The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life | 
 enlarge | Author: Bruce H. Wilkinson
Publisher: Multnomah Publishers
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  558 reviews
Sales Rank: 29193
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Crossings Book Club
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 93
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.4 x 4.7 x 0.5
ISBN: 1576737330
Dewey Decimal Number: 242.722
EAN: 9781576737330
ASIN: 1576737330
Publication Date: April 24, 2000
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Amazon.com Review
Even well-versed Biblical scholars might be perplexed if asked about Jabez, a little-known man listed in 1 Chronicles, chapter 4. Yet his simple petition is the cornerstone of The Prayer of Jabez and has become a call to live a more "blessed life" for countless readers. The prayer is a simple one: "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." In an era where many Christians shy away from anything that smacks of "name it and claim it," author Bruce Wilkinson alleviates misgivings by putting the prayer into perspective. Wilkinson, founder and president of Walk thru the Bible Ministries and a popular speaker for Promise Keepers, writes in a persuasive, conversational style that will woo even the most cynical reader. He has used the Jabez prayer for more than 30 years, and testifies enthusiastically to the changes it has wrought in his own life. Wilkinson challenges readers to recite the Jabez prayer every morning and keep a record of the changes that occur. The power, he emphasizes, is not in the prayer itself, but "rather, the power is in what you believe will happen as a result of the prayer, and the action you take." Wilkinson makes a convincing case. --Cindy Crosby
Product Description
Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, president of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, takes readers to 1 Chronicles 4:10 to discover how they can release God's miraculous power and experience the blessings God longs to give each of us. The life of Jabez, one of the Bible's most overlooked heroes of the faith, bursts from unbroken pages of genealogies in an audacious, four-part prayer that brings him an extraordinary measure of divine favor, anointing, and protection. Readers who commit to offering the same prayer on a regular basis will find themselves extravagantly blessed by God, and agents of His miraculous power, in everyday life.
Do you want to be extravagantly blessed by God?
Are you ready to reach for the extraordinary? To ask God for the abundant blessings He longs to give you? Join Bruce Wilkinson to discover how the remarkable prayer of a little-known Bible hero can release God’s favor, power, and protection. You’ll see how one daily prayer can help you leave the past behind -- and break through to the life you were meant to live.
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 A Useful Starting Point to Discuss Prosperity and Christianity December 19, 2008
Having heard that the Jabez movement was a form of the prosperity gospel where a supplicant prays to God for expensive material possessions and money, I was a bit skeptical when I received this small book as a gift. Since it was so small I read anyway and I will say that it was not what I assumed. This book is not devilish, nor should it be used as a definitive guide on how to pray. Instead it is best used as a starting point in discussing desire, prosperity and the Christian walk.
Let me briefly note Wilkinson's interpretation of the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
"O that you would bless me indeed" - is for the blessings of God to be on your whole life. That you would have God's favor.
"and enlarge my territory" - not physical territory so much as a growth in skills and influence so you can further the work that God wants you to do.
"that your hand would be with me" - that your territory will be enlarged so much, you will have a job too big for you to do alone, and you must rely on the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish great things. (The small discussion of how success perversely can create anxiety and doubt is refreshingly true of humans, and worth a book in itself.)
"and that you would keep me from evil" - that you will keep temptation from me. (Wilkinson's prescriptive that you forego willpower in favor of asking God to keep temptation from you is very practical and much wiser than the fiery judgments upon human weakness that you sometimes hear from the pulpit.)
"that I may not cause pain." - that a life lived in avoidance of sin and sin's destructive nature will promote your relationships with others and with God.
After reading I surprised myself as I felt there is some support for Christians considering this prayer. The Jabez prayer is an answered prayer included in the holy text of the Bible along with many other admonitions about prosperity and how we should handle wealth. Since prosperity builds community and poverty tears it down, God clearly wants his people to have some form of material wealth. Not everyone is called to wear a hairshirt and eat locusts. Israel often prayed for prosperity and the practice of tithing is the mandate that those who are blessed share a portion with the unfortunate. The Bible does not appear to be anti-wealth so much as pro-stewardship. (And it can be quite exacting in its prescriptives of stewardship, a point not included in Wilkinson's work; with great wealth comes great responsibility.)
Additionally, God already knows our material desires so we need not make futile attempts to hide them through silence. The contemporary Christian that is too queasy to pray for his or her desires, would find many of the Old Testament prayers unpalatable. King David often prayed that he might vanquish his enemies which meant kill them in battle. If you truly want something, not speaking to God about that in prayer might mean a lessening honesty in your personal relationship with God. Prayer should be a place where you can be absolutely soul-baringly honest. With your cards on the table, open for your viewing and God's, you are in a better place to receive and accept insight and answers from God.
That said, simply praying rotely for status objects and assuming that God will answer your every whim is not the relationship outlined for us in the Bible. Those many fine fundamentalist ladies who taught me in Sunday School would tell you that there is hell to pay for such hubris. Our ways are not God's ways. We humans are prone to give God the solution and pray that he enacts our great ideas. God is not like a pop machine where you put in your coins and select your options. He has an entire realm to consider and our individual desires may not be in alignment to a larger vision of His.
