Understanding Labor Pain: A Spiritual Perspective on Jabez's Prayer

1 Chronicles chapter 4 verse 9. When you got it, shout I got it. If you don't, it's right there on the screen. It's one

of my favorite scriptures and it reads a little bit more on the stage for me. Uh, Brandon Jabz was more honorable than his

brothers, and his mother named him Jabz, saying, "Because I bore him with pain. I thought I was at Rock City

Church." Okay, maybe you waiting on the good part. Verse 10. Now Jabaz called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh that you

would bless me indeed, enlarge my territory. Keep your hand on me that you would keep

me from harm and that it may not pain me." Here's here's one of my favorite parts of the scripture. And God granted

him what he requested. See, you don't know when to give God praise right there. Because if you can't

shout for J Bears getting an answer prayer, you can't shout when God give you an answer prayer. And I'll say that

again. And God granted you what you requested. If you don't mind, I want you to high

five everybody on your row and tell them you're not under attack. You in labor. Come on. That's the wrong neighbor. Find

another one. and they didn't high-five you back. You can be

seated. I want I want to teach from a topic today entitled labor pain. Labor pain. I know you may be

thinking that you put on your Sunday's best, got your hair done, nails done, you put on some good Vaseline

lotion, to look good for the Lord. And you think you showed up to a

sanctuary here at Rock City Church, but might I suggest that today you're not just sitting in a sanctuary, but I want

to welcome you to a spiritual delivery room. I have a sneaky suspicion that there are

some people that have been carrying some stuff on the inside of them that you're ready to give birth to.

You may not be carrying a baby, but I've got a sneaky suspicion somebody in here is carrying a dream. You're ready to

give birth to the dream that God put on the inside. Are you ready to give birth to that business that got birth to that

family? Birth to greater favor. Birth to freedom in your life, birth to prosperity. Y'all not having church with

me already? I declare every area in your life that's been dormant, we we declare delivery now in the name of Jesus. I

come against the spirit of miscarriages and abortion. God, we speak life over their spiritual womb that they will not

continue to keep carrying what you put on the inside of them over time. I come against delay. God, we say thank you

that breakthrough is happening in our family, in our faith, in our future. We will stop, we will not stay stuck in the

same cycles. But this is my season for breakthrough. I feel like preaching. Somebody shout breakthrough. I declare

breakthrough over your life. Now watch this everybody because for some of you, you not shouting yet because you still

focusing on some of the pressure you feeling. Contractions are getting closer.

You feel like you're being stretched. And for some of you, be careful if you shout over the

blessing but complain about the stretching. Because you cannot get the blessing

without the stretching. I feel my help over here. I'm going to say it again. You cannot get the

blessing without the stretching. We often shout that he got up on Easter Sunday. But we skip over the fact that

they hung him high and they see you wouldn't even be saved and sane in the membrane if Jesus had not stretched for

you. But I wonder do I have some people in the room today that's saying God I'm not just praying for you to bless me.

I'm saying you can trust me when I'm when you're stretching me. that you praise God for houses, cars, clothes,

and promotion. I dare you to give God a 30 second praise break for the stretching. That he's pulling favor out

of you. He's pulling strength out of you. He's pulling wisdom out of you. He's pulling greatness out of you. While

you still sitting there looking at me like that, if you know he's stretching you, open up your mouth. Stretch your

hands as high as you see yourself going and give him a praise. that reflects the level of your

strength. Maybe that's why he keeps surrounding you with people you don't like.

They don't like me now. I'm going to talk to y'all. Maybe he's stretching your emotional

intelligence. Because in order to be used by God, you can only like you cannot only like

working with people you like. [Applause] Come here, Noah. Build the boat. Who you

want on the boat? Lions, tigers, and bears. Oh, snakes going to be on the boat,

[Applause] too. Y'all don't like me. Come here, Joseph. Yes, you're

favored by God. Yes, I gave you this dream. But you're also going to have to be able to win while you in prison

because you don't have to be in perfect conditions to be used by God. And I believe that sometimes we have a

watch this we have limited being blessed to an American definition, not a biblical definition. According to the

Bible, being blessed is about receiving supernatural favor from God. And I wonder, do I have anybody in the room

that you've done as much as you can in your own power? God, if you don't do nothing else in this season, give me

supernatural favor. Yes, I don't have the best credit score, but I got supernatural favor. Yes, I'm applying

for stuff I shouldn't be applying for because I got supernatural favor. Yes, I'm not

qualified for the position, but I got supernatural favor. Yes, I may be young expecting a scholarship and they don't

even know who I am. But God is going to put my name on the mind of the right person. Because everybody don't have to

like you, just the right person. Lord, give me favor.

