The Prayer of Jabez

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV)

Wendy and I are at the lake this week in preparation for our annual Memorial Day weekend with friends and the kick-off to summer. I just started one of the books on my summer reading list. The Way of a Pilgrim is a mystic work written anonymously in the nineteenth century. It comes out of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is the story of an unnamed pilgrim who embarks on a journey to discover how one prays constantly.

Along my own spiritual journey, I’ve found the spiritual discipline of prayer takes many forms. I’ve touched on this many times over the years. In fact, a post I wrote about Popcorn Prayers back in 2019 continues to get a lot of regular reads, which I find kind of fascinating.

Most of the time, my prayers take the form of conversations with God. At the same time, I have found that there are a number of traditional prayers that have been handed down through history which I offer repeatedly; Prayers like the Lord’s Prayer, the Jesus Prayer, the Prayer of St. Francis, and the Prayer of St. Patrick.

Around the turn of the 21st century, the prayer of Jabez from today’s chapter became the subject of a popular book. Like most people, I’d never really notice it before because it’s buried in the fourth of the Chronicler’s nine chapters of genealogy. I probably had skipped or skimmed my way right over it for years. The book, however, became a best seller and the prayer has also made it into regular rotation of my repeated prayers over the years.

What’s fascinating about the prayer of Jabez, and the book about the prayer which has sold over 10 million copies, is that it can easily become a spiritualized version of a good luck charm. Even the book and its publishers push the idea that it’s a “breakthrough to blessing.” Indeed, Jabez’s prayer fits hand-in-glove with the message of name-it-and-claim-it televangelists and those hawking a prosperity gospel. I know those who say they pray it daily and pray it often so God will shower them with blessing.

As I’ve repeated and internalized the prayer of Jabez over the years, I’ve found it not to be about receiving material blessings, but about being a blessing. I’m already blessed. I’m blessed indeed. I’m blessed abundantly. If anything, I don’t spend enough time in contented gratitude for all of the blessings I take for granted every day. Jabez asks for “expanded borders” for God’s blessings. For me, this is a prayer for increased and proliferated opportunities to channel the blessings God has graciously given me.

In the quiet this morning, I am grateful for my return to the prayer of Jabez amidst the genealogical slog on this chapter-a-day journey. It’s a good reminder as I gaze out over the lake of the ways God has blessed me beyond what I could have even imagined when I was a young man. I’m equally reminded that the blessings I have been given are not to be hoarded but to be shared, and so my heart echoes the request of Jabez for expanded borders to extend the blessings I have never deserved but have been generously given to share.