The Prayer Of Jabez

Drawing Closer to God

The Prayer of Jabez

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

For the past few weeks we’ve been looking at the Lord’s Prayer as a prayer to help us move closer to God and experience His grace and power. As I’ve said, most of us struggle with experiencing that power and presence of God. So, It’s been my hope that using these prayers will help us as James 4 tells us - - to draw near to God and experience God’s drawing nearer to us.

This week we’re going to look at a prayer writer Bruce Wilkinson popularized in 2005 when he wrote a book aptly called The Prayer of Jabez. This little, easy to read book became an instant success. Over 10 million have been sold. I believe it was successful because we all long to experience the presence and power of God. So, it touched a nerve, a longing we all have.

I think the draw to this book was the hope for many people that they could just recite the scripture and presto! Poof!! They would be blessed by God with not much work on their part. I think those folks were sorely disappointed. They didn’t want a relationship with Jesus, instead, they wanted a genie.

I’m not going to try to replicate a sermon series or the book, but just to move through these 2 verses about a man and his prayer and what it may mean for us, and how we could use this prayer to help us move closer to God.

Let’s look at this story and prayer which is found in 1 Chronicles 4 - - -

9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 10 Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked. - 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

That’s it! That’s the entire story! It’s short and quick. People have gravitated to this prayer and have prayed it daily and say they’ve been blessed by it. But it’s more than just saying a prayer. It’s what the prayer means which is what’s important. Just like the Lord’s Prayer, it’s using the prayer of Jabez for a reason, it’s knowing what’s behind what you’re praying. So, let’s take look at what this story and prayer means for us.

This passage starts with some background on Jabez.

9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”

We know there was something about Jabez that made him more honorable than his brothers.

Maybe that’s a little clue that we need to recognize as well. Character speaks volumes. Not just with the world but with God. Who are you when nobody’s looking? Who are you when people are around you? Are you different? If someone was to say your name, what would their first comments about you be? Character is also about perception, because perception is reality. I can’t stress that enough. If people think something about you, whether it’s true or not, it’s true to them.

I believe Jabez could go to God in prayer and ask because he had great character. I don’t believe, and I’m projecting a bit, that He often went to God in prayer. God didn’t have to search His heavenly rolodex to see who this guy was. They were on first name basis.

So, we know he was honorable and something that will come up later is that his mother experienced a great deal of pain in childbirth.

Let’s get into the prayer . . .

10 Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me,

The first step, and I know it sounds almost over simplistic is to call out to God. It’s starting the communication process called prayer. It’s starting the conversation with God. We don’t know why Jabez called out to God, yet, the sense is that he trusted in God’s response to his prayer.

That’s another important aspect, that we expect to hear from God as we call out to Him in prayer. The first part of that prayer is a request that God would bless him.

There are a couple of important points to make with this request. Firstly, we can ask God for blessings. I’ve said this before, when I became a Christian, I didn’t think I should pray for myself. I thought that was somehow wrong. I’ve learned over time God wants me to make my personal requests known to Him.