Jabez's Prayer

Unfortunately we have almost no updates at this time, except that we met with our new home study provider today to get our updated Texas home study. Your home study has to be current for whatever home you will bring the baby/babies home to, thankfully we were able to turn this around very quickly and now we just wait for her report.

I wanted to share a prayer with you that our Pastor spoke on last week. This prayer was so applicable to our adoption journey and I have refocused how I pray for this season using Jabez's prayer.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 says Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying "I gave birth to him in pain." 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. Jabez means pain but he was not going to let his name define who he was. He cried out to God just as God wants us to cry out to him. When Jabez cries out to the Lord he asks for a few things, first he asks for blessing. We are praying blessing over this journey, we are asking that the Lord's will be done, that He bless our family, that He bless our child/children, that He bless our birth mother and all who we encounter during and after this journey. Secondly, Jabez, asks for the Lord to enlarge his territory, now this could mean so many things depending on your situation, however, for us, we are asking the Lord to enlarge our family. We are asking that He would allow our family to grow and flourish, that we would be able to not only grow in number but that our journey can also grow His kingdom. Next, he asks that the Lord's hand be with him. Here I feel as if Jabez is praying for the Lord's presence. During this journey, I have felt the need for the Lord's presence more than ever. This journey has not been easy, I often find myself overwhelmed and this part of the prayer stands out to me the most. Where I have seen my growth the most in this journey is a longing for the Lord's presence and to cry out to Him. Don't get me wrong I have a lot of room to grow and I need to continue to learn to do this daily but this part of Jabez's prayer resonates with me. The final part of his prayer asks to be kept from harm and free from pain. The reason this part felt so close to our journey is our hearts are so vulnerable. We know and have felt that this is not an easy journey. We have shed tears and we our hearts have hurt in ways I didn't know possible, but we are continuing to believe that the Lord will grant our request and that He will protect us through this journey.

What I love about Jabez's prayer is that it is such a great base for our prayers in different circumstances. Please let us know if we can be praying for you in anyway and thank you for praying for us.