The Prayer of Jabez

1 Chronicles 4:10

I can’t remember the date I began praying this prayer but I do remember the effect it had on my life.  I was tired after a nice stretching session and was planning on heading straight to bed.  As I sat in front of my bookshelf trying to get up enough umph to stand up, this book seemed to leap off the shelf and I couldn’t help but pick it up.  I’m not kidding you when I say I couldn’t put it down.  It was so good!  I sat on the ground for over an hour and read the entire book. 

I have been praying 1 Chronicles 4:10 pretty consistently and I have seen the effect in not just my life but others as well.  Here is a short journal entry from several months ago, only a few days after reading the book. 

---

“A few months ago, I had been feeling led by God to start asking Him for more.  But this seemed so selfish.  I was like, “This can’t be you Lord, because as a Christian I should be praying for others around the world, not myself.” 

As time went on, God began bringing different verses to mind and a lot of other circumstances that was pushing and motivating me to accept that God was in fact leading me to ask for more. 

There is a story of a man who entered heaven and upon arrival was given a tour.  One of the buildings was full of rooms of which the man realized his name was at the top of one of the doors.  As he opened the door he couldn’t believe his eyes, it was full of blessings!  The guy asked his guide what this meant and this was his reply:  “These are all the blessings God wanted to give you while you were on earth, but you never asked for them.”  This struck me almost as if the Holy Spirit was convicting me of something.

Jesus says to “ask” multiple times in the gospels, and all throughout scripture you’ll find it full of verses where God says do this and I’ll give you this.

The only problem is, there are stipulations to our petitions.  We seem to skip over the part that says what we must do in order for us to receive these promises of God.”

---

The following months after completing Wilkinson’s challenge proved to be very beneficial in my life.  It led me to realize that the only way we can give to others without being drained and empty at the end of the day, we must be full and overflowing with Jesus.  Then it is this outflow from our hearts that goes into other’s lives.

I don’t want to give away too much so I encourage you to grab the book or watch the sermon by Bruce Wilkinson called The Prayer of Jabez and try the one month challenge that he gives.  Come back and let me know what you think and if you decide to try it!