"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."
-- 1 Chronicles 4:10, NKJV
All of us struggle with prayer. All of us, at least, who pray or who try to pray. We struggle to find time to pray, in the midst of our chaotic and overcommitted lives. We struggle to find a place to pray, somewhere that’s relatively free of interruptions and distractions. That’s important, because it’s difficult to maintain an attitude of prayer when your six-year-old is banging on the door to ask if he can have a cookie. We struggle to concentrate. Sometimes it seems that as soon as we close our eyes and bow our head, the mental floodgates open and we’re inundated with thoughts of all the other things that need to be done. And sometimes, we struggle just to stay awake. [Here’s a theological question for you -- does it count as 20 minutes of prayer if you pray for five minutes, and then fall asleep for fifteen? What if you dream about prayer requests? Does that count as prayer time?] But I think what we struggle with most is simply the question of whether prayer works. Whether it makes a difference. Whether God really hears and answers.
Well, what if I told you I had a solution for all those difficulties? That I had come across a prayer in the Bible that was guaranteed to release the power and blessings of God in your life, if you would just pray it once a day? What if I had hundreds of personal testimonies from people swearing it had done exactly that? And best of all, what if this prayer were only one sentence long, and took less than a minute to repeat? If all those things were true, then my name would be Bruce Wilkinson, and I would be a very rich man. Because his book, "The Prayer of Jabez," has so far sold over eight million copies, and has become a mini-industry all by itself. Maybe you’ve heard of it. There’s a children’s edition, and a teen edition, and a leather-bound gift edition, and an audio version. You can buy a "Prayer of Jabez" daily calendar, a "Prayer of Jabez" journal, or devotional, or Bible study. It’s a publishing phenomenon. All this from a little book that’s only 93 pages long [short pages, with lots of space and big print], really not much more than a pamphlet.
Now, right off the bat I want to say that my purpose this morning is not to tear down this book. I’m not going to take the approach that anything this popular must be bad. The book does have some flaws, because it’s a human work, and all human works are imperfect. But my purpose in pointing them out is not to debunk the book and tell you why you should avoid it. My purpose is to identify the errors to watch out for, so that you can benefit from the rest. And I do think that we can benefit from this book, and more importantly from the Scripture that it’s based on. So let’s deal with the flaws, and then we can go on to the good parts.
First, the book encourages people to say the prayer verbatim every day, as if these specific words, repeated over and over, had some kind of power in themselves. But a prayer is not an incantation or a magic formula. Prayer is communicating with a person, not repeating a mantra. In fact, when Jesus’ disciples asked him how they should pray, He specifically warned them against this practice:
"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." -- Matthew 6:7-8
So use the prayer of Jabez, but use it as an example; use it as a model, not a mantra. And this applies to any prayer, including the Lord’s Prayer or the Catholic rosary. God wants us to speak to Him from the heart, not just read words off a page or recite something we’ve memorized. Prayer is heart-to-heart communication between us and our Father in heaven. Yes, we can use pre-written prayers to guide us and help us formulate our thoughts, but fundamentally the prayer has to come from the heart.
Second, Dr. Wilkinson goes a little overboard in promoting this prayer, using words like "guarantee," and stating that "God always answers" this prayer. According to him, if you pray this prayer, there is no possibility of God not answering. And that’s not true. There is no such thing as a prayer which God must answer, that God has no choice but to answer. Even Jesus Christ, when He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane that "this cup" might be taken from Him, when He prayed that somehow he might be spared going to the cross, even Jesus in that instance was denied what he sought. And listen to what happened when Paul the apostle prayed that God would relieve his suffering:
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." -- 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
Sometimes God doesn’t grant what we request. Or sometimes he answers, but his answer is long in coming. God always has a good reason; and He always does what is wise and loving. But his plans, and his purposes, and especially his timing, don’t always coincide with ours. We need to remember that when we pray, whether it’s the prayer of Jabez or some other prayer. We can’t manipulate God. We can’t control Him. We can’t force Him do what we want, when we want; no matter how carefully we say the words of the prayer, or how often we repeat them. We can only present our needs and requests to God, and then rest in the confidence that His response will certainly be good and right. He is the sovereign Lord of the universe, and He will act as He knows best, not as we think best.
