| The Prayer of Jabez |
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.
I Chronicles 4:10 NKJV
Have you been praying The Prayer of Jabez? For yourself, your family and church? Find out more about this remarkable prayer by this incredible person hidden in one of the least read books of the Bible.
What
a Prayer
- Pastor J McNair |
| Jabez's
Prayer
- Sumner Wemp |
You
may also find out more about this prayer in Bruce Wilkinson's bestseller book
"The Prayer of Jabez - Breaking
Through to the Blessed Life". This challenging and inspiring book can
be read in just an afternoon but may change the way you pray for life!
Share with us your experience as you seek God's blessing through Jabez's prayer! Drop us an email.
That
I May Not Cause Pain
by Esther Wong
Have you been puzzled with the fourth part of the Jabez Prayer, "...that I may not cause pain"? Here is a short letter sent by Esther Wong to some of our church leaders, the contents of which originates from the Breakthrough Series website. We reproduce Esther's letter here which provides valuable insight into that "strange" request of Jabez.
Enclosed a short article on a FAQ about the
Prayer of Jabez : That I May Not Cause Pain
Many people have been asking questions about the translation and interpretation
of the last part of the prayer in Bruce Wilkinson's book. Here is Bruce's own
explanation:
QUESTION: One part of the Prayer of Jabez sometimes causes people to be a little
confused. They're not quite sure how to interpret it: "that I may not cause
pain." Please shed some light on that for us.
BRUCE WILKINSON: Depending upon which version of the Bible you read, it says
either "that I may not cause pain" or "that it may not bring
grief to me."
And people oftentimes say, "Well, which one's right?" And the answer
is, "Both."
Both--both of them are right--because in the original language there are just
two words there. And you can either translate it to say that you're the causer
of it or that you're the recipient of it.
So we don't really know, and to be honest with you, both of them make sense to
me. If God's blessing me, and He's using me for more ministry, and His hand's on
me--and then I sin in a significant way, and God's hand comes off, and the
borders go down--wow, the grief I will feel. And the other side of that is when
you are being used by the Lord, and you really commit a serious sin--that
will bring such pain to other people.
Here's the most remarkable part of all: that was his name! His name was pain.
And he was saying, "Lord, I started out with this name. You have made me
live a life that's not my name, and please, Lord, don't let me go back to my
name."
I will continue to send snippets of news to keep in touch. Again my appreciation
of the time and effort you have all spend faithfully in nurturing your cells.
May your territories be extended and you remain a blessing to reveal His glory.
Luv
Esther Wong
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The
Prayer of Jabez - A Personal Lesson
by Lim Chong Wei
When I gave each of you a copy of the Prayer of Jabez (those in YACE ), the truth is I hadn't read it. So on last Tuesday, I decided to read it. What I learnt from it really overwhelmed me. I was reminded of the fact that I hadn't been living my Christian walk as fully as God has intended.
One analogy given was how I have been only standing by the bank of a river and taking sips of the water, which represents God's power and grace. Instead I was challenged to jump into the river and fully surrender myself to Him, trusting Him to lead and use me where He sees best and that He will provide all that I need to excel in that area.
That was what really broke me. I remembered
walking quickly to the sanctuary and cried out before God. I expressed my fears
to Him in that I lacked the courage to let go of the control of my life. In some
ways, I still trust very much in my own strengths and abilities to get by each
day. I told God that I would need to be reminded again and again to rely on Him
to see me through each day. I'm challenged to make the prayer of Jabez my own.
The principles behind this prayer is really worth being applied in my life on a
daily basis.
So the very next day, I was challenged to take a
step of faith, albeit a very small step. Some of you knew that I had to go for
IPPT (a yearly fitness test required of NSmen) on Wednesday. Having been on a 40
days Daniel fast coupled with the practices required of the Festival of
Praise, I hadn't had much fitness training. So I'm kind of apprehensive.
I needed to do at least 5 chin-ups to pass, which I barely did last year. But having been challenged by the Prayer of Jabez to ask God about my desires, I decided to ask to be able to do 7. When it was time to start the test, my first station was (you guessed it) the chin-up station. Being number 8 on a group of ten meant that I saw how others struggled or did it with ease. My turn came and to my great surprise, I was able to do 7! I was overjoyed & praised God for it.
The other static stations went without much incidence except at the sit-up. For some reason, which I have yet to figure out, the person helping me to count the number of sit-ups felt that I needed help and so he count in this way; 1,2,3,5,6,7,9 . and so on. I screamed in my heart, "What is this guy trying to do?"
I decided to ignore him and continued counting on my own and stopped only when I counted to 39. It was a serious issue of integrity. Thank God the physical fitness instructor chose to take my word, 'cos my 'assistant' sounded out that I completed only 29 repetitions!
Finally for the 2.4km run. It was drizzling and for a moment I thought the test may be cancelled but thank God, it continued. It turned out to be near perfect condition for running and I complete it in the fastest time I remembered since 5 years ago, at slightly under 11 minutes! So, instead of wondering if I could pass, I attained the Silver standard.
As if to top it, God allowed me to get to know a
NTU Accounting final year student while taking the test. I was placed in a
position to help encourage him. Even though he didn't pass because of the 2.4 km
run, I'm glad to be there to cheer him along the way. Hope someone else
would be there for his retest.
That's all I have to share for now. It would be
more exciting to hear me 'live', but you have to make do with this email. In any
case, I encourage you to read through the book on the Prayer of Jabez and apply
those principles in your life and be amazed at how God answer your
prayers.
Feel free to share with the rest how God has
answered your prayers.
God bless and hope to hear from you soon.
Lim Chong Wei
I am sure many, many of you who read Bruce Wilkinson's book were tremendously blessed. Write in and let us know what God has done for you through the "Prayer of Jabez". Editor.
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