The Prayer of Jabez

In the midst of begats and names I cannot begin to pronounce in I Chronicles 4, a man stands out from the crowd.

In fact, there is a break in the begats- two verses' worth, to be exact.

I Chronicles 4:9 tells us, "Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him in pain."

Verse 10 goes on to say, "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!' So God granted him what he requested."

Jabez.

His name means born in sorrow. Ouch! His mom must have had a lot of sorrow if that was the name she chose for her newborn. Yet despite this dreadful moniker, the Bible tells us that he was more honorable than all his brothers. He stood out. A man among men, this man Jabez.

I became vaguely familiar with Jabez ten years or so ago. I admit that I prayed the prayer half-heartedly. Could those words uttered by a man thousands of years ago hold the same power for me? I wasn't so sure.

On and off for years, I thought of this prayer. Sadly, I didn't take the time to pray it or when I did it was half-hearted, as if God wouldn't do for me what He did for Jabez.

It wasn't until a few days before the birth of my daughter last year I brought out a stack of short devotionals and put them next to my nursing chair (aka- my husband's lounge chair). Having to sit for several hours a day would maximize my time to catch up on some reading, including the Bible. Knowing that I would need every ounce of wisdom that God's Word could afford me now that I was entrusted with two little lives, I put them within easy reach.

It was about four weeks after our baby was born that I was able to keep my eyes open long enough while nursing to read those devotionals and my Bible. And when I did, I read this prayer with fresh eyes. And, for the first time sincerely prayed these words. 

What a life changing prayer that has been for my family! Every morning when I wake up and every night before I drift off to sleep, I pray this prayer. And, several times throughout the day I will pray these words. I copied this prayer on a notecard for my husband and gave it to him. He was already praying this, only not in these exact words. How awesome that God brought me to the same prayer my husband was already praying!

What has happened as a result?

We have been blessed, indeed!

Needs are met before they're even needs.

Case in point, clothes for our baby girl. Thanks to the kindness and generosity of my sister-in-law and my girlfriends we haven't had to buy our baby any clothing. (Okay, so we've bought four outfits, which over the course of seven months is staggering!) Seasonal clothes are provided for two seasons in advance! In addition, we have been able to bless others with our abundant blessings.

Another example, my husband's assistant sent our son a kids' devotional out of the blue, just a day after telling him I wish we had a kid-friendly one to read along with the Bible during our family prayer time.

A friend cleaned out her craft closet and has sent us the extras her boys have outgrown. This provides hours of entertainment for our son. I might add, our own craft supplies were getting low. My friend had no idea of this need.

Another brought sunbonnets to our baby a day after I had been looking at some. While I was contemplating the purchase, the LORD said, "I know your needs; I will provide. Just wait." I didn't buy the sunbonnets. The next morning another friend brought me sunbonnets her little girl had outgrown. She had no idea about the day before.

My favorite nursing gown, which was a hand-me-down from my cousin when she had her oldest baby nine years ago, was no longer wearable. I thought, "LORD, I'd really love to have another one exactly like this. I know nothing is too hard for You. Please make a way for me to have one exactly like this one." A few days later as I was with my mom, nana, and aunt at a thrift store, my nana and aunt found me three new nursing gowns. One of which was the exact same one I had prayed for. It looked like it had never been worn.

Enlarging our territory? Well, we're seeing God at work on that one. He added to our family this past year. He's brought new friends into our lives for us to influence and be influenced by. He revealed to me the fact that it's not that our family needs my husband's second job, but that the people at his moonlighting gig need to see an example of a godly man who cherishes his family.

Asking God for His hand to be with us has made us even more aware of the choices we make. We want what we do to have His blessing. We fall short and make plenty of mistakes, but our motives are pure. We do what we do for Him.

Asking Him to keep us from evil is another prayer that He is answering. We're praying not only to be delivered from temptation but to be completely separated from it. Our desire? That we would not cause pain- to ourselves; to our friends, family and strangers; and most of all, to God. Whatever our stumbling blocks are, God makes it easier to avoid them or He provides a way of escape, just as His Word promises.

We've been praying this prayer for five months. Not a day goes by that we aren't blessed in some way. A need is met; a want is granted.

And it's not about what we get out of it- the material things. It's the fact that we are putting all of our trust in the LORD that He will provide what we need, that He will give us more opportunities to serve Him and others, that He will protect us, and that His protection will protect not only us from pain but others and Himself from hurt we may cause.

He has consistently provided and protected us every step of the way. Looking back, He always has. It's just that in the past five months, we have become more aware of His presence. Perhaps that's because we're asking for more and more of His presence.

And in His presence, no matter the trial, circumstances, or chaos that seems to be breaking loose around us, we have joy. We have peace. We are content. And He scoops us up closer to Himself. He keeps His hand upon us.

In short, He is granting us what we request.