The prisoner is set free...

Greetings all.  Hoping today has found you seeing blessings around every turn.

I mentioned in yesterday's post about crying out to God while I was in the middle of that very difficult time early in our marriage.  During that time I continued to pray and read scripture.  One of the things I prayed is found in 1 Chronicles 4:10.  In this well hidden, beautiful little scripture lies the most incredibly bold prayer of faith!  

1 Chronicles 4:10  "Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, 'Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!'  And God granted him what he requested."

There's a book, The Prayer of Jabez, in which the author breaks down this amazing prayer.  It's a bold thing to request of God, isn't it?  How could it even be possible for God to 'enlarge my border'?  The prayer of Jabez asking God to give him more territory, that God would guard over him with His hand, and that Jabez would be kept from harm, seemed pretty selfish to me.  Yet when I studied a little further I discovered that Jabez was seeking after more territory and safety and to be kept free from harm so that he might be of more use to God!  He was asking for 'more' so that he could give 'more'.  And at this point I knew that the aim of my heart was really to serve my God more, not just the selfish desire to have my own home.  My heart knew truth, but my eyes never saw the change I so desperately sought.

I prayed that prayer for the next 8 years!  Eight years.  Along with that prayer was the scripture that drove me forward, Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."  I learned, the hard way, that delight yourself in yourself isn't exactly what the verse means.  There's such a fine line between what you think you are and what you really are... at least for me, there is.  I have this incredible ability to cause myself to believe that I'm doing everything exactly like God would have me do it!  But He has a warning for that, too, "don't deceive yourselves"!

Fast forward again to the spring of 2010.  Three sons graduated from high school, two still at home, struggles all around us, but God began to move!

It was during a men's conference at our church that Paul was confronted face to face with Him.  Paul was challenged by God (through the speaker) to "grow up".  The speaker spoke quiet frankly with the men of our church at that conference and my husband responded to the call.  He committed then and there to take God up on His offer to "grow him up".  He made the decision to become involved in a MasterLife study group, led by our Sunday School teacher, Dr. Johnny Mayfield.  As a part of that study and discipleship plan, the key to the "success" of the disciple is accountability.  Being held accountable for lessons studied, concepts learned, Bible verses memorized, and for reaching out to those around you.  The ultimate goal of the MasterLife study is that you become a disciple... Luke 9:23 "If any man wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me."

Paul discovered very quickly that discipleship didn't mean walking down an aisle, have an emotional moment and call it salvation.  He learned that salvation is dying to yourself and your own desires every single day, and allowing God to use you at His good pleasure to accomplish His work.

Since that time, our lives have changed for the better.  I cried out to God to help me, and He answered me.  As I watched Paul grow deeper in his faith, I watched the chains that once held him begin to shatter and fall off!  God was doing a work in my husband and as a result, in our family.  Paul dug deeper into the Word, he learned to reach out to other men who were struggling, he stepped up to the call of God to lead Bible studies and show other men about the freedom of being real men of God in a world that seems to only reward the ungodly.  The disciple had come full circle and had learned to disciple others.

The encouragement from the Word tonight is for anyone who is ready to see their life changed for the better.  

Psalm 1:1-3  "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers."

Ladies, if you have been blessed by God to have this Psalm 1 man leading your family, thank him extra today for being a godly husband and father.  If you are still praying for God to lead your husband to this place, don't you ever stop praying this for him.  God loves him more than you do, and He has created him to lead your family.  Love him, respect him and never stop praying for him... you will be so glad you did when you can be there and watch those chains fall of him!  I promise.