The Prayer of Jabez

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain." So God granted him what he requested (I Chron.4:9-10).

 

Back in 2001, the small book, The Prayer of Jabez, by Bruce Wilkerson, had sold over 3 million copies.  Everyone seemed to respond to the simple prayer of Jabez buried in the First Book of Chronicles.  I think there is much to be said about Jabez' prayer, if we pray it from our hearts and not simply from our heads.

 

The passage that immediately precedes the prayer of Jabez is this:  Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez [literally, "He will cause pain"], saying, "Because I bore him in pain."  Imagine growing up as a child hearing, "He will cause pain" every time someone said your name. It is like hearing a curse every time your name is pronounced.  It is hard for us to conceive of such a situation beause our names do not mean anything unless we are called "Pearl," "Summer," "Bugger," or "Mosquito" -- a name that has connotations to everyone who hears it.  I once taught a student named "Caprice," and I often wondered if she identified her personality with her name, or if she accepted the name without any implication at all. 

 

Most of us at some time or another do cause pain to others because we want to "enlarge our physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual territory."  If someone is blocking us, holding us back, or just not accepting who we are, we become aggressors, trying to gain some kind of foothold in life.  "I'll show them," we think to ourselves; "I'll become the richest, the smartest, the most powerful.....in the world.  Then they'll be sorry they put me down, didn't respect me, or insulted me."

 

But the prayer of Jabez shows his goodness and his humility.  He recognizes that it is Yahweh alone who increases our 'territory' and gives us a foothold in life.  He does not take up a weapon against those who curse him, taunt him (just by saying "He will cause pain), but turns to God, his Savior, his Protector, his enlarger:  Oh, that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.  Jabez puts his given name, his history, and his entire future in the hands of God and trusts God to reverse the curse given to him by his own mother:  He will cause pain.

 

"No,' says Jabez, 'with the help of my God, I will not cause pain.  He will enlarge my territory by His own hand; I do not need to take up weapons to defend or establish myself."  Psalm 25 tells us this:

 

Good and upright is the Lord;

Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

The humble He guides in justice,

And the humble He teaches His way.

 

Who is the man who fears the Lord?

Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.

He himself shall dwell in prosperity,

And his descendants shall inherit the earth.

 

The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,

and He will show them His covenant.

My eyes are ever toward the Lord,

For He shall pluck my feet out of the net....

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

For I wait for you.

 

I think this is the prayer of Jabez with which the Lord was pleased -- asking for guidance and support for integrity and uprightness, trusting that God Himself would give Jabez all that he needed -- the desires of his heart (Ps. 37).  If each one of us would pray daily that the hand of God would be with us 'that we might not cause pain,' the kingdom of God would be in our midst very soon.