The New International Version (NIV) translation of 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 reads as follows: “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez (Footnote: Jabez sounds like the Hebrew for pain), 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.” From this short passage, Bruce Wilkinson (author of The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life) concludes that these words of Jabez contain “the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God…” Perhaps. Or perhaps it is simply Wilkinson’s own logic that fills the remaining 98 pages of this former New York Times #1 bestseller.
In her article, Problems with The Prayer of Jabez, Berit Kjos cautions against humanly-promoted “formula for success” prayers. She recommends The Lord’s Prayer as an alternative to these since
it focuses more upon the Giver than upon the gifts. She also suggests that The Lord’s Prayer was actually
a “prayer outline” that provided guidelines for longer prayers. This “outline” allegedly models components
such as these for spending “quiet times” with God: Praise to our heavenly Father… Confession and
cleansing… Thanks… Confidence in His perfect plan and readiness to yield to His will…
Carl Hagensick, in his article The Prayer of Jabez, reminds us that while we don’t know much about the life of Jabez, we do know that it was “more honorable” than that of others. Therefore, Jabez not only prayed, but he backed up that prayer with honorable action (although, and perhaps because, he was intimate with pain). Hagensick therefore concludes his article with this quote from John 15:7: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prayer_of_Jabez
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Wilkinson
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/Jabez.htm
http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/pray_1.htm
Copyright December 11, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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