"ENLARGE OUR COAST"

“ENLARGE OUR COAST”

Lately, Jane and I have been praying for people and events way beyond our immediate surroundings. We know more about world politics than ever before, and we now know the names of many more leaders locally, city-wise, and at the state level as well. We are now more aware of social, religious, and cultural groups, and are involved in the lives of many more individuals, through social media, than at any time before. Why?

I believe it is because God wants Jane and me, and perhaps you too, to “enlarge our coast.”

God needs some of us to think, pray, and believe beyond our immediate families. When the people of Israel rebelled against God, Moses pleaded with God for the people, and God refrained from destroying them. When Joshua led the tribes of Israel into Canaan, each tribe had a specific place they were to set up their new lives. The first few tribes were given a space that was beautiful and easy to settle into, but God told Joshua that the men of those tribes had to continue on with Joshua until all the other tribes got the land that they were supposed to have. And only when that was accomplished, could they go back to their beautiful land to enjoy. (See Joshua 14-24).

I believe God is calling some of us to stretch out our prayers to help in situations and circumstances around the world. In Isaiah 59, we see that things were in a mess, and part of the problem was that God had no one who would stand in the gap for the people. There was no intercessor:

“And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

^“And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor” (Isaiah 59:14-16).

  

In Ezekiel 22:30, we find the same problem. God remarks: “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

God wants us to intercede for people, and stand in the gap for their safety and well-being. He is looking for those who are willing. Are you one of the ones who will answer, yes?

Jabez was one. Jane and I say this prayer of Jabez every morning: “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.”

Metaphorically, God says the same thing in Isaiah 54:2-4: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame.”

Believe me, getting confounded, or a bit overwhelmed with the breadth of this kind of prayer can be a problem. Once you start stretching your prayer out, it can grow at a phenomenal speed and seem huge. But God takes care of that. You don’t have to include everything and everyone everytime!  There’s a verse in the Bible that says God never gives us more than we can handle.

We see from Isaiah and Ezekiel that God was upset that He couldn’t find anyone to intercede for the people, no one to stand in the gap. But here we are. If you feel God is asking you to stretch out in prayer, that’s so wonderful. But if not, then you can say a prayer or two for others who will. We can work together on this. God’s calling us, and the world needs us.

Love, Carolyn