What Is the PRAYER OF JABEZ?
Let’s read the prayer of Jabez from the two most popular versions of the Bible:
9Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, c saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10Jabez 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 4:9-10 (NIV)
9And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, 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.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (KJV)
This is all we know about Jabez in the Bible. Because his mother bore him in pain & sorrow, she gave him a name that came from the Hebrew word for ‘pain.’ Yet Jabez chose not to lead an unjustifiably cursed life and so turned to the LORD. As such, Jabez is cited as “more honorable than his brothers” in Holy Scripture. This shows that, whatever raw deal has been handed you in life, you can turn it around to the positive with God’s assistance (Romans 8:28 & 2 Peter 3:18). After all, isn’t the LORD “Fountain of Life” who pours abundant life into the lives of those who humbly seek & honor the Creator of All? See Psalm 36:9 and John 10:10.
Jabez’ prayer had four general points:
- He sought God’s blessing on his life.
- He sought for God to enlarge his “territory” and therefore his influence.
- He sought God’s hand of support, help and favor.
- He sought God to keep him from harm or evil and the corresponding pain & grief; in other words, he wanted protection from the life-altering pain of unnecessary tragedies.
These four requests are the general ones that any noble soul desires in life (in contrast to the ignoble soul obsessed with carnal things, like Mammon, fame and foolish sexual gratification).
Because Jabez diligently pursued the LORD in faith, God granted his requests (Hebrews 11:6). This passage does not exist by accident. It’s there to show us that — no matter how cursed our lives might be — we have the option to turn to the Almighty for succor and blessing, for God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). The LORD can turn any ship around, so to speak, no matter how bad it is.
Recently, I took a 40-day fast from a couple things and prayed the prayer of Jabez every day corresponding to the specifics of my life. Since it’s a general prayer — a skeleton prayer — you can of course tweak it to apply to your situation.
For a good commentary on the topic, I recommend Bruce Wilkinson’s (short) book.
This article is available in book form as chapter 13 of…
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Both links allow you to “look inside” the book.
Related Topics:
How Often Should You Say “IN THE NAME OF JESUS” in Prayer?
FRUIT THAT WILL LAST & Why It’s Linked to Answered Prayer
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