And with natural labor pain, it expands your womb to make room for life. But with spiritual labor pain, it

expands your faith to make room for your destiny. And I do I need to run that back. I like

this side right here. Y'all see I'm going just preach just to this corner right here.

Natural labor pain expands your wound to make room for life. Yeah. Spiritual labor pain expands your faith to make

room for your destiny. See, what if you're living in a season that's too small for what God is trying to take

you, but you don't have the faith to step out of your comfort zone. So, watch this. The enemy of God using you is not

Satan. What if the enemy in this season, watch this everybody, is safe

that God is like, "Yep, I got you right where I want you. I got you in this labor and delivery

room, but you're not going to give birth on what to what's on the inside of you until you follow my one instruction. I

got one word for you. Push." Come on. See, see, see. Only the mothers can can appreciate that because you know when

they tell you to push, that means you done carrying it. It's now time to deliver it. So, I'm going to say this

again for only for the people that's been carrying some stuff that you know that God put on the inside of you. And

something on the inside should start leaping when I say it. Push. Y'all don't want to have church with me.

I speak to the business inside of you. Push. I speak to the wisdom on the inside of you. Push. I speak to the

financial freedom on the inside of you. Push. You cannot become all that God has called you to be if you're not willing

to push. Pray until something happens. And some of us are stuck where we are because you cannot

become a big person with a small prayer life. You talk a big game, but does your

prayer match the level of your conversation? I'm stepping on [Music]

to. And what if God sent me here today to reset your prayer life? Because when you began

praying, you didn't reset your mindset. So you praying on your level, not God level.

You praying and asking God for certain things and he's like, "You don't even need me for

that." When was the last time you prayed and asked God for something that scared the life out of you?

When was the last prayer you prayed that if God didn't do it, it couldn't be done?

What is the mountain in your life that you need God to move? What are the giants in your life

that you need God to overcome? And watch this everybody because how do I know if I'm in labor and not just pain? I'll

give you one of them. I don't have enough time. Here it is. Number one, discomfort has a deadline.

See, y'all miss what I said? Because for some of you, you've been in discomfort, but you know, every storm has an

expiration date. And so, yes, I'm enduring the pain right now, but this season won't last forever.

Number two, here it is. When the pain is productive, it may not feel good while it's working,

but it's working for my good. See, sometimes you need people to walk out of your life because you may have

become too codependent on people and if they were still in your life, you would give the people the credit and not God.

And so sometimes God has to remove you from a circle and says, "I need to you work in your life because I only get the

glory out of this." He he says, "Watch this everybody. Write this down. This is why we have to pray because prayer is

not just a ritual. Prayer here it is is also rebellion. I knew I would shake somebody

theological tree right there. It's rebellion against worry. Prayer is rebellion against

limitation. Prayer is rebellion against the limits that the enemy and the enemy try to

place on your life. Prayer is rebellion against the lie that what is will always be.

Prayer, watch this every everybody. Every time you pray, you are declaring to the world that God's power is greater

than my reality. Now watch this everybody. Here's why prayer is so important. Because prayer is a spiritual

allergic reaction to average. They don't like me over there. Prayer is a spiritual allergic reaction

to average that when you begin to pray, you're saying, "I'm no longer settling for an average life, for average

relationships, for average experience, because Jesus said that he came that I may have life and have life

more abundantly." not average but abundance. And so if there is not abundance in certain areas

of my life, I may not have submitted that to Jesus. Now, now watch this because here's what's so good everybody.

I want you to catch this because we said average relationships. We're praying against

average faith. But more importantly, we we praying against average

mindsets because the greatest fight you will ever face in your life is in your

mind. Y'all missed that. The message is entitled labor pain. I have four kids. One of them is named Champion. And when

Champion was when my wife was in labor with Champion, Champ tried to come out feet

first. The doctor refused to let my son come out even though he was close because he said, "No, it will

break the law." If he came out feet first, that's what they call a breach. Yeah.