Third, the book presents the prayer of Jabez as "the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God." This little prayer, which Bruce Wilkinson discovered thirty years ago in the middle of a long section of genealogies in First Chronicles, this prayer which has been virtually unknown for thousands of years, he says is "the key" to an abundant life. But that would come as a surprise to Jesus, or to Paul, or to Moses, or Abraham, or to anyone else in the Bible, because the Scriptures don’t mention any of them ever praying this prayer. In fact, I don’t know of anyone else in church history who ever prayed this prayer; Calvin, Luther, Wesley, St. Augustine, Billy Graham -- none of them ever mentioned it. And so it’s not "the key" to the Christian life. It’s not a "key" at all; it’s not something essential. It’s just a tool, something helpful. A tool which most of God’s people have managed to get along without for a very long time. But nevertheless, a tool which we can pick up and use and profit by.
Finally, and most seriously, while the book speaks a great deal about God the Father, it makes very little mention of God the Son; Jesus Christ. And I expect that’s part of the reason the book has sold so many millions of copies; because people of any faith or of no faith feel they can embrace its message. But of course, Jesus Christ is what makes all the difference. The only reason that God hears and answers our prayers is that they are offered through Christ, offered "in the name of" Jesus. Christ intercedes for us before God’s throne. God receives us only in Him. If there is a key to answered prayer, if there is a key to favor with God and abundant life, it’s the fact that we are in Christ. Listen:
"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." -- John 16:24
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." -- Hebrews 4:15-16
"In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." -- Ephesians 3:12
And so it would be a very serious mistake for someone to read this book and think they can find favor with God just by praying a certain prayer, without first trusting in Christ for salvation.
Those are the main flaws in the book, the errors to watch out for. But now let’s look at the prayer itself, one phrase at a time, and see how we can benefit from it. This morning, we’ll take the first phrase, and next week we’ll look at the other three.
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ’Oh, that You would bless me indeed’"
That sounds rather selfish, doesn’t it? Asking God to bless me. Asking God to give me good things. But of course, that’s what we all want, isn’t it? Good things? So what should we ask for? Bad things? "Dear God, please curse me. Please bring illness, and poverty, and heartache, and disappointment into my life. Please make me as miserable as humanly possible. Please take away everything I love and enjoy, and replace it with things I despise." Would that be more spiritual? No, of course not. Listen:
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" -- Matthew 7:9-11
What’s they operative phrase there? "To those who ask Him." Ask Him for what? Good things! God invites us to ask Him for good things, and He rejoices in granting those requests. Consider this: In just a few weeks, Christmas will be here. When you were a child, you looked forward to Christmas for what you hoped to receive. And now, as an adult, you look forward to Christmas because of the reaction on the faces of the children when they open their presents; their joy, and excitement, and happiness. Nothing pleases a loving father more than being able to give joy to his children. And just as we take pleasure in blessing our children and giving them good things, so also God takes pleasure in blessing us and giving us good things.
