The Prayer of Jabez

  • Mike Gunn
  • Jan 1, 2004
  • Series: Books
    The Prayer of Jabez

    The modern Christian “market” has seen a flood of Christian Kitsch, Jesus Junk, and badly ripped off advertising slogans. After all, who else would turn a time-honored trademark like Budweiser into “Be-weiser,” throw it on a shirt, and then sell it to fundamentalists in an uninspired attempt to be trendy. Insidious as this may appear, when these pat fads and poor critical thinking infect the literary world of theology, it becomes downright sickening.

    Well, fresh in the wake of Christianity's #1 best selling series “Left Behind,” we've hit a new low in the poor theology department. The Prayer of Jabez is Christianity's newest, best selling fad. Before you run to your concordance to answer the question—who the &%$# is Jabez???—I'll save you the time. Jabez is mentioned three times in scripture (1 Chronicles 4:9,10). The passage is in the midst of a genealogy depicting the line of Hur and Asher.

    What makes 1 Chronicles 4:10 so important? Thanks to Bruce Wilkinson (Founder of “Walk Through The Bible” Ministries, a seemingly presentable ministry, and author of the book), it is, apparently, the “Secret to unlocking the keys to God's blessings.” (Just what we needed in the west, a book on how to be blessed.) The book is full of weak, anecdotal stories about how he has prayed this prayer as a mantra for the past 30 years, and has sat back and watched God grow his ministry. My favorite is his parable regarding a man (“Mr. Jones”) who dies, and is taken to heaven, where he is shown a warehouse by St. Peter. There he discovers “All the blessings God wanted to give him while he was on earth… but Mr. Jones had never asked.” I guess God just can't act without our permission! He also asks if it is “possible that God wants you to pray selfishly?” (the answer is inferred in the affirmative), and then posits that “Seeking God's blessings is our ultimate act of worship.” Whereas there is no doubt that God wants us to enjoy Him and to ask Him for our needs, there is no place in scripture that we are told to pray selfishly, and a plethora of examples seem to indicate the opposite.

    The book tries to mitigate its obviously self-centered theme by practically applying it to ministry opportunities. We are truly called to pray, and trust God mightily, that He will work in our lives and ministries, but this book seems to promulgate an American, capitalistic definition of blessing as large numbers and prosperity. Where does that leave Jesus, and many martyrs, who have lost their lives with ostensibly little numbers to show for their effort?

    In a formulaic format, the author challenges us to:

    • Pray the prayer of Jabez every day for 30 days. (Real nice! More meaningless repetition! Didn't Jesus comment on this?)
    • Write out the prayer, and tape it in areas you can see it all day. (Actually, I suggest you get a WWJD bracelet, so you can ask “What Would Jabez Do” all day long.)
    • Reread the book once a week for a month. (Of course if it comes down to time to read the bible or the book, choose the book.)
    • Tell others what you are doing, so you can be held accountable.
    • Keep records of the changes you should be seeing. (Sounds like a fad diet.)
    • Start praying the prayer for everyone you know.

    What I want to know is… where was this book 2,000 years ago? With all the theologians in the past 2 millennia, you'd figure someone would have discovered this gem, but NO ONE has had the insight to unlock the keys to God's blessing like this book, or Bruce Wilkinson, has. Even Jesus was apparently dumbfounded when asked by the disciples how to pray. The best He could come up with was that weak Lord's Prayer. I guess He hadn't heard of Jabez. Basically no other author in scripture thought enough to write about him either. He's not even mentioned in the “Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11).

    There are many great books on prayer. The Prayer of Jabez is not one of them. Save yourself $8 and pick up Spurgeon, Murray, E.M. Bounds, Tozer, Von Balthasar, but stay away from anyone that pulls out an obscure verse from a genealogy and builds a theology around it. We need to be people of prayer, and like the book contends, we need to trust God to act mightily in or lives, but we don't need another “quick-fix mantra” that promises us blessings if we maintain its formula for working. God is free, and He is not bound and limited by our actions. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Romans 9:15).

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