No 5

(Jabez)

There is a man in the Bible who was a honourable man and was the head of a family of the tribe of Judah. He appears on the scene in the first book of Chronicles once very briefly and then is never heard from after that. Never, that is, until quite recently when someone (Bruce Wilkinson) wrote a book on this man’s prayer and someone else (Jabez Posters Inc) made several inspirational posters about his prayer. Many evangelism crusades have even used his prayer as a theme to inspire the workers. The prayer is found in 1 Chronicles 4 : 10 “ And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.” If you haven’t already guessed, the man’s name is Jabez, meaning “bare with sorrow”. What is so special about this man’s prayer? I’m sure we have all prayed a similar prayer in our lives; why is this one so renowned? The Bible gives us some indication as to why the Lord answered his prayer. Just before the above text the Bible says that “ And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren” (vs 9b). Having said all this and giving all due respect to Jabez, I must also say the following. Some people have made “A Jabez prayer Movement” and have gone overboard as to the “specialness” of this prayer. Another man, Steve Hopkins has also written a book called “The Cult of Jabez and the Falling Away of the Church in America”. The Lord warned us that :“ Take heed that no man lead you astray” (Mark 13 :5). When Jesus’ disciples asked Him how to pray, He said : “ Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Jesus did not say to His Disciples to pray the prayer of Jabez. We must be careful not to venerate a man or his achievements to the detriment of sound Biblical teaching because Jabez was not special neither was his prayer, it was the God who answered his prayer who was so special.