Like Jabez, if we ask God sincerely, it shall be granted

I just read “The Prayer of Jabez” by Bruce Wilkinson. I would like to share some of my insights about this prayer.

The Bible lists Jabez’s name only in a genealogy in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. Nevertheless, he alone gets special attention in this long list of names.

The name Jabez means, “he causes pain.” In Biblical times, a name was very important. His prayer is a play on words asking God that Jabez will only cause joy.

The passage from scripture reads: “Jabez was honored more than his brothers; and his mother named him Jabez, saying, ‘Because I bore him in pain.’ Jabez called on 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 hurt and harm!’ And God granted what he asked.”

Whenever we read scripture, we want to apply it to our own lives. Jabez won favor with God because of his prayer. In the first part of that prayer he asked God to bless him.

This is the same lesson that Jesus taught us when he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jabez realized he was spiritually poor and needed God’s blessings in his life.

A blessing happens when God gives a person unlimited goodness and potency. Jabez knew he needed God in his life to be the most loving person he could be. He called upon the Almighty to be with him every day of his life.

We need to recognize our spiritual poverty and ask God to bless us every day of our lives.

He prayed that the Most High would “enlarge his border.” We could interpret this to mean he wanted more land but it also could mean that he desired more responsibility as an instrument of grace. He wanted to increase his sphere of influence for God.

This could be our prayer. How often do we ask God to use us as an instrument of salvation? To expand our influence does not mean we have to get involved in more ministries.

Expanding our borders might just mean that God can use us to bring hope to a person who might be depressed and fail to see the light of God at the end of tunnel. Just listening to a person might make all the different in the world to someone whose life seems to be falling apart.

We cannot do this alone. Jabez prayed, “That your hand might be with me.” Jabez did not rely on his own powers but asked God to be with him in this new endeavor.

That is the same thing we should do. When we ask the Almighty to give us more responsibilities in ministering to others, we also need the grace, guidance and strength to do the job well.

As St. Paul said, “If God is for us, who is against us.” (Rom. 8:31) We need to be open to God’s power working with us in all our life’s undertakings.

The last part of his prayer was “That you would keep me from hurt and harm!”

We can understand this part of the prayer on many levels. We want the Holy One to keep us from all harm – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. When we try to do good and eliminate evil, the powers of darkness will withstand our efforts. We need God’s power and protection to keep us focused and to stand up against a culture of violence and evil.

The end of this passage from Chronicles says, “And God granted what he asked.” If we say this prayer with sincerity, God will also grant what we ask.