The Prayer of Jabez
Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, by Bruce Wilkinson (Multnomah, 2000)
This simple little book caused quite a stir a few years ago. Anything popular does. Is it theologically based or driven by a desire to manipulate God into responding to a formula we say like a mantra? Well, like all things spiritual, it depends on the heart of the one saying the pray and the intentions with which it is said. While some of the concern was valid, most was manufactured in order to sell opposing books.
One misplaced accusation centered on what some said was a formulaic prescription for instant success [prosperity gospel?]. And while Jabez' prayer (in 1 Chronicles 4.9-10) is quite succinct, it isn't a magic pill. In fact, Wilkinson's extended devotional on these verses reveals a balanced view that prayer is to be infused with confident humility. For those not familiar with the "four easy prayers" (critics' view, not mine) to a blessed life, they are:
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"Oh, that You would bless me indeed!"
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"Oh, that You would enlarge my territory!"
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"Oh, that Your hand would be with me!"
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"Oh, that You would keep me from evil!"
These are not selfish requests. When placed in the context of living for God, whom the author makes clear is the true source of all blessing, then these petitions are rightly extended to mean:
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Bless me in order to make me a blessing.
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Increase my influence and impact for You.
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Without You I can do nothing that lasts.
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Protect me from evil and causing evil.
In the last several days I have been re-reading the Prayer of Jabez and invite you to join me on re-discovering this little prayer and invite God to bless you as He did Jabez. In the next several weeks we will discuss the prayer and its implications for us personally and as a church. Come along....
WARNING: Please proceed with caution!! What you may expect as a blessing from God may be very different from what God want to give you. Should you choose to invite God to bless you ask yourself if you're really ready to be used by God. There is absolutely no reason God would not choose to bless you just like he did the Apostle Paul with a powerful message that you had to speak boldly, like he did to Mary the mother of Jesus, and like he did to Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and countless other. To be blessed by God does not mean riches!
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Of course, I see your point about understanding what it might really mean to ask for God’s blessings, so the following comments are really just for the sake of discussion:
I know you are not trying to scare people off from a glorious and wonderful experience by “warning” us to proceed with caution. So, why do we need to be “warned” against asking God to bless us so we can bless others? Clearly, we have to understand that it may not mean what we expect it to mean, but isn’t there also a blessing that comes with discovering that as you go along? And if the “warning” really just means to be prepared, isn’t it a bit like getting married or having children…if you wait until you’re REALLY “ready,” you’ll probably never do it!
Sometimes it’s frustrating that we seem to spend so much time trying to get “ready” that we never really go anywhere. At some point you just have to quit trying to get ready, and go! You have to take that step of faith into uncertainty, knowing that God wants what’s best for you–even if you can’t see it at the time. Certainly you want to prepare for any journey, but you do it with the understanding that things will happen that you can’t anticipate–and aren’t those really the things that make the journey so exciting?!
Again, it’s all about perceptions, I guess…even Paul took joy from his imprisonment, didn’t he!? But I do think we have to be careful when we “warn” people about what might be coming…yes, we need to understand that “blessings” do not necessarily equate to “riches,” but at the same time that does not make them “curses”…which is what words like “warning” can seem to imply, even if it is clearly not the implication we intend. Certainly, we have to be aware that receiving God’s blessings so we can bless others may change our perceptions of comfort and hapiness, but I don’t believe God wants to make us miserable in order to do his work, does he? Doesn’t he want us to love what we’re doing, especially when we’re doing it for him?
I guess what gets me about such a “warning” is that it seems to say, “If you’re not ready, don’t even try. If you’re not prepared for what this really means, just stay at home.” Again, I know that’s not your intent. But so often as a church I think that’s what we communicate to people: “We have received enlightenment, and God is taking us on a glorious journey…but if you are not worthy, don’t come along. If and when you are ready, we’ll accept you.” Why does it always seem like we’re trying to talk people OUT of something instead of talking them INTO it?!
I know I kind of ranted off track there. Sorry about that! I just think we have to remember that “blessings” are called “blessings” for a reason, and that they are intended for our joy as well as to be a joy for others. So I guess what I’m saying is, thanks for the warning…but I don’t want to be warned! What I really want is to experience the fullness and the unexpectedness of the journey!
We don’t understand God!
We only know God as much as He allows us to know Him — “…we see through a glass darkly.”
What is HIS purpose, not our purpose for our lives? Why were we born? Why are we on this earth? Has He told us? Has He been guiding us toward that purpose? Has He used us yet? (Oh, how I pray He is using me.) Do you know your purpose, Joe? Do you know yours, kettle? Do I know mine? Maybe a little, maybe the “tip of the proverbial iceberg.” “…we see through the glass darkly.”
Do you think that Paul knew unequivocally what the purpose of his life was before God BLESSED him with his loss of sight and his transformation? Perhaps he THOUGHT he knew what his purpose was, based on his ability to perceive that purpose. He, too, “[saw] through the glass darkly.”
