Seek the Lord your God while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near (Isaiah 55:60)< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
There is only one thing that God cannot do: God cannot fail! Numerous occasions, the word of God has proved Him to be true to His word. He said it repeatedly in the pages of the scripture — when you seek Him, you will find Him, and when you call Him, and He will answer. However, it is how you call or seek Him that determines how you find Him
CALLING TIME: Psalm 32:6 says, ÒFor this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him.Ó God can be found at the time of repentance. At the time your sin is acknowledged before God, He will acknowledge you for forgiveness. God dwells in Holiness. No man with sin will be able to approach His Holy presence. Psalm 32:5, I acknowledged my sin to you, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ÔI will confess my transgressions to the LORD,Õ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.Ó By acknowledging oneÕs sin and iniquity, finding God will never be an issue. All you need is mercy. Mercy is only obtainable at the throne of grace. Uncover your sins. By confessing and forsaking it, GodÕs mercy will become yours. Proverbs 28:13, ÒHe who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confess and forsakes them will have mercy.Ó
NEED FOR CHANGE: Do you have a pending need for a change in your life? The depth of your need is not a challenge to God. It is a challenge for you to break out of your lack of understanding and know that a right approach to God will always be honored by the living God. If you understand that God is not a partial God, and operate on it, then He will tolerate you. You will have an edge over your need. He granted the request of Jabez and he will not deny yours. Jabez has a need for change. He understood that calling God will grant his request. JabezÕs name means pain; he wanted it to be transformed to gain. He delivered a conscious call, a purposeful call. He called because of his pressing need and not because of a need to impress anybody. He did not call because of emotion, nor to please any man, nor because of an invitation to prayer session, nor because he was religious. In view of JabezÕs motivation to pray, ask yourself the following questions: What has always been the basis of your calling on Him? Does any of the above fit with your calling motive? Looking at JabezÕs calling, the reason for his result will be appreciated for your learning.
JABEZÕS CALL: 1 Chronicles 4:10, ÒAnd Jabez called on the LORD God of Israel saying, Ôoh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause painÕ So God granted him what he requested.Ó Jabez must have called when God may be found.
Calling on God by His name is an indication that you know Him. He is the LORD God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Call on Him in Jesus name. To be named PAIN is a curse, not a blessing. He wanted a name change. Do you? Jabez asked for GodÕs blessing, GodÕs good pronouncement to renounce PAIN. Blessing is all you want, not a curse. When God blesses, He extends His help, bestows favors, and causes joy because His blessing is multiplication. In addition, he also asked for enlargement of territory. To be enlarged is to be multiplied.
Knowing: he knew that his request would be granted; he asked for protection for the expected blessings; he asked for the Hand of God to be with him — the hand of God that will deliver and preserve His blessings in life. Jabez knew what he was asking for. Be purposeful in your asking, forsake the wicked way, return to the LORD, and you will find Him, and He will have mercy.
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayer (1Peter 4:7)