Breakthrough (4)

What Intercessors Can Learn from Jabez' Prayer

We all go through painful experiences of one kind or another, and how we handle life’s adversities will have a lot to do in determining our character and our destiny. The intriguing story of Jabez reveals how our pain can be transformed as we lay hold of God’s promises:

 

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked (1 Chronicles 4:9-10 ESV).

 

Too often, people assume that their upbringing inevitably determines their destiny. But Jabez knew otherwise. Right from the beginning, we see that he stood out from the crowd, and he was “more honorable” even than his own brothers.

 

However, as we read about Jabez’ life, we realize his life got off to a rough start. It seemed like the cards were stacked against him. His birth was so painful that his mother called his name Jabez”—derived from the Hebrew word for pain.

 

Perhaps you can relate to Jabez’ story at this point. Your parents probably didn’t name you “a Pain”—at least not formally! But let’s be honest: Sometimes parents, siblings, peers, pastors, or employers send us negative messages about our identity…who we are. Or maybe there was a bully in your neighborhood who said you were too skinny…too fat…too ugly…too short…or too stupid.

 

There’s an old saying that is totally false. I’m sure you’ve heard it: “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” That truth is just the opposite: We can recover from sticks and stones and even broken bones—but people’s words often cause us a lifetime of hurt.

 

That’s how Jabez’ story begins: with pain…with rejection from the very people who should have shown him the most love and acceptance. But the good news is that Jabez wasn’t content to wallow in his situation. He rejected the labels put on him by his detractors, choosing instead to seek God for a new identity…a new purpose…and a new destiny.

 

How did your story begin in its early chapters? Perhaps you had a wonderful, loving family that cared for you and nurtured you all along the way. But I meet so many people today who have had an experience more like Jabez.

 

So what did Jabez do to break free from the negative labels that threatened to bind him to a life of failure or mediocrity? The text says, Jabez called upon the God of Israel.” If you are going to break free from people’s opinions about you, you must cry out for HIGHER opinion—the opinion of Almighty God. In the end, it’s really just HIS opinion that maters, isn’t it? When you stand before Him in eternity, the bullies and naysayers won’t be there to tear you down. The only thing that will matter will be hear His beautiful words of affirmation, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

 

We’re specifically told that he called upon “the God of Israel.” This doesn’t just mean he was calling upon the God of the nation of Israel. No, Jabez was calling upon the God of JACOB—the patriarch whose name was changed by God to ISRAEL.

 

Do you see why this is significant? Jacob had a pretty dysfunctional childhood, and his own brother seemed intent on killing him. And just like Jabez, Jacob had been given a rather negative name—Jacob, the “supplanter” or “usurper.” And up until the point when Jacob’s name was changed, he had lived up to his negative name, becoming an opportunistic scoundrel and deceiver.

 

But after Jacob wrestled all night with God in Genesis 32:22-29, the Lord changed his name to Israel, which meant “Triumphant with God” or “Prince with God.”

 

You see, Jabez knew the story of Jacob well. He saw how God had transformed Jacob from being a PAIN to being a PRINCE. And Jabez called on the “God of Israel (Jacob)” to do the same for him.

 

Perhaps you need a name change today…a new identity. God can take your PAIN and make you a PRINCE or PRINCESS. He can take your FAILURES and give you a glorious FUTURE. But you have a role to play. You must cry out to Him, like Jabez did. You may even need to wrestle with Him, as Jacob did. But don’t let go until you have a new name…a fresh start…a new beginning.

 

And I want you to notice that Jabez asked God to give him several specific things. This is an important lesson for us, because sometimes our prayers and our plans are too vague and undefined. I encourage you today to be specific about what you are asking God for. Specific prayer requests will bring specific answers!

 

Jabez first requested of the Lord, “Oh that you would bless me.” God wants to bless YOU, my friend! So go ahead, like Jabez, and ASK Him to bless you.

 

The second thing Jabez asked is that God would “enlarge his border.” In the same way, God wants to enlarge you today. He wants to give you bigger dreams…higher vision…more audacious plans.

 

But think of how incredible this prayer request must have been for Jabez, the man who was labeled a pain and a loser. He could have curled up in a ball and wallowed in his victimhood, but instead he did just the opposite. He called on God to enlarge his territory and give him greater responsibilities and impact.

 

So what about YOU? Is there some area of your life that you need God to enlarge? Your career…your finances…your health…your relationships…your ministry…your vision? Today can be your first step in asking God for an INCREASE that will change your entire trajectory in life.

 

Jabez’ next request was that “God’s hand” would be upon his life. This expressed Jabez’ recognition that he needed GOD’S FAVOR in order to accomplish his life’s PURPOSE. This is so important for you to see: In order to escape from any painful experiences that would hold you back from your destiny, you need God’s favor.