Semantically, for me at least, I can temper the word “bless” in the first of the “four easy prayers” by replacing it with the word “use.” When I do that, the prayer takes on a completely new meaning. Now I am not ASKING for something from God, I am OFFERING something to God — me.
According to the Gospels, Christ tells us that He came to serve; and in addition to that declaration which He personified constantly during His time on earth, He also brought glory and honor to His Father — not to Himself, but to His Father.
I find it impossible to think that God — who willingly sacrificed His ONLY begotten son so that He could serve and honor and glorify, that He, who created me who is so much less than His Son — would not expect the same thing from me –that the purpose of my life, my being alive, my existence on earth would be anything less than to serve, honor, and glorify God in accordance with His will for my life and through the spiritual gifts, that because of His grace, I have received.
I know that my Heavely Father loves me, loves me with a love that is beyond my human capacity to perceive — “I see through the glass darkly.” I know that the love He has for me causes Him to want me to spend eternity with Him.
But how do I get there? How do I spend eternity with God?
Besides the obvious of reading and knowing His Word and obeying it, I must surrender my life to Him — totally to Him, praying that He will BLESS me so that I not only will be used by Him but that He will also develop my character in such a way that I will be able to spend eternity with Him.
I think we see God with blinders on compliments of the devil. We know God is a loving God and so we ASSUME that because He loves His children He will provide us with only the best. But what is the definition of BEST? BEST for us on earth is not necessarily BEST for God. As I said at the beginning, “We don’t understand God.” “…we see through the glass darkly.” The BEST for God for us is that which will grow our character so that we can be with Him forever.
Paul…was he BLESSED when he lost his sight? Was he BLESSED with the thorn that remained in his side? By our earthly standards, NO! By our earthly standards, he would have been BLESSED if he had had money, good looks, no physical ailments, no need to wander around the countryside, and a nice home in which to retire rather than numerous jail cells in which to sleep and wonder if he would see the light of day.
Was Paul BLESSED? YES! But according to whose definition? The earth’s or heaven’s? Ours or God’s? Did Paul TAKE from God or did Paul OFFER and GIVE to God? Which do we do?
Again, semantically, I “…see [not quite so] darkly [throught the glass]” when I replace the word BLESSED with the word USE.
Do we need a warning prior to praying the Prayer of Jabez, kettle? Most assuredly!
To come before the presence of God and say “Here I am take me, use me” is NOT an offer to be taken lightly. We don’t know what God has in store for us. We better be ready and prepared for God to take us up on the offer. Supoose God’s BEST for us is not a million dollars not even a thousand but suppose His BEST is cancer so that we can minister to those with no hair sitting in the oncology/radiation section of the hospital while waiting for another treatment that will make them deathly ill and full of questions about God’s love or lack thereof for them? We better be ready and willing for God to take us up on the offer, and we better be willing to live the rest of our lives in His service for His glory and honor. We better be willing to live the rest of our lives according to HIS definition of the word BLESSED.
Do we need to be warned before we pray the Prayer of Jabez, kettle? Most assuredly!
Thank you for the warning, kettle. It won’t stop me from praying the prayer — I CHOOSE to OFFER TO not TAKE FROM God. It just helps me to “…see through the glass [less] darkly.”
Joe, I understand your concern about the warning, but I still recommend that before people get married they get some counseling so they aren’t surprised by what marriage is about.
When you tell people they are about to get blessed by God, I think most people assume they are about to get rich. When that doesn’t happen, they give up on God or worst. The warning was for clarity about what we’re asking God to do. Pause, reflect, and then ask with an open and free heart.
Prince’s Mom,
In Matthew 5 Jesus tells us the what it means to be blessed,
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Blessed are those who mourn,
blessed are the meek,
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
Blessed are those who are persecuted.
This is alot different than we’re used to.
Kettle,
With the Beatitudes that you just cited as an example, is being BLESSED a paradox?
Try, kettle, replacing the word BLESSED with the word USED.
Look what the Lord is saying now.
Doesn’t the meaning now change with an emphasis on serving God being implied. How? — because when we mourn, we can help, in God’s name, those who mourn; when we receive mercy we can, in God’s name, show mercy; and when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, we can, in God’s name, encourage others to also “take a stand” for God. And if you read each of the Beatitudes you cited further, don’t you hear Christ indicating God’s reward for such service to His Father?
And isn’t that reward a heavenly reward rather than the earthly one we expect — “…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” as opposed to “You have just won the million-dollar-Powerball jackpot.”
Oh, kettle, that we “mere mortals” would only realize as Shakespeare has Hamlet say, “…there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are in your philosophy.”
Actually I think Jesus is trying to give us a new understanding of what “blessed” means based on Kingdom living and not earthly living. In earthly living the best you can hope for is great wealth and power, but in Kingdom living those things have no value and are replaced by a spirit that is free enough to be surrendered in service of the Kingdom.
I for one, kettle, prefer to be BLESSED by God “…based on Kingdom living and not earthly living.” And I am sure that you and Joe do, too.