ENLARGE MY TERRITORY
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 ESV
9 Jabez was more honourable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
10 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

When we begin to think of enlarging our territory it means we’re ready for change.
It says Jabez lived an honourable life, and he made a specific prayer request and God heard him and answered him.
Why was he asking for a change or an enlargement if he’s already honourable? This implies that he was desperate for a change like everyone else, we all need change and should like Jabez call out to the Lord for that change.
Good wants to do the same thing He did for Jabez for all who cry out to him for change. He alone has the capacity and the ability to enlarge our territories. God is always ready and wants to do something in, for and through us.
We may all have diverse means of enlarging our territories and some of them may be good, some not so good, some extraordinary while some may be outside our abilities, but the Lord would only enlarge something that already has a foundation.
God will and can enlarge us even more than we ask or imagine according to Ephesians 3:20, but He will always first work on us on several levels to prepare us for the enlargement we seek from Him.
There are three requirements for enlargement.
Foundation is number one and it must be solidly built on the word of God for Him to enlarge our territory since it’s the word that brings change. According to Proverbs 3:5-6, for our lives to be the best, we must have faith in God and the foundation of His word while rejecting our limiting perspective.
God can’t use us if our character is not aligned with his word or godly.
Why did God reject Eliab in 1 Samuel 16:7? We read that it was although he looked enough like a king to Samuel, to God, his character was also not acceptable.
The Lord will allow us to go through some trials to test our characters while removing those that don’t glorify Him as we get changed by His word.
To walk in integrity and righteousness is allowing the Lord to expand and enlarge our territory as befitting our expression of integrity according to Proverbs 10:9. Integrity is the totality of one’s character.
We must be expectant! If we want and ask God to enlarge our territories, meaning, we must have a vision of what we want God to enlarge and like Jabez, we must be specific and direct in our prayer.
The Lord is faithful to protect our expectations and enlarge the territories of those expectations without going beyond our boundaries.
This also means we must know our boundaries and position ourselves in a place of obedience to God’s words and directives.
For our territories to be enlarged, we must arm ourselves with God’s word and allow him to overload our minds, head, hearts, and senses with prophetic words and not filth according to James 1:21. In place of filthy behaviour, the implanted word must take root in us and be declared verbally as described in Deuteronomy 30:14, we become enlarged through the process Spiritually before we become physically.
Being honourable like Jabez is the starting point for enlargement while exhibiting faith in God’s grace and understanding the purpose of enlargement.
Are you ready for a territory enlargement?
Shalom