The Prayer of Jabez, Part 2
". . .'Oh, that You would bless me indeed,' . . . " 1 Chronicles 4:10.
Scholars believe that Jabez lived in Southern Israel after the conquest of
Canaan. Sometime during the time of the judges, he was born into the tribe of
Judah. The Bible tells us that his mother called his name Jabez, "Because
I bore him in pain", I Chron 4:9. In Old Testament times, one's name was
closely related to what that child was expected to be like. Often, it was a
prediction or prophecy of the child's future. Mary and Joseph named their baby
boy, Jesus, for He was to "save His people from their sins". He was
also called Immanuel, which meant "God with us". Put yourself in Jabez'
shoes for a minute. What would other children your age say? I can imagine one
of them asking him, "Hey, Jabez. I hear that you're a 'pain' ". Despite
having a name that seemed to predict only failure and humiliation, he was determined
to receive all the blessings of Heaven. Later in life, he became the leader
of a clan, no doubt, in answer to his prayer.
Something that I have realized through this prayer is that God truly does have
a desire to bless even me. Not just a little but a lot. He longs to abundantly
share His tokens of love with us. After all, He did sent His son to this crazy
little world to save us. I have also learned something else about God. The biggest
reason I do not succeed at times is not because God is out to "get"
me. Rather, it has everything to do with my unwillingness to ask in faith for
His blessing. Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you. . . For everyone
who asks receives. . . If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good
things to those who ask Him!" Matt. 7:7,8,11.
Think about it. Many of us have heard that God is love from our birth. As little
children, our parents, grandparents, teachers, and pastors told us God is love,
yet so often, even as adults, we still live in constant fear. Many times, we
are so focused on our performance and His "scoreboard" that we miss
the whole point. Whether it is the expectations of others we look up to or the
constant reminders that "I blew it again", we are blinded by looking
at self and paralyzed by this constant fear of certain dome.
Is He really a God of love? My answer is an emphatic, "YES!!!" God
is love. What does this have to do with Jabez? or his prayer? Jabez was a man
of faith. How do we know this? The Bible says, "But without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and
that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him". ". . . So
God granted him what he requested." Hebrews 11:6, I Chronicles 4:10. Jabez
was honored by heaven, not just for speaking those words, but for believing
that his prayer would be heard and answered.
Without faith, we seek God in vain. This is what makes this prayer so "dangerous".
If you want to continue to have doubts about the existence of God, don't ask
Him to "bless" you, much less adding "greatly" to the end
of it. If you wish to think it is impossible to be victorious over sin, you
better stay away from this request. If you just want to be normal person with
a normal life, than do not pray this prayer. BUT, if you want to see the God
of Heaven do some extraordinary things through an ordinary person, if you want
to experience the only true God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, if
you want Jesus of Nazareth to "mess up" your life too, than by all
means, challenge the Almighty One, "bless me indeed".
Written by Jason P Knarr
Continued to Jabez, Part 3
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