Prayer of Jabez

Jabez was from the tribe of Judah (Judah meaning "praise"). We know nothing more about Jabez because there is only one mention of him in the whole of scripture: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.

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. (1 Chronicles 4:10)

Today, let us look at the amazing Prayer of Jabez. You too can incorporate this prayer into your prayer arsenal. Teach it to your loved ones.

Petition #1
“Oh, that You would bless me indeed

Some might say, “I am already blessed” True, but the truth also is that there are levels of blessing. You can be blessed and you can be blessed indeed.

The word bless comes from the Hebrew word ‘Barak’ meaning empowered for success. Jabez was saying, “O lord may I be empowered to succeed”. The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. (Proverbs 10:22) When the Lord decides to bless you the resistance or the opposition does not matter.
 
Petition #2
Enlarge my territory

Jabez asked for an expanded area of influence. This type of praying will take you into territories that you never even dreamed of.

Petition #3
That Your hand would be with me

If you read Exodus 8:16-19. when God brought plague of lice on the Egyptians, the magicians could no longer duplicate the power of God. They accepted defeat and said to the Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

Very interesting that the magicians called this display the ‘finger of God’. If the finger of God could stop all the magic enchantments of Egypt, then just imagine what mighty things can be accomplished through you when the Hand of God is upon us?

“And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” 1 Kings 18:46

The hand of God is the power of God. It brings the realm of the impossible into the possible (Luke 1:33)  

I prophesy that you will overtake every competitor that has gone ahead of you. The hand of the Lord will rest upon you and grant you speed. What took years for others will only take days for you. 

Petition #4
That You would keep me from evil

Here we can compare the prayer of Jabez with the Lord's Prayer "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13).

Petition #5
That I may not cause pain!

In life, you will encounter only two kinds of people; a person is either a test or a blessing. There is no neutral person.

Jabez prayed that he would be a blessing to all and not a pain. Its not enough to be blessed, we need to become a blessing.

When we pray prayers that are Kingdom centric; prayers that are according to His will and based upon His Word, we can expect swift answers. Scripture records, “So God granted him what he requested.” (1 Chronicles 4:10)