 

Jabez’ final request was that God would keep from harm—from the things that would cause pain, either to himself or the people around him. Jabez was a man of great faith, but he also was a realist. He understood that he had received a legacy of pain and dysfunction, and the natural thing would be to continue that legacy in his own life. It’s no secret that people in pain tend to cause pain to others. People who have been abused often become abusers. Children of alcoholics and addicts too often follow in their parents footsteps.

 

But Jabez knew the negative patterns must STOP! He had been called a pain, but that’s not how he wanted to treat others.

 

This passage about Jabez ends with a beautiful conclusion: “And God granted what he asked.” I love happy endings, don’t you? Just as God did in the life of Jabez, He has planned a happy ending for YOU!

 

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Colliding Kingdoms & Living on the Fringe

Recently my wife and I started watching the Fringe TV series on Netflix. The fictional show deals with unexplained supernatural and technological occurrences investigated by the FBI’s “fringe science” division. It turns out that many of the grisly events have been caused by a collision of parallel universes and alternate timelines.

      Having watched several seasons of Fringe, I can’t help but think of a pivotal but rarely discussed passage in Job 26:14: “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; and how faint a word we hear of Him!”

      After years of feeling the smug satisfaction of knowing he was an exceptionally upright and virtuous man, Job finally understood an awful truth: Although he had been doing all the right “religious” things, he was only on the outer edges of God’s plan for his life. Instead of having an intimate daily relationship with the Lord, he was only hearing God’s voice faintly and sporadically.

      During the climactic final scene of Job’s story, he admits to the Lord, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).

      People always wonder why Job had to go through such horrendous trials. Part of the answer is simply this: God wouldn’t allow Job to remain on the fringes.

      The Lord wanted to bless Job in new ways, beyond his wildest dreams. Yet none of that was possible if Job was content to stay on the fringes. He already had been blessed with great wealth, but God had a far greater dimension of abundance in mind for Job.

      There have been many times in my Christian life when I languished on the fringes of God’s ways. Perhaps you have too. Often when we’re on the fringes, we don’t even know it.

      Until the heat was on, Job didn’t have a clue about his true condition or what he was missing. He had fallen into the common trap of comparing himself to those around him, instead of comparing himself to God’s holiness. He was content to be “the greatest of all the people of the East” instead of great in God’s kingdom (Job 1:1-3).

      Just as in the Fringe series, Job’s ordeal stemmed from a collision of universes or kingdoms. God versus Satan. Good versus evil. Relationship versus religion. The judgmental assumptions of his friends versus God’s ultimate plan to bless him.

      But amid this horrific collision, God was working all things together for Job’s good (Romans 8:28). If it hadn’t been for his trials, Job might have never discovered he was living on the fringe.

      However, there’s a major difference between Fringe and the Bible. In the TV series, exciting “paranormal” events happen on the “fringe” of human experience. In contrast, when believers are content to stay on the fringe in their relationship with God, the exact opposite is true—life is boring and there’s little, if any, experience of the supernatural. A life on the fringe is a bland, powerless, and unfulfilling existence.

      Aren’t you tired of living on the fringes of God’s purposes? I am.

      It’s time to dive in and go deeper in your relationship with the Lord. Yes, you may experience turbulent and disturbing collisions between parallel kingdoms at times, but that’s where the fun is. It’s in the center of God’s will that you will find peace, satisfaction, and fruitfulness.

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What's Holding You Back?

Sometimes we’re on the brink of our breakthrough, but something is holding us back. Can you relate?

 

After Moses’ death, Joshua found himself on the banks of the Jordan River, overlooking the Promised Land on the other side. God was telling him to take the Israelites over the river and into their destiny—but there was a problem.

 

Forty years earlier, Joshua had been one of the 12 spies sent to view the Promised Land before the Israelites entered (Numbers 13 – 14). The spies all gave a glowing report about what a wonderful land it was, but 10 of the spies said there were fierce enemies and “giants” in the land. It was much too dangerous to risk entry, they warned.

 

Joshua and Caleb were the only spies who said the Israelites should obey God and trust Him to give them the land. But their report was rejected, and more than a million people chose to wander in the wilderness rather than enter the Promised Land.

 

Now Joshua had come full circle, right back to this place where he had boldly proclaimed God’s provision—but where he suffered an agonizing and humiliating defeat when his message was rejected. Forty years had passed, but he still was traumatized by the memories.

 

Perhaps you find yourself in a similar place. You are on the brink of the Promised Land. You have tasted its fruit before, and you know it’s an incredibly good land. Yet you also remember the painful experiences associated with this. Fear and apprehension rise up within you when you consider the prospect of taking a step of faith to cross over and face the giants.