Still, some people seem to think that when God gives us good things, He does so grudgingly. They suspect that deep down, He’d prefer that we suffer, or at least that we not be too happy. Friends, that is an abominable heresy! That is a slander against God’s character! It is a lie of Satan! In fact, it’s the very lie that Satan used to deceive Eve in the garden. If that’s the picture you have of God, then you need to repent. Because God loves us, and He absolutely delights in giving us good things. Listen:
"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." -- 1 Timothy 6:17
"All right," you say. But still, don’t we need to be concerned about sins like greed, and selfishness, and gluttony, and lust? Yes, of course. But we have to make a distinction between the lawful enjoyment of God’s good gifts, and the sinful perversion of those gifts. God is not opposed to pleasure; God invented pleasure. Where do you think your five senses came from? Who do you think gave us taste buds, and nerve endings, or the ability to hear and appreciate music? However, His anger does burn against those who take pleasure in the wrong things; who seek pleasure outside the boundaries of His law. The natural tendency of mankind is to seek pleasure and possessions as ends in themselves, apart from God. But that violates the whole purpose for God’s gifts. Because ultimately, what God is doing with His blessings is drawing us to Himself. He wants us to look beyond the gift to the Giver. The gifts are just the appetizer. The main course is God Himself, and his desire is that we find our greatest satisfaction and enjoyment in Him. That’s what we were made for, and we shouldn’t be willing to settle for anything less. Listen to this quote by C.S. Lewis:
"Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
Those who seek the gifts without the Giver are far too easily pleased. And they inevitably end up degrading and polluting whatever they get.
Let me make just a couple more points about this request, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed." Note that Jabez doesn’t give a lot of specifics. There’s nothing wrong with asking for specific things, but sometimes it’s good to leave the details up to God, to say, "Lord, please just bless me as you see fit." And if we do that, then He will come up with blessings, and gifts, and good things that never would have crossed our minds.
"[A]s it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’" -- 1 Corinthians 2:9
"[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" -- Ephesians 3:20
We think we know best what we need. We think we know best what’s good for us. But the truth is that we’re always better off when we put ourselves completely in God’s hands, and trust Him for our welfare. One caution: although God promises to give us good things, that doesn’t mean we’ll always see them as good. Because while some blessings are obviously good, some of them come disguised. So perhaps we also need to ask God to give us the ability to recognize his good gifts when they come, to give us the eyes of Christ so that we can see their true value and worth.
Finally, note the last word, "that you would bless me indeed". Jabez isn’t asking for a garden-variety blessing. He isn’t asking for something ordinary or mundane. Jabez is requesting something extraordinary, something big, something special. He won’t be satisfied with something mediocre; he wants something great! And you know what? I think God loves that kind of prayer. Because it shows two things: It shows that you believe He’s a great God, powerful and mighty, able to do whatever you ask of Him. And it shows that you believe in his love and goodness toward you, enough to be bold and courageous in prayer. God is no fan of timidity, of hyper-caution, of people who never commit because they’re afraid of making a mistake. God loves people who step out in faith and take a risk; people who aren’t afraid of looking foolish. God loves people who take Him up on His promises, who dream big, and ask for big things, and attempt big things. Listen to this story about Jacob:
"Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. . .Then [the man] said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’’ But [Jacob] said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me.’’ So he said to him, "What is your name?’’ And he said, "Jacob.’’ He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.’’ . . . And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’’ -- Genesis 32:24-30
This is kind of a strange story, but all I want us to take away from it right now is this: that too often we approach God with timidity and fear, when we should be approaching Him with confidence and boldness, wrestling with Him for a blessing. We ask for small, relatively insignificant things, things that don’t stretch our faith, when all the time God is waiting for us to ask Him for something tremendous. So let’s not do that. Let’s not miss out on the amazing blessings God wants to give us, just because we’re too timid to ask. Let’s be bold, like Jabez, and ask God to bless us indeed.
I hope you’ll do that in your personal life. And I hope you’ll do that with me as we ask God to bless WestShore Community Church in the year to come. Friends, I’m not asking that God would add one or two families to our congregation in 2002. I’m asking that He double or triple our size. And I’m not asking for a few people here and there to grow a little in their faith. I’m asking God to transform lives, to bring revival, to release the power of the Holy Spirit among us. I’m asking that God would rescue lost people from the domain of darkness; that God would bring conviction of sin, and faith, and repentance, and confession, and reconciliation. I’m asking that God would do great and wonderful things in this church next year, things so great that we have no choice but to bow down and worship Him. Will you join me in that? Will you join me in asking that He bless us "indeed"?
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
