than the men and women whose lives are chronicled in the Bible.
Some pray and depend on God as Jabez did, while others refuse and reject Him.
In the past I have skipped reading the genealogy sections of the Bible. However, I think these passages serve to remind us that every person is important to God and He is well aware of where we came from, as well as our strengths and weaknesses. Genealogy also allows us to understand how people and nations are related. God breathed these passages just as He did all scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), and they, too, can be profitable for us and even give clues as to what's behind long standing disputes between nations today.
As we read the genealogy of Judah, the name Jabez may sound familiar. Bruce Wilkinson wrote the book, "The Prayer of Jabez", a few years ago. (The prayer of Jabez is also an example of the important snippets in these genealogy passages that can be missed if we skip over these chapters.) Jabez is given two verses in 1 Chronicles 4, that have grabbed the attention of many on the subject of prayer. This was obviously of interest to many, perhaps because most of us struggle with our prayer lives--many times feeling like we don't know how to pray or what to pray. On the other hand, the request for blessings might be the draw that made this book so popular.
The name "Jabez" in Hebrew means, "he makes sorrowful". His birth was evidently more painful for his mother than the other children she bore. Verse 9 tells us that Jabez was "more honorable than his brothers". Jabez called on God 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!" Jabez was stuck with his name, but he asked God to keep him from living up (perhaps living down) to his name and causing pain for others. Jabez evidently recognized that God was able to do the things he was asking. The next verse tells us "So God granted him what he requested".
I wonder if this book gained popularity because it first introduced many to the truth that God wants to bless us rather than just throw us into the lake of fire! (Also, on the subject of prayer, Dr. Mumpower gave one of the most important points about success at prayer in his recent sermon at Mt. Celo. His sermon is available for listening on this blog. He said the key to prayer is "persistence". I have found this to be very true in my prayer life. Prayer can be discouraging, especially when we feel inadequate and focus on ourselves. It takes time to learn to take the focus off ourselves and put it on "Our Father, which art in heaven". It is very difficult to turn loose the cares of life and be still before God, actually listening to Him as well as talking to Him. Connecting with God is the key to satisfying prayer and can only happen when we master putting everything else aside and coming into His Presence. The more we do it, the better we will become at praying. "Drive-by" prayers may soothe our conscience and make us feel like we've prayed, but in reality that's about it. We must persist in prayer in order to be blessed with answered prayer.)
The model for prayer is not that of Jabez, but that of Jesus in Matthew 6. We can learn much from the prayer of Jabez, however. Some people have been critical of the book and have said this prayer was for Jabez only. Once again, 2 Timothy 3:16, says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". Jabez put God at the center of his life--do we? Jabez asked--do we believe in God enough to ask Him for what we want or what we need? Jabez did not want to be a source of pain to others--are we concerned about others and about our name and reputation? These questions we ask ourselves can serve to correct and reprove us. Does God answer prayers for us as He did for Jabez?
God will one day deliver all the oppressed of the earth (Psalm 76:9). As believers, God is King of our lives now and He is willing and able to deliver us from bondage in many areas of our lives. However, we must ask Him and yield to His word and His Spirit in order to gain this new freedom. Proverbs 19:8 adds, "He who keeps understanding will find good". God has perfect understanding and desires to share it with us if we are only willing. We see in Acts that "boldness" resulted when God's Spirit was allowed to work in the believer's life. The book of Acts is full of instances where God answered the prayers of His servants. The examples of Jabez, the Apostles, and believers in Acts, show us how God can use regular people to glorify Him. Jabez probably would be surprised to learn that his prayer was preserved in the Bible and was the subject of a book years after he was gone. Neither do we know the impact our hearts and prayers may have.
When we consider the lives of the men and women that are recorded in the Bible (some responded to God in their lives and some refused His counsel), we can better understand why God says, "Faith comes by hearing the word of God" (Romans 10:17)--even the genealogy part! Through His word God gives us a window through which we can view what God is capable of doing in the lives of people just like us. Whether we respond in faith is our decision.
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