.

20. It was
a statement of faith
in God
---and in himself

21. “SAFETY”

22. Matthew 21:22 CEV
22 If you have faith
when you pray, you
will be given whatever
you ask for.”

23. “FAITH IN ONESELF”

24. “YOUR FAITH HAS
HEALED YOU”

25. Matthew 21:21 CEV
21 But Jesus said to them,
“If you have faith and don’t
doubt, I promise that you can
do what I did to this tree.
And you will be able to do
even more…

26. Behind
granted prayer
is great faith.

27. JABEZ’S PRAYER WAS
2. A mentality
that shaped his
- lifestyle.
- work ethic.

28. True prayer / wish
should be based
on its corresponding
work ethic.

29. Behind
answered prayer
is ethical work!

30. Proverbs 14:23 NRS
23 In all toil there is
profit, but mere talk
leads only to poverty

31. Prayer without work
is “mere talk”

32. Prayer / wish
-leads to –
-leads in –
purposeful action

33. Matthew 7:7-8 CEV
7 Ask, and you will receive. Search,
and you will find. Knock, and the door
will be opened for you.
8 Everyone who asks will receive.
Everyone who searches will find. And
the door will be opened for everyone
who knocks.

34. The prayer
that Jesus teaches is
- not simply asking
= passive;
•hinged on
purposeful action:

35. Pray /
wish for wealth
acts to produce
wealth;
it does not just ask
then idly wait to
receive wealth.

36. Proverbs 12:27 GNT
27 If you are lazy, you
will never get what
you are after, but if
you work hard, you
will get a fortune.[b]

37. Behind
answered prayer
is hard work.

38. Prayer that
gets answered
is an action plan
and its actual
execution.

39. Unceasing prayer
is progressive work.

40. HE WHO WORKS
PRAYS!

41. God grants / answers
the prayer
=
God
•blesses the action
with its logical fruit.
- causes the seed
you plant to grow
and bear fruits.

42. Jesus told his disciples a story about how they should
keep on praying and never give up:
2 In a town there was once a judge who didn’t fear God or
care about people. 3 In that same town there was a widow
who kept going to the judge and saying, “Make sure that I
get fair treatment in court.”
4 For a while the judge refused to do anything. Finally, he
said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear God or care
about people, 5 I will help this widow because she keeps
on bothering me. If I don’t help her, she will wear me out.”
Luke 18:1-5 CEV

43. “Prayer”
= plan
= action

44. Jesus shows
the building blocks
behind answered prayer:

45. 1. A clear objective.
Jesus shows the building blocks behind answered prayer:
2. A clear action plan.
3. A dutiful execution.
4. Persistence.

46. You act,
God reacts.
You plant,
God makes it grow.
You “pray”,
Gods “answers”.

47. The prayer
of Jabez was a craze

48. Multitudes
-were told to pray
the “Jabez prayer”.
- prayed but
did nothing beyond
passive utterance.
-receive nothing
from God.

49. True prayer / wish is
-faith in action.
-work ethic / work.
-wisdom to plant
then ask God
to bless the project.

50. Karl Marx:
“Religion is the opium
of the
- people.”
- masses.”

51. Miracle / Magic
•obsessed –
•dependent –
religiosity.
* this is not Jesusness at all

52. Behind
an answered prayer is
•faith / belief in God
and in oneself.
= intelligence / wisdom
= a plan of action.
= persistent,
action till the goal
is achieved

53. While God helps
those who cannot
help themselves,
God should not be
expected to help
those who can help
themselves
but do not.

54. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 CEV
10 We also gave you the
rule that if you don’t work,
you don’t eat.

55. James 4:8 CEV
8 Come near to God, and
he will come near to
you…

56. ASK, SEEK, KNOCK!!!

57. Do
-something /
the right thing!
-what you can!

58. Do not
-over expect / over depend
on miracles / magic.
-Depend / over depend
on others.
-Just pray verbally
But act wisely!

59. What is your
clear, specific
•goal / objective?
•plan / method?

60. What
-will you do?
-are you actively /
persistently
doing to realize
your prayer?

61. DISCOVER
DEVELOP

62. Use your
God-given powers to
- do what you can / must.
- produce
- what you need.
- surplus.

63. Mark 9:22-23 CEV
22… Please have pity and help
us if you can!”
23 Jesus replied, “Why do you
say ‘if you can’? Anything is
possible for someone who has
faith!”