Have you lost faith, friend?

As a pastor, I have so many stories of people who ran out of words when it came to prayer.

I remember meeting with an older gentleman in our church's commons. He was obviously distraught and distressed. I came alongside him, trying to hear his story, but he honestly didn't have any words. I asked him the question, "What do you need?" All he could stammer out was, "Protection, God's help." I said, "Well, then let's pray for that!" His response was heartbreaking, "I can't. I've lost my faith."

I believe in that moment, the Holy Spirit gave me some words—because he may have been struggling with his faith, but I hadn't lost mine!

I asked God for wisdom, and He whispered to me a little tiny prayer from the book of Numbers, where it says: “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.” (1 Chronicles 4:10, NIV)

The prayer of Jabez has stirred controversy for a long time, because some people have used it as part of a very unbiblical prosperity gospel. Because of this notoriety, many people have dismissed it altogether. But the truth is, this prayer is in the Bible, and therefore God wants us to use it. I believe it's a beautiful prayer, especially when we have no words.

The key to praying the prayer of Jabez in our modern context is knowing and understanding that we need to pray it in Jesus' name. When we pray the prayer of Jabez in Jesus' name, we're not praying it according to our fleshly desires or to simply gain more material things. Instead, we pray it for His purpose and glory!

Like all prayers, God won't always answer in the way that we want, because we often think of blessing as the addition of material goods. The truth is, sometimes God gets rid of material goods so that He can add more of Himself, which we all know turns into the greatest blessing of all!

If you're struggling today with what you perceive to be a lack of blessing or protection, God has a prayer for you to pray!

Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will be free from pain.

And my prayer is that the God of miracles will grant your request.

Never forget, my friend, you are a miracle.