So while my wife was in delivery, they kept flipping her over, turning her around so that the turning that was

happening on the outside, [Applause] started changing what was happening on

the inside. And so he went from trying to come out feet first to now coming out head first.

You think I'm preaching about my son, but I'm really trying to preach to you that your next breakthrough is when you

come out head first. Because if you can get your mind out, you can get your life out. If you

can get your mind out, you can get your marriage out. I dare somebody to give God a 30 second praise break. Put your

hand on your head and say, "We coming out of this. My mind is not staying in the land where we are right now. I'm

thinking on another level. I'm believing on another level. God, bring me out head first.

Many of us are stuck not because of the enemy, but because of our inner me. And so you come to church and you can

hear the greatest sermon you ever heard in your life, but that sermon won't change your life if it gets stuck in

your head and never make it to your heart. And so what the enemy does is he's not

intimidated when you get saved. Y'all don't want to have church. He's not intimidated when you get saved

because he likes to have you saved and stuck at the same time. He's saying, "Yes, you can get saved,

but I only will allow you to experience heaven once you die because your mind ain't ready for the kingdom on earth."

But the devil is afraid of not a shouting believer. He's not afraid of a believer with perfect attendance at

church. You want to know a believer that the enemy is afraid of? A believer with a madeup mind.

When your mind is made up, you become a threat to the kingdom of darkness. Now watch this everybody. Don't complain

about small results if you keep giving God small requests. So, we're complaining about what we may

have, and God is like, "That's what you pray for, ain't it?" But watch this,

everybody. Moses prayed to God and he parted the Red Sea. Elijah prayed to God and he closed

heaven. Then he prayed again and he opened heaven. Jesus prayed to God and he raised Lazarus from the dead.

if he could do it for Moses, if he could do it for Elijah, and if he did it for Jesus,

I got a sneaky suspicion that he can do it for you, too. But I wonder, do I have any prayer warriors in the room today

that's done being silent and saying, "God, I'm reviving my prayer life." Now, look at Mark 11:4 because Jesus, y'all

don't believe me. Jesus said this. He says, "Watch this. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in

prayer, I feel like running, bro. I just almost jumped off this stage. Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe

that you have received it and it will be Yeah, they don't like me on the right side. I'mma read it again to the student

section. Jesus said, "Therefore, I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer." All right, maybe I need to read it again.

What? Therefore, some of the stuff you ask for. Whatever you ask for in prayer, watch

this. Believe that you have already received it. and it will

be yours. So, what if God does not have a power problem, but we have a perception problem that we're praying

prayers that we may not believe because Jesus is linking our ability to receive to our ability to believe. Watch

this everybody. If you really believe it, once you ask for it, your prayer will become a thank you

party because you don't have to wait until you get it to thank them. And I wonder, do I have some people that

don't have to wait until the battle is over? But you can shout right now and say,

"God, I may not have the stuff, but I thank you in advance cuz I know it's already done. I know what the doctor

said, but I thank you in advance that by your stripes, I'm already healed." I wonder do I have some people that can

be bold and start thanking God in advance and shout before you get it. I'm going to wait on y'all. Your child

is already blessed. It's already done. Your house is already blessed. It's already done. You're already debtree.

It's already done. Your mind is being renewed. Somebody shout, "It's already done." It's already done. Why is this

important? Because faith is not convincing God to move. Faith is convincing yourself that

he already has. He said when you pray, pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth

as it is in heaven." So when you pray, watch this, you are given heaven permission to interrupt an earthly

affairs. And so here it is everybody. I want you to look at this because we meet a man in the text today named

JZ. JZ everybody shouts about what he prayed but they overlook his mother's pain. The text literally says his mother

named him JZ because I bore him with pain. Now, normally people preach this and beat J

Bear's mama up. Can you believe she named her baby pain? She allowed what she was going

through to become a label over her child. I don't want to demonize her. I don't want to idolize her. But can we

humanize her for a moment? Have you ever been in so much pain that you said some stuff that you wish you

could take back? She gives birth to this child. The doctor asks, "What's his

name?" She's quiet. "Excuse me, ma'am. We need a name for the child." And she just yells back,

"Pain, grief, betrayal,

rejection. What label do you need to yell out? Who hurt you? Or what hurt you that

made you say some stuff that you wish you could take back?" But I'm so glad I serve a God that

redeems pain because even though she called him pain, he became known for promise.

