The Prayer of Jabez

ddavis, no no I want any blessing God has for me no matter if its material or spiritual and I intend to ask for it...ask and you shall recieve that is scriptural and so far this book has not only blessed my life but it has changed my life.

Sue

 

myreflection26,
I'm not being mean, ok. But I thought the Lord was the one doing the blessing and the changing in our lives. It's sanctification and faithfulness. How can we pick one prayer out of the bible and say it's better than another? Like Christ's prayer he gave us, or one of Paul's prayers. How did the saints of the last 2000 plus years make it without this book (The Prayer of Jabez)? Is it a new revelation from God's word? Uh, all this time I thought the revelation ended with the 66 books. My point being,the Lord is the one that blesses us when he sees fit. Maybe, by you tithing (faithfulness), is the reason your business improved. Not by quoting the prayer of Jabez. Remember the Lord told Paul that His "grace is sufficient thee." If that book is the source of our blessing something is wrong, wouldn't you think? How long did the writer say he had be quoting the prayer of Jabez and it's just now working for him, after he writes a book?

ddavis

 

dd,

Ahh but thats just the point,its not the book that is causing the blessing but the prayer and the belief that God wants to bless us. The point I was making was that he blessed me for the fact that I did tithe. Something God is showing me and I'm just now getting it and that is He doesn't expect a thing from us for him to want to bless us. I know that is difficult for many to believe as it was for me for so long but I have found that it really is the truth.

It is not that the prayer of Jabez is better than any others in the bible but it has become a revelation in my personal life because I now pray that God would bless me with everything he has for me every day. It is much like a child and a father, the father wants to give his kid something and the kid wants the treat but in order for the kid to recieve it all the child must do is say Please give it to me and the father gives it. There is so much scripture to back this thinking up and there is no way I could possibly think its wrong.

Sue

 

I am so amazed at the following of this new book. I do not know much about the book or the author, but I do know that the Bible is real clear about vain repetition. I still think that this is a so-called Christian way to get rich. Just because you say a prayer and ask for Gods blessing doesn't mean that he will grant blessings in a materialistic way, he will only bless you according to His will. It's not always in His will for us to be blessed in a material way, sometimes He uses trails and hardships to bless His children. I can speak from experience, the trials I have been through have come out to be blessings. At the time I did not think that I was being blessed. If I believed in the Prayer of Jabaz, I would have tried to say that prayer and interfere in the blessings and Gods will for my life. We are His servants, he does not owe us anything, we earn His blessings (and not through someone else's prayer). It is my will for my son to have materialistic things, but if he does not earn or deserve it he will not get it. I think God treats us in the same way. He wants us to be blessed, not through vain repetitions, but from our own heart.

 

It amazes me how so many people feel they can analize this book when they obviously have not read it themselves. If any of you had read it you would know the book is not promoting a "get rich gospel", but is talking about simply asking God everyday for whatever blessings he has for us, not that we demand or tell God what to do or what to give us but we simply ask God Please bless me today. If that is so wrong and if we must earn the blessing from God then how did Jabez get blessed? All he did was pray that with a heart of desperation desiring God's ultimate best for him everyday and God granted it to him, he didn't earn a thing.

For that matter if we shouldn't pray a simple prayer of blessing request and believe God will do it, then why do we pray to God at all? After all if it is his will to do anything he'll automatically do it right? NOT!!!!!!! We pray and ask because God told us to, many times he has told us to ask and we shall recieve. I'm not talking about recieving material things, however God does bless us with material things too but I'm talking about whatever blessing God has for us, no earning necessary.

Sue

 

Amen, brother Bob! Preach it!

We are indeed complete in Christ! We lack nothing! What kind of blessing is that!

 

<shaking my head> this is something that some christians just are not going to grasp and thats ok. Obviously it is a proven thing no matter if you want the blessing or not I want the blessing. So does God just stop blessing us because he's already blessed us enough? COME ON!!!

Matthew 7:7-11....heck if this scripture doesn't sum up the whole thing I guess you just ain't getting it.

James 4:2-3 this scripture actually brings about what the book is about.

Proverbs 10:22 another good one

The whole point to this book is to say ASK ..ask God for the blessing because what you don't ask for you won't recieve...that is exactly what the bible is telling us. Sure God has blessed us but does the blessing end there?? Heck no...we're God's children and he delights in blessing us.

Sugar Daddy in the sky? Hmmm now thats an interesting ideal but hardly what the book is promoting. This book is telling us to be desperate for God...be desperate for every thing God has in store for our lives. I have not recieved every blessing I have yet to get tons of them and I welcome them with open arms because the more I am blessed the more I can bless others and that is another point we need to grasp.

Let me once more confirm for those of you who don't seem to be listening....this book is NOT NOT NOT a christianity get rich gospel this is all kinds of blessings from spiritual revelations God has to people or whatever the case may be.....I want those blessings....BLESS ME OH GOD POUR IT OUT ON MY LIFE I RECIEVE IT IN JESUS NAME!!!!