Which leads me to my biggest sticking point of taking on the Jabez prayer as a part of your daily worship. The Jabez prayer is Old Testament and as Christians we are bound by the New Testament which tells of the disciples asking Jesus, "How shall we pray?" Jesus replied giving the Lord's Prayer. Since the Lord's Prayer comes directly from Jesus I believe it trumps every other prayer in the Bible. And this holy devotion begins not with desire, but with praise, thanksgiving and submission: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy will be done..." We humans are resoundedly put in our rightful place in relationship to the greatness and holiness of God.
As a child I was taught to not only pray the Lord's prayer but to take it as a model, and bring my concerns to God in a certain order.
Praise and thanksgiving - "Our Father who are in heaven hallowed be thy name"
Submission - "Thy will be done."
Presentation of wants and desires - "Give us this day our daily bread."
Forgiveness - "and forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Handing over to God areas where we have fallen - "leads us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"
Ending with a statement of God's complete sovereignity - "for yours is the the kingdom, the power and the glory forever."
The prayer of Jabez is tempting to pray as a talisman because it seems on the surface to promise the fulfillment of our human desires for worldly possessions and power. Though Wilkinson himself does not reduce this prayer to materialism it could easily be used in that manner. A Christian of many years can read it for what it is and see the subtexts and spiritual possibilities. Also those farther along in their walk may have a better understanding of stewardship and submission. This book is not dangerous in their hands.
But for the new Christian, especially one who was previously unchurched, the work could appear to be an affirmation from the pulpit that you can control God through prayer and that God promises us wealth. A life in Christ does not innoculate you from hardship, suffering or disappointment. Any pastor or book that encourages such a view of God does a disservice. When it appears that God is not coming through to fix things, the new Christian may fall away from the church and thereby stunt their personal relationship with God.
I admire Wilkinson for addressing the often ambivalent topic of material wealth and Christianity, but the work would have been much more powerful had he given a real admission of the potential for danger in such a prayer and then brought us through an illustration of a person moving from the most basic and worldly assumptions of the Prayer of Jabez into a more complex and spiritual understanding.
Read it for yourself, but remember it is not a complete discussion of desire and wealth from a Christian perspective. Make it your starting point, not your end.
 The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking through to a blessed life September 21, 2008
This book is great no matter what condition it is in. Next to the Bible and The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, it is one of the best books I've ever read and I buy it for people who are looking for dramatic changes in their life. This is one of the books that will do just that. I recommend the Bible study that is a companion to this book.
Just be careful who you buy it from if you're looking for a "new" one
Good Words... September 8, 2008
If you believe, it serves its purpose. If you are trying to believe, read the book. If you absolutely don't believe, then I would save your money for now...
It liked it.
 The prayer of Wilkinson not the prayer of Jabez! August 26, 2008
I could not find ANYTHING in this little misleading book that was in line with either the specific words,
OR the spirit of the entire New Testament. Most of the emphasized portions of this book directly
contradict the Bible. Much of the teaching contained in this book is false, misleading, and attempts to refute
the very words of Jesus.
Jesus taught us to be satisfied not only with our daily bread, but even with asking
for our daily bread, on a daily basis. I think it is truly a shame that Christians in the richest country in the
world would be so distracted by a simplistic ploy to seek riches rather than the kingdom of God!
This is especially true while so many Christians are starving around the world. How will Christians explain
their Jabezic pursuit of riches by endlessly and repeatedly praying for more and more while Christians are
at this moment being herded into huts and being burned alive?
Are we to believe that all the starving people in the world are starving because of their own personal sin?
The claim that "the only that can break the cycle of abundant living is sin" is absolutely false and directly
contradicts the entire book of Job.
The claim that "the only thing that can break the cycle of abundant living is sin" is absolutely false and directly contradicts the entire book of Job (not to mention several books in the N.T.).
Job was not just more righteous than his brothers like Jabez, Job was the most blameless, righteous and upright man on the entire planet, yet his "abundant living" was severely "broken"! This is an example of end-time preaching where selfish people gather to themselves someone willing to tell them what their itching ears want to hear.
CLEARLY the "Prayer of Jabez" book and the Bible are at opposite ends of the spectrum regarding this teaching!
Tape this divisive little book closed (to protect innocent eyes), and use it for a coaster, or to balance your
dining room table. To do otherwise will lead you astray!
Jesus describes the reality of being hungry, thirsty, naked, and a stranger but He told us to feed, clothe, and welcome others. He made no mention of sin, or praying to "expand our borders", or to pray for a "larger cup"!
If your cup runneth over, do NOT pray for a larger cup, share what is in your cup with others!
Matthew 25:32-46
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
?Then the King will say to those on his right, ?Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.? " Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."
They also will answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?? ?He will reply, ?I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.? ?Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Franz Sigel Shroy
Transform Your Perception of God July 29, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you have ever been exposed to a negative image of God, then you must read this book. This book will change your perception and you'll find a kind, loving God who wants everything good to come to you. The practice of asking God for what you want is encouraged in a prayer that will change your life. The belief that God wants everything positive for your life transcends off the pages into your heart. Bruce examines the belief that giving to others will make your life abundant and fulfilled. Have faith, ask God and believe. After reading this book, you know God has answers and miracles just for you.
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