And do I have anybody in the room that can say you may call me one thing in a season, but if you hang around long

enough, you'll watch God flip what the enemy meant for evil and God work it out for my good.

Now, now watch this, everybody. Here's what I love because he comes from all of this pain. We don't know what the pain

was. We don't know if it was a physical pain. We don't know if it was relational or emotional pain. Because in the habic

culture back in that day, fathers were responsible for naming their sons, but some kind of reason she had to name the

child. We don't know if he passed. We don't know if they broke up. We don't know what happened. We just know she's

in pain. And then the text blows my mind because over 600 generations come and people are settling for being

mediocre. They're settling for being average. And one name pops up and the text says, watch this. And Jabbaz was

more honorable than his brothers. I got to sit right there for a minute. We got to

exogetically unpack that because most people skip to the prayer and try to pray what he prayed without trying to

become the type of person he was when he prayed the prayer. Be careful when people want your results but don't want

your recipe. They want to get what you got but don't want to do what you did to get what you

have. It says he was more honorable than his brothers. And then I began to look up what

honorable meant. And when you look up honorable, it literally means everybody here it is. I want you to look at this.

To be heavy, burdensome,

numerous, rich to make weighty. And I said, "God, help me

understand what made Jabz so different from everybody else in his bloodline." And the Holy Spirit

whispered back to me in my ear, I could trust him to carry heavy weight.

Could it be you trying to pray Jaz's prayer, but you can't handle the type of weight he had to

carry while he prayed that prayer? Are y'all hearing this? And might I suggest to you that what if the

reason God keeps adding weight to your life is because he's trying to approve you for more glory?

that you complaining and say, "How is it I got the most responsibility? Y'all working me like the janitor, but watch

this. Y'all working me like the CEO, but paying me like the janitor." This don't make sense. What if that's God saying,

"I'm not using your work for you. I'm using the work to do something in you." Because by the time I'm done working on

you in this season, you going to be able to run a Fortune 500 company in the next season. Stop complaining about some of

the weight you're having to carry because maybe God wants to use your weight to take you to a whole another

level. I want to preach to somebody and tell you win anyway. I know it's heavy, but win anyway. I

know you're going through some heavy stuff, but win any. Look at your neighbor and say, "Win anyway."

Cry yourself to sleep at night, but win anyway. Don't know what your next move is, but win anyway.

Now, now he says he's more honorable. Then he starts

praying and he prayed a prayer that blessed my life. JBZ had to be a

brother. Why do I say that? Because when I look at the text, please throw verse 10 up there. Jaz did not say, "Dear

Father God, please bless me." Jaz said, "Oh, y'all y'all don't get it." Jaz

starts praying. He said, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed." See, sometimes you don't have the words

to say and the O just come out. People trying you done sent you the right wrong email at work

and you have a moment where you talk to oh Lord if you don't do something it can't be oh that you would

bless me indeed. In other words, it's the adjectives that matter. He didn't say,

"I want any kind of blessing." He said, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed." Don't just give me any type of blessing.

Give me a blessing to when people look at it, they say, "That's a blessing indeed." He says, "Bless

me indeed." He said, "I'm tired of being surrounded by

average and I know you have more inside of me than this." So God, I'm not praying this

prayer out of pride. I'm praying this prayer for your glory. Bless me indeed. Give me

supernatural favor. I may not have the degrees. I may not have the credit scores. I may not have

the connections, but when you have supernatural favor, everybody going to have to like you just the right person.

Bless me indeed. Then he take it to another level. Enlarge my territory.

He said, when you bless me, don't let don't allow me to stay stuck in this small circle. I'm feeling restricted.

I'm feeling restrained. Enlarge my territory. See, y'all don't know when to have church. If if you've been coming to

All Access, we about to have some church right here. Because we're not just giving God more time.

