If the average person in church were told, “The pastor is talking about Jabez this morning”, there would be one of two responses:
1. Who in the world is Jabez?
2. Why is the pastor preaching from a best-selling book instead of the Bible?
But long before Jabez was the subject of a best-selling book back in the year 2000, he was an honorable man who prayed a prayer that God answered. Any time we read the words “God granted him what he requested”, our hearts should leap at the prospect!
In 1 Chronicles 4, in a long list of name after name without any biography, we find a two verse biography of a man who stands out from the rest. This in spite of the fact that his mother gave him a name that sounded like “Pain” because his birth was so difficult! That’s a lot to overcome, but overcome he did.
How might this prayer change our lives for the glory of God? How might it change the way we pray? How might the world be impacted by a church of people who pray this prayer with expectation on a regular basis?