Keep At It!

1 Chronicles 4:¹⁰ “He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would wonderfully bless me… Bless me, O bless me!” (LB & MSG)

What Jabez was saying to God in essence was, come and bless me indeed. I want these blessings translated from spiritual blessings in heavenly places, to physical blessings in earthly places. I want to have cash in my account. I want to have livestock. I want to have crypto. I want to have land. I want to have gold. I want to have seed. Bless me indeed! Some people say that the problem with Christianity is that Christians are too “materialistic”, and I get it. Some Christians are materialistic. But the truth is, a lot of those people who are saying that Christians are materialistic and are hypocrites, are also materialistic.

I have a friend who is living in London, staying in a big house, has how many cars? Then you are telling me to stop teaching people to prosper because it is about the soul. Why don’t you leave that palace and come to other people’s reality? And then I can listen to you. Most times, the missing key is Asking. The key that unlocks the blessings in spiritual places and makes them available in the physical places is Asking. Have you placed a demand? Have you asked? That is why we are going through this prayer because your name will be great. God will make your name great. God will give you a name. But you have to ask just like Jabez did.

Matthew 7:⁷ “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (emphasis added). The problem is that most times we ask. The key is not just to ask. The key is Asking. The King James Version renders it as ask and you shall be given. But the real word is in the present continuous. Keep on asking. Keep on seeking, it is not just seek and stop. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking, do not knock, and go away concluding that the prayer was not answered. Have you heard people say, “I knocked, and nothing happened?” No, keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

Now, this is what blew me away decades ago when I read this, and I got it. I wrestled with this scripture for months and months. It was like I was going to explode, and this was it. I was like, really? Is this in the Bible? Really, God? Do you really mean this thing, or are you teasing us? God is not a liar. And this is it, Matthew 7:⁸ “For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (emphasis added). Boom! It literally blew me away. Lord, did You really say everyone? So, I said to myself decades ago, my case will not be different in the Name of Jesus. Your own matter will not be difficult for God to do. No, it will not be different. What does everyone mean? It means everyone.

Prayer (hymn): It’s me, it’s me, O Lord, Standin’ in the need of prayer. It’s me, it’s me, O Lord, Standin’ in the need of prayer. Amen!