We're giving God more territory. And what if because you've been giving God more territory, he's about to enlarge

your territory. He says, "I'm feeling restrained. I feel like there's more in me.

Enlarge my territory. In other words, increase my influence. I don't always want to be the best kept

secret. That blessed somebody. I don't know who it was for. But God, I'm not

trying to be highlighted to be seen. But God, I feel like we're living in the day and age where people need proof

that a young boy who was born in pain connected to 600 generations of lack can be used by God and nobody get the credit

but God. Enlarge my territory. Then he says, watch this. Don't just

bless me in deeds. Don't just enlarge my territory. See, I'm trying to set you up to show you how to pray this

week. Then he says, thirdly, keep your hand on me, y'all. Did y'all hear what I just

said? He said, "Keep keep your hand on me." He said, "Keep your hand on me." In other words, I don't want the stuff and

lose you. He said, "Keep your hand on me." So even when people put their mouth on me,

it don't affect me because your hand is on me. So they can say whatever they want,

but no weapon formed against me. Come on. They'll be able to prosper. I wonder, do I have anybody in the room

today that can praise God that he has his hands on you? That in moments where you lost your mind, he kept his hands on

you. and moments where you went your own way. He kept his hands, he kept his hands on

you, said, "Keep your hand on me." In other words, I can't do this without your

presence. And I'm concerned that we're living in a generation that's settling for secular

faith. What is that? We are prioritizing progress over his

presence. And we think just because we're successful, God hand is on us. And that's not

true. Moses struck a rock, water came out. He was successful at that. But God hand wasn't on that.

God looks at Moses and he says, "Because your people are so rebellious and stubborn, you can have the promised

land, but you won't have me." Here it is, everybody. Give me the microphone. I think I might have gone

out. I hope y'all heard what I just said. For the past five minutes, I was preaching on faith.

I run it back now. I'mma get fired if I run it back. I only got Now, here it is. God looks at Moses.

Lean in right here. God looks at Moses. They had been in almost for over 40 years. Think about this. God brings them

out of Egypt. That's bondage. But he does not take them immediately into Canaan.

That's promise. Because you cannot have promise without process. Why is this important? Because

unprocessed people become ungrateful people. [Music]

Do I need to say that again? Unprocessed people become ungrateful people. This is why you

frustrated with some of the people you dated and some of your friends because you gave them too much too soon. And the

more you gave them, the more ungrateful they became. But God, in this season, everybody get in this

[Applause] [Music] process. So here they are stuck in

process for 40 years, which should have only taken about a week and a half. Because God, even though you're his

child and he loves you, he's not going to give you everything you want. He's going to give you what you can

manage. It's like, I brought you out of Egypt, but it's taken me 40 years to get Egypt out of

you. I got you out of that relationship, and you're about to waste another year. Detoxing that old

relationship. I'mma stop. I think this microphone got some preaching anointing on

[Applause] it. And so God looks at Moses. It's like, Moses, I love you. I'm proud of

you. Y'all can have the promised land, but you won't have me. You can have the house you want, the

dream house, but I'm not in that. You can have your dream

wedding. That's not my pick. That's yours. Yes, you can go get the job where you're

making more money, but you're not going to have peace because I'm not going to be on that.

And Moses response broke my heart because I thought about how many times we didn't respond the same way. Moses

looks back at God and says, "If I can't have you, I don't want this."

And I wonder, do I have somebody at the 11:30 service that's saying, "God, more than I want stuff, I want you.

More than I want money, I want you. More than I want the promotion, I want you." Can we just give God worship

and open up our hearts and show him how much we need him? As the deer thirst for water, so

does my soul long for more of you. You can keep your stuff. Just give me Jesus. He says, "What does it profit a

man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" He says, "Bless me indeed. Enlarge my territory. Keep your hand on

me. Why? So that it may not harm me and cause me [Music]

pain. In other words, he prayed a prayer that divinely reversed what he had been struggling

with his whole life. And see, we try to pray specifically what Jaz

prayed. But let me ask you something. What have you allowed people to call you?

Because he didn't pray just to receive a blessing. He prayed to birth a new

season. And I feel like some of you right now can relate to that because you feel like you've been stuck in cycles.

