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 Chronicles 4:10
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Jabez is a man in Scripture about whom very little is said. The Bible tells us in 1 Chronicles 4:9 that Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. It also tells us that his mother named him Jabez saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” And that just about summarizes all that is said about Jabez. And yet, the prayer this man prayed has become a watchword.
This one verse prayer begins with Jabez crying out to the God of Israel in desperation. He knew whom to cry to. Do we? Or do we cry to a friend, our spouse, by ourselves sometimes, wallowing in self-pity?
Jabez asked God to bless him and enlarge his territory. Jabez recognized the source of all his blessing was the Lord. Jabez asked that the Lord’s hand be upon him and to keep him from pain. The Lord is the only one who can protect and keep us.
Interestingly, nowhere in his prayer does Jabez give God any guidelines or suggestions on how his requests are to be answered. And the Bible says God granted his request.
This prayer, though very famous and well accepted, is by no means to be a rote prayer nor does it have some magical charm. Rather, it gives us guidelines on how we need to pray.
When you pray, do you trust the Lord will answer, or do you end up trying to ‘help’ Him?
Father, I choose to trust you with my needs today, just as Jabez did.
Extended Reading — 1 Chronicles 3-5
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