 

God has brought you to this place, not so He can torment you, but so He can heal you. He is telling you, just as He told Joshua,   (Joshua 1:9).

 

You’ve the Promised Land before, and here you are again—right on the brink. The Lord has brought you full circle so you can face your fears and find your destiny.

 

You are SO close, and you can succeed this time. Don’t let anything, or anyone, hold you back. I’m convinced the call toward your future is stronger than the tormenting chains of your past.

 

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Breakthrough Faith at the Gates

“Gates are where we win or lose. That is why Scripture uses gates as the place to be broken through. We must break through intimidation, faithlessness, fear, hopelessness, despair, or whatever else looms like an unconquerable foe at the gates. The threshold is where we either leap forward or back out. Yet once we leap, it is where we meeting the incredible supernatural power of God to break through before us victorious over every obstacle. It is after we leap that we begin to possess our inheritance for the current season. It is where increase and abundance come in whatever dimension we are crossing over into. It is there we meet God in a way that is new.” Barbara Yoder

The death and resurrection of Jesus was the greatest breakthrough in all of history. Take time to think about this astounding breakthrough. Jesus broke the power of death and evil when He died on the cross for our sins. His resurrection is proof of the most wonderful and glorious accomplishment on earth. He provided a way of breakthrough for those who trust in Him.

There are shut doors that need to be opened by the resurrection power of God. There are long-term barriers where we need the explosive power and might of God to break through. Our God has the breakthrough anointing for each one of us. We don’t have to feel trapped in a narrow place. He will use His authority and force to open the gates that have been shut.

Perhaps you are still waiting for a breakthrough in your life.

Jesus has the breaker anointing to break through in any situation that you or I may face. We need breakthrough in order to see heaven come on earth and to see the Kingdom of God released among us. God is looking for people who believe Him for breakthrough.

God wants us to rise up in faith in order to see the breakthrough. He is the one who will break through for you, but He needs your cooperation to open the gates - the opening to those closed places - that lie before you. Barbara Yoder in her book, The Breaker Anointing shares with us what faith will do for us.

“It opens the gate of heaven. When heaven’s gates open, what is in heaven comes down to earth. Health, wholeness, peace, love, grace, glory, revelation, strategy, and all the rest of the nature of God and His Kingdom come down when the gates open.”

As I have already said, the enemy tries to restrict us. He coils around us and tightens His grip like the python snake. He wants to restrict the Church worldwide, but we know that the Gates of Hades will not prevail against her (Matthew 16:18). Gates are exit and entry points that must be opened. Especially when we are at the place of threshold, the enemy will try to terminate our forward movement. He will attack with fear and through squeezing the life out of us.

There is warfare at the gates and especially at the threshold of breakthrough. This is where we must overcome. The Hebrew root meaning for threshold, gate or door is “caphaph” and means “to snatch away or terminate”. The other word for threshold is “pethen” and means “to twist as a snake”. It even sounds like the python and may be where the name of this snake originated.

When we are experiencing strong enemy warfare at the gates, it may seem that there is no life or direction but only darkness, despair, and the feeling of being lost. This is not what God wants for us. This is an enemy attack at the point of threshold and breakthrough. He tries to snatch away our destiny and seeks to terminate our work for God at this point. There is fear at the brink or threshold because we are moving into a new place or territory. It is as if we are at the precipice of a mountain and there is a fear of risk, because there is a need for more faith in order to leap over to the other side.

Haven’t you been there? You know you must jump but your flesh doesn’t want to. It’s too risky. You might fall.

We made a move for several months to southern Spain where I experienced this first-hand. I knew I had to jump and make the move, yet it was so hard personally. My cozy home seemed just too comfortable and the unknown was not very appealing. But after I made that jump and settled into the new place, everything changed.

God began to open new doors of breakthrough, but I had to take that first step and by faith go through the gate God had put before me. I won a victory at that gate, but it was a place of real personal battle until I finally stepped through it. I had to wrestle through to a new place of victory. I had to give up what I had before and cross over into that new place. It wasn’t easy but it was necessity.

In 5 weeks we are making a move to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri in order to base our ministries from that location. It’s a huge step. We’ve been in Virginia Beach for 15 years, but God wants us to move forward in faith. We’ve sold our home and are driving a truckload of all of our belongings to Kansas City without having a place to unload it! We are trusting God to break through for us. We sold our house almost instantly but that’s another story I will have to tell you in the future. God broke through in an incredible way!

We are all overcomers through Christ. He is the one who will win the victory, but we have to exercise our faith. He is the one who will break through for us, but He wants our cooperation. We need God’s supernatural intervention to break through gates. It is impossible for humans to do it, but God will go before us and break through. He will break through those impenetrable gates before you to bring you into new places of victory. Isaiah 45:2, “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze (brass) and cut the bars of iron.”

