The Prayer Of Jabez

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

(1 Chronicles 4:9-10) (9) “And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.” (10) “And 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.”

(Romans 15:4) “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

(Psalms 91:14-16) (14) “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” (15) “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.” (16) “With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”

(Psalms 19:14) “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

(Proverbs 10:22) "The blessings of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he adds no sorrow with it."

(Psalms 37:4) "Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

PREFACE SUMMARY

Beloved reader, what we know about an honorable man named Jabez comes from two verses found in the Old Testament book of first Chronicles the fourth chapter, verses nine and ten which describes a man that although he was given a name which means bad omen at birth, he refused to allow that name to define him.

Saints of God, all we can say about Jabez would be the taken from the description the writer of the book gives us which some scholars believe to be the Prophet Ezra.

Saints, the writer does not give us much to work with except that he was born labeled as a problem child that caused his mother to have sorrow at the time of his birth.

Beloved, the writer describes him as having the favor of God on his life that caused God to insert his story in his hall of fame we call “the holy bible,” as being an honorable man more honorable than his brothers.

Beloved, down through the centuries, very famous writers have written entire books on the life of this man speaking of how he overcome his childhood by not allowing the label on his name to define who he is but beloved, how can they write about his life except to place themselves in his place and write about his life by the way God has acted in their own life by reflecting back on the many trials and experiences that God brought them through.

Church, a good way to start writing about this man would be to do a search and discover what our first name means in origin and what it means in the bible then beloved, do a search on our middle and last name.

Saints, you will be surprised when you discover that your past is very similar to what your name actually means, however like Jabez, we do not have to allow our past to define our future and if the devil can keep us tripped up in our past, he knows he will not have to deal with us in his future.

Beloved, when I read these two verses of scripture about a man labeled at birth as a problem child and to read where God speaks of him being more honorable than his brothers, causes me to look where the two chapters are located, for the chapter begins by naming the ancestral linage from Adam then breaks to tell the story of Jabez and finishes the chapter by listing the ancestral linage proving that the Israelites that had just come out of seventy years of captivity, were in fact, God’s chosen people.

Saints, in the closing of this presentation, I would now like to reflect on my forty- three-years as a professional truck driver in the United States and how reading this chapter reminds me of my trucking days experiences while driving through a very popular city called Las Vegas, Nevada.

Beloved, if we were leaving Salt Lake City, Utah and our trip destination is to be Barstow, California, we would travel Interstate fifteen south through the State of Utah and along the way, we would travel through a portion of a very curvy road that is surrounded by deep canyon gorges which would take our path through a portion of Arizona, and after leaving Arizona, we would enter a hot desert with nothing in sight for miles only to stumble upon a modern city rising out of nowhere called Las Vegas, Nevada.