And I'm telling you that this is the season where you break through every so cycle that has had you stuck that has

had your f I break every soul tie. I break every stronghold. I break every word curse

that's been spoken over your life that you don't have to stay stuck in almost in delay.

And what blessed me in verse 10 is that the text says, "And God

granted what he requested." In other words, God answered his prayer. If you can't shout

for JZ, how you going to shout for yours? [Applause]

See, you know what disturbed me about this text? I remember a season where I was praying this prayer and I wasn't

getting any results. And I don't know about you, but I I like to actually live by faith. And

I said, "God, I'm tired of seeing results in the Bible that I'm not seeing in my

life. I'm tired of praying prayers, but I'm not seeing it manifest in my life like it

did in the Bible." And the Holy Spirit gave me three reasons for unanswered prayers. So you

can write this down because for many of you, you want to pray and have the results like JZ. But we're going to also

have to deal with what are the hindrances that's keeping us from experiencing answered

prayers. Can I give you number one? Many of us don't don't experience answered prayers. Number one, because we don't

ask. James 4:2 says, watch this everybody. You do not have because you do not ask

God. And God is like, I'll do it if you get the faith to ask me. Number two, you can write this down.

Some of us, it's not that we don't ask. Could it be number two that we're desperate for the wrong

thing? I'm in the text. James 4:3 says, watch this everybody. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with the

wrong [Music] motives. God, search our heart.

Forgive us for the times that we pray with the wrong motives because it's possible to pray

for the right thing for the wrong reason. And so God, we don't want to live a life with unanswered prayers

because we're the problem. Can you stand to your feet as we close out right

here? Get what you need. Number one, we have unanswered prayers because we don't ask. Let's see if

you're paying attention. Number two, desperate for the wrong things. Lastly, number

three, double-minded. James 1:6 says, "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." Look at verse 7. Here it is. That

person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is doubleminded and

[Music] unstable. He said a problem is not the devil. It may be your double mind.

Maybe this is why we have a mental health crisis in the body of Christ. That we got saved but no one

ever walked us from getting free from [Music] double-mindedness. So father right now I

pray in this room that we don't pursue the results of JBZ without the repentance.

So God, forgive us if we have prayed with the wrong motives or with a double mind. God, I come against

prayerlessness. God, I say thank you that you're giving us the faith to pray, not just like Jaz, but like your son

Jesus instructs us to pray. God, I say thank you, God, for the person who may be battling grief, pain, sorrow,

depression, anxiety, loss. Jazz is proof that in the midst of your deepest

pain, you still answer prayers. So, we will not allow pain to paralyze our prayer

life. God, I say thank you. We will not leave out the same way we can. Now, there's someone in this room that wants

to be saved. They want to give their life to Christ. That's you. I want you to throw your hand up in the room in

overflow and online if that's you. And I want you to repeat after me. Lord, forgive me for I am a sinner in need of

a savior. I confess with my mouth and I believe in my

heart that you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross to save me from my

sins. So right now in this moment I declare that I am saved. Can we give God praise for every decision right

there? Come on. You can do better than that. Heaven is rejoicing right there. Or maybe you made a decision to

give your life to Jesus. There's information on the screen. You can simply text home to

28950. Or maybe you need prayer with one of our prayer warriors. As everyone else is exiting out, you can come to the

altar um at the end of service and we'll pray with you and welcome you into the family. Can we give God praise for

everyone that made a decision right there? Somebody also were you blessed by that

word and worship experience today somebody well listen if you would like to give how many people know that the

Lord loves a cheerful giver. How many people know that the Lord loves a cheerful giver? Well you can give by

using the information on the screen. You can text I rock and the amount that you wish to give to 28950. It is because of

our generosity, we're able to expand the kingdom of God and the mission to love God, love people, and make a difference

in every generation. How many people love your church? Yeah. Well, listen. Happy Mother's Day

to all the mothers and motherly figures. One more time, can we celebrate the moms in the

road? Can you lift your hands? God, I say thank you that we were blessed coming in. I declare that we're blessed

going out. Protect us on the highways and byways of life. I say thank you for all these

things that we ask. In Jesus name we pray. Somebody shout amen. God bless you. Go in peace. We love you. We are