10 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

1. Does God Really Want to Bless Me

2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3b And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2, 3b

38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

2. Why Does God Want me to Ask for More Territory?

10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! 1 Chronicles 4:10

#1 We are His Children

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1:12

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11

#2 We are Commanded

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

#3 So We Don't Miss Out

2b You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:2b-3

3. What Would Keep Us from Claiming the Territory that God has for Us

#1 Fear

1 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

#2 Complacency

32b the complacency of fools will destroy them; Proverbs 1:32b

12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:12-14

#3 Apathy

16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:16

24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, Deuteronomy 2:24

12b the love of most will grow cold, Mathew 24:12b

11b but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Revelation 12:11b

#4 Denial

20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

#5 Doubt

6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20

8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Psalm 2:8