Sue

 

I desire the blessings of God also. It just scares me that so many people are following a book instead of THE BOOK OF BOOKS (King James 1611). We have always asked God for blessings, but it should be done with a prayer from our heart not one that another has already prayed. I don't need to read a book to learn how to pray. I hope God gives you many blessings, but I do trust that you will read the Scriptures and not allow a book to be such a strong influence. Remember Job asked God to bless him, but look at the trials that took place before the blessings came.

 

myreflection26, "shaking my head" it sounds like your are saying that by you reading "THAT BOOK", just kidding! Your eyes were opened (revelation) to the biblical truth that has always been in God's word about blessings. I guess some don't have to read "THAT BOOK", just kidding! To understand what has been in the Bible for how many years? Let's see what happens when the next person writes a book saying that God is blessing with all these wonderfull things and see how many sheep have the wool pulled over their eyes?

 

Do you listen to sermons on Sunday? Do you consider the teaching at a Bible study? Sure you do. A good Christian book is simply instruction from God's Word. Like the ancient preacher Jonathan Edwards said (a Puritan used of God in the First Great Awakening) a good book is there even if the preacher cannot be; or can nourish your soul even if the preacher is just a so-so preacher. (My simplification.)
We shouldn't be alarmed by books which explain Biblical truths--we should rejoice! There are so few churches actually preaching & teaching solid Christian truth nowadays...a good book may find a welcome where a "live" person cannot, at first.
As far as this book, I heard a preacher (who knows Wilkinson, the author) preach "his" version of the Prayer of Jabez (which is supposed to be in a similar light as the book). It was very Scripturally on the mark!
It's not unspiritual to pray for God's blessings..."Give us this day our daily bread...lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Sound familiar?
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly..." Another familiar quote from God's Word for those who want to be blessed. Nothing self-centered there.
So what if Charismatics misuse the book? And if grace gets misused by some, it's still grace. "Love believes all things"--that means, it believes the best about other Christians. Let's give each other a little grace, and hear a person out before we condemn him...(esp. if we haven't read his book yet!)

 

Again this must be read. I don't think it is being understood. If it is a quoted prayer, and not from the heart it is as the prayer of the heathen. Matt. 6:7: But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

 

toolman,

You are automatically assuming that this prayer is not sincere from those who pray it. God has delt with me personally on this issue and in fact this prayer is from the heart and not just a quote. In fact that is what the book says that Jabez sincerely wanted God's fullest blessing in his life and he desired it so much and frankly Jabez's life has struck a cord in my heart and that is why I pray this prayer for my own life, not just as something nice to hear and expect but that its a desperation in my life for God to pour all out on me not only material things as I am not a material type of person but things of the spiritual world that I need in my life as well as the calling God has on my life to start a music career.

Tell me something, have you ever had a deep longing and desire knowing that there is a call on your life to accomplish certain things and yet there is something missing? That is how I'm feeling, this is what I have been going thru since a pre teen and I believe God is about to do something with that calling on my life very soon because He is stirring up particular desires and understandings in my life and I want to make sure I don't miss out on anything because I failed to ask for it.

Sue

 

Yes, I understand the sense that God has a calling on my life, I understand what you are saying. I just get nervous when we take something like the Prayer of Jabaz and run with it. I have always prayed for the Lord to bless me and my family, and I do not want to miss anything the Lord has for me. I think people may be sincere, but why not pray your own prayer, why pray a prayer that someone has already used? I guess that is where I do not agree with the book. I am glad that you are seeking Gods will and Blessing, and I pray you find the calling the Lord has for you.

 

Then why don't we go "boldly before the throne of God" as Pual said? Instead of having to get there through the Prayer of Jabez. Maybe we need to seek God's direction through his Book? I understand we use other books to up lift us, but not to assume that what is in that book is the anserw for our lives. I sure the Lord was with you before you read that book, wasn't He? I"m sure He was blessing you before you read that book also, if you think about it.

 

Who's to say that God hasn't led me to pray this prayer to open up issues of my own life? This in fact is the case which is why I am praying this prayer...I was led to do so.

Sue

 

Something new to think about...

It is evident from this passage that Jabez had a difficult birth. This often leads to birth defects, something like cerebral palsy (CP). You have to wonder if Jabez was disabled in some way. That would explain the need to specify pain, because people with CP are in constant pain. It would also show that he was so physically weak, he could not expand his territory without direct, divine intervnetion.

Just something to think about.

 

Jabez's name means pain, doesn't mean he went thru pain. If he did, the book indicates that he may have went thru emotional pain due to his name which would cause him to cry out to God. Keep in mind I just began this book and I'm not reading the book as the sole authority but also reading the scripture about Jabez too.

Sue

 

I have not read the book yet myself, but I have one stinging question... Why is this book so highly acclaimed by the "world" and has made the Best Sellers list??

 

Wow...thats awesome!!! Perhaps the world will read it then and find Jesus more clearly. Btw...Left Behind is also from what I understand a best seller or at least was a best seller in the world.

Sue