I encourage you to persevere in faith, and do not give up.

There are breakthroughs in prayer that are close at hand. The enemy is trying to terminate your forward movement. You may be battling in faith and feel hindered by the enemy. Press on and press through for the breaker, Jesus, will surely come, and He will come with His resurrection power. In 2005 I found out I had breast cancer. Having a life-threatening disease was a great test of faith. What God was showing me during the months of going through breast cancer - with continual challenges of faith daily - was that He was preparing me spiritually for the next step. I could never move further without this personal preparation.

Intercessors are key to the world harvest that we are beginning to see in the nations. The enemy knows this and is trying to hinder the prayer movement. He will do this by trying to hinder the faith of God’s people. God has been preparing you for the future. This is the time to crossover to a new place and to take new territory for the Kingdom of God. But this involves letting go and moving forward with God in a dimension you have never known before.

“Crossing over require us to give up something that is precious to us such as a prized possession. It may be a thing, an attitude, a person, security, or our desire for the future. It can be anything that we hold on to when the only way to get to the other side is to let go of it. There is an aspect of idolatry to that. It has become a god to us, something we worship and to which we are bowing our knee. To cross over will mean to let go of that which will not fit through the gate with us.” Barbara Yoder


How to Break Through in Faith

Many of you may be at the door, at the threshold point of breakthrough in faith. The enemy is taunting and trying to stop you from forward movement. The keys are a breakthrough God. What do you need to do in order to see the breakthrough and touch the God of the breakthrough? Remember, there are things you must let go of in order to see the breakthrough. Here are some keys that will help release your faith and unlock the door to breakthrough:

  • Realize that God is going to break through for you - You can’t do it by yourself. He has the resurrection power to break through every obstacle in your life. Meditate on God and His Word until you know that He is the breakthrough God for you.
  • Yield all control to God - Let go of the known and trust God to get you across to the other side. So often we try to control our own lives. We must let go of anything that God may want us to give up. We need to yield our will, and move to a new level of trust in God.
  • Wait on God and find out what action He wants you to take -Be still and make sure you know God’s leading in your life. Some of you may be in a place of waiting, and it may take faith to wait. But others of you may know what God wants you to do, but you have been hesitant and fearful. Hesitate no longer.
  • Move forward in faith and obedience - Bold action will open the gate and release God’s spiritual power. Do not waver because of fear. Take a leap of faith. God will catch you in His arms on the other side.
Realize that if you refuse to leap at the point of breakthrough, you have made a choice to stop. Then you are stuck at that place until you go back and again choose to step out by faith. God will then open up new revelation to you. You’ll wonder why you had been so hesitant. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

We will come to this choice of breakthrough again and again in our lives. God expects us to walk by faith daily. Remember that Jesus’ death and resurrection was the greatest place of breakthrough.

Jesus broke through every power of darkness when He died on the cross. His resurrection is the key to all power and all victory against the enemy attacks we face today. We can walk in great faith without fear because our King has already won the battle at the cross. We can pray great prayers without doubt or fear, because we pray them in His most powerful Name.


A Breakthrough Prayer for Faith at the Gates

“Lord, I thank You that Your death on the cross and resurrection was the greatest breakthrough in all of history. You have provided the way for breakthrough. Your resurrection power can open any door. I want to believe You for breakthrough in my life. Today I ask You to break through in the following areas (name those areas specifically). I want to see the Kingdom of God released in this place. Help me to believe You for a greater breakthrough. Open heaven’s gates and bring heaven to earth in these situations. Help me to cooperate with You and move forward in faith. I claim Your promises in Isaiah 45:2, ‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze (brass) and cut the bars of iron.’ Break through every obstacle of the enemy in my life and make the crooked places straight. Bring me into a new place of victory.

I choose to persevere in faith and not give up. Help me to go through the gate - crossover to a new place - and take new territory for the Kingdom of God. I choose to let go of anything that will not fit through the gate. I yield all control and choose to wait on You. Show me what action You want me to take. I choose to let go of the known and the comfortable, and I trust You to get me across to the other side. Help me to move forward in faith and obedience. Hebrews 11:6 says, ‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’ I earnestly seek You Lord. Help me to walk by faith every day. Thank You for breaking through for me at the gates. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

“Today, as much as at any time, we need men of great faith and men who are great in prayer. These are the two chief virtues that make men great in the eyes of God. These two things create conditions of real spiritual success in the life and work of the church. It is our main concern to see that we keep this kind of quality faith before God. This kind of faith grasps and holds in its keeping the things for which it asks without doubt and fear.” E. M. Bounds

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise

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