Someone wrote, “Attempt great things for God. Ask great things from God.” I believe that is embodied in what has become known as the prayer of Jabez. Let’s read 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ Jabez 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] I would like to dare you to pray a daring prayer, to ask great things from God. Let us first commit our time to the Lord…
The prayer of Jabez became both famous and notorious when Dr. Bruce Wilkinson released his “The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life” nine years ago. It sold over nine million copies and became an international bestseller, even topping the New York Times bestseller list.[2] However, a lot of negative reviews attacked the book. Personally, I think they just misunderstood the book and missed its over-all message. It is one of my favorite books and I even taught the companion seminar in different churches. It made a great impact in my life. In fact, years before the book came out, I preached on the prayer of Jabez. Thus, I believe we should not throw the baby with the bathwater. If we would check our Bibles, it is still there. And since it is in the word of God, we ought to take a look at it one more time and experience its blessed truths once again.
Who was this Jabez? We find his name in a list of names called genealogy, tracing the tribe of Judah. By the way, the Lord Jesus belongs to Judah and thus Jabez was His distant ancestor. When Ezra the scribe wrote 1 Chronicles, the Jewish nation just returned from the Babylonian captivity. Most of them were from the tribe of Judah. Here in 1 Chronicles chapter 4, Ezra was going through the list of names from the tribe of Judah. Then, instead of just moving on to the next name, he paused and gave a short tribute to Jabez. In verse 9 he tells us that “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.” That says a lot about Jabez. Through the example of Jabez and others as well in 1 Chronicles, Ezra wanted “to encourage [Judah] and to remind them that they must remain the covenant people of God. This would remind the Jews of their spiritual heritage and identity during the difficult times they were facing… They demonstrate God’s keeping of His covenant promises in maintaining the Davidic line through the centuries.”[3] That’s why the book contained all these names. It was to give Judah a sense of history. “This book also taught that the past was pregnant with lessons for their present.”[4] Here we have a Filipino saying, “Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.” He who never looks back can never go forward.
We only see his name mentioned three times in our passage and another one in 1 Chronicles 2:55 where it mentioned “the clans of scribes who lived at Jabez”. Scribes were those who “kept the court and government records”[5] or “experts in writing and copying documents”,[6] particularly the Old Testament scriptures. As I have mentioned, Ezra the author of 1 Chronicles was a scribe himself. In fact, he compiled our Old Testament. So, Jabez probably was a scribe, “an eminent doctor in the law, whose reputation drew so many scribes around him that a town was called by his name”.[7] It is said that he taught these scribes and that village was the school’s location. It “was celebrated as the home of scribes.”[8] He was so famous that 1 Chronicles did not bother with so many introductions about him. He just went on and described him as “more honorable than his brothers.” He may be obscure to most of us before “The Prayer of Jabez” book was published. But he was definitely well-known during the Old Testament times.
Verse 9 explains further that “His mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’” The name “Jabez” means “he causes pain or he caused pain.” We don’t know whether it was his actual birth or the circumstances at the time of his birth that caused the pain. Someone even suggested that Jabez has a handicap. All we know is that there was a crisis at the time his mother gave birth, that his mother chose to memorialize the occasion of his birth by naming him with a name that sounds much like the Hebrew word for “pain”. I believe his mother named him as such to remember both the tears and the triumph.
Jabez rose above the meaning of his name. “The memory of the critical circumstances which marked his birth was perpetuated in his name… and yet, in the development of his high talents or distinguished worth in later life, his mother must have found a satisfaction and delight that amply compensated for all her early trials.”[9] Though his name meant pain, he brought much honor to the family. Instead of causing pain, he brought pleasure. Are you going through much pain nowadays? Do you feel that you are causing pain to others? Do you want to rise above your crisis?
How did Jabez do it? I believe it all started with his prayer. “Jabez 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.” He cried out to God. It was a desperate plea. It was like, “Give it to me or give me death.” But we see here that “God granted his request.” We will go through the requests contained in his prayer one request per week. I pray that through our study of the prayer of Jabez we will ask great things from God and attempt great things for Him so that in the end we will bring great honor to Him.
According to Bible scholars, his prayer was more of a vow or a prayer of commitment. That’s why the NET Bible translated his prayer this way, “If only you would greatly bless me and expand my territory! May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm so I might not endure pain!” Matthew Henry in his devotional commentary wrote this: “He did not express his promise, but left it to be understood, either because he was afraid to promise in his own strength or because he resolved to devote himself entirely to God. He does, as it were, give God a blank paper, let him write what he pleases: ‘Lord, if thou wilt bless me and keep me, do what thou wilt with me, I will be at thy command and disposal for ever.’”[10] I dare you to pray such a daring prayer. It was not just asking great things from God. It was a commitment to attempt great things for Him.
The first request was, “Oh, that you would bless me”. It was a dare to CHANNEL God’s blessings. Jabez asked God for His blessings not for himself but for others. That he would be blessed to be a blessing. The immediate context shows that Jabez had in mind a material blessing. He was asking God for a bigger territory or land. The Message version goes like this: “Bless me, O bless me! Give me land, large tracts of land.” I will explain to you the significance of this request next time. But, I would like to give you a preview. Remember that the Jewish nation just returned from captivity to their homeland. Jabez claimed the blessings that God promised in His covenant with Abraham: “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”[11] This covenant with Abraham was the basis for the covenant with David, which is emphasized here in 1 Chronicles 17:9. “And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed.” Ezra was encouraging the first readers of 1 Chronicles that just as God granted the prayer of Jabez and blessed him with an enlarged territory so also the Lord will bless Judah with a home of their own. That was the blessing that Jabez asked from God!
What is it to us now? Like Jabez, I pray that we would be more than willing to be a channel of God’s blessings whether material or spiritual. Now there are those who think that they can only serve God when they have more. That’s why I would even receive prayer requests from people who just placed a bet in lotto. They promise God that they would give their tithe or write a big check if and when they win the lottery. But I doubt God would answer such a prayer. Why? Because if they are not even good stewards of the resources they have right now, they would not become good stewards if ever they would have more resources.
So how do we dare to become channels of His blessings? First, we need to thank God for everything that He has given us. Psalm 103:2 tell us, “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”. Why would God bless us with more when we have failed to even thank Him for what He already gave us? We tend to beg God for some blessings and then when we receive it we forget all about it. We should “always [be] giving thanks to God the Father for everything”.[12] At the end of every year, I would take the time to review the year that was, looking at my planner and thanking God once again for all the things He gave me.
Second, we must make the most of the time, talents and treasures that He gave us. We must commit everything we have to God. We must recognize that we are His managers, not owners. We are His stewards and we are accountable to Him for all those resources. I am not just talking about giving to the church. I am talking about acknowledging that everything belongs to God. And the best way to do that is to live a life of generosity for God. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 gave pastors this instruction: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
Brothers and sisters, dare to become a channel of God’s blessings! Let us pray…
[1]All Bible verses are from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.
[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_jabez
[3]Talk Thru the Old Testament.
[4]Ibid.
[5]CEV
[6]GNB
[7]Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, A. R. Fausset et al., A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, On Spine: Critical and Explanatory Commentary. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 1 Ch 4:9.
[8]John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-c1985), 1:595.
[9]Critical and Explanatory Commentary.
[10]Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1991), 1 Ch 4:1.
[11]Genesis 12:1-2
[12]Eph. 5:20
