What is the prayer of Jabez in the Scripture?
Prayer of Jabez – King James Version(1 Chronicles 4:10).“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”
Who is Jabez?
“… Jabez is from the lineage of scribes who lived at Jabez:” (1 Chronicles 2:55)
Jabez’s inheritance was by faith over heritage. God blessed Jabez with prosperity, not because he prayed, but because his faith enabled the will of God to execute through his life.
With Jabez, we must not read his prayer as a request for private blessing, but as a cry for God to bless him as a part of God’s covenant people.
The name Jabez, ironically, means pain and sorrow.
“He seems to have lived in dread that his name would be prophetic… so he prayed about it and God granted his request.”
Jabez diligently studied and obeyed the law and prayerfully trusted God to direct his life. In fact, the city where the scribes lived was named after Jabez due to his knowledge of the law.
In the Old Testament, there were rules to be followed in order to approach God’s presence, and sacrifices to be made for confession and thanksgiving.
Jabez isn’t like us. He doesn’t live amid our modern materialism. And his prayer can’t be directly applied to us without seeing how it relates to his own situation first and then to Jesus Christ.
God promises us provision, not prosperity, as some mistakenly believe. Christ promises we will have trouble in this life. Jabez lived in a time when God had promised destruction as a consequence for rebellion. He had much to fear. From his perspective, provision was prosperity.
The aim is for God to transform our hearts to be like His so we can endure the trials of this life. When studying Jabez, it’s important to remember that God responds to people’s prayers by His will.
How We Can Pray Like Jabez
Jabez prayed for four things:
- That God would bless him
- That God would enlarge his territory
- That God’s hand might be with him
- That God would keep him from evil
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