The Prayer of Jabez EXPOSED!
God is never moved by pride, but it is with humbleness that God’s heart is moved. We know very little about Jabez in the Bible.
1Ch 4:9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez and said, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10 Jabez called out to the God of Israel: “If only You would bless me, extend my border, let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not cause any pain.” And God granted his request.
Most preachers use verse ten to explain the story of Jabez out of context to back up their prosperity Gospel. The prosperity message is not the Gospel at all, but many have come to Christ for what they can get not realizing that the true Gospel is not about them, but rather about laying down your life. The message of the Gospel is summed up in one verse, Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you… But that’s a verse for another time.
I never realized it until now that Jabez was not speaking about being prosperous, otherwise there would be NO verse nine. Jabez caused his mother great pain when he was born. It also says that he was honourable. You see, Jabez despised the fact that he caused his mother great pain. Though, not through any fault of his own, he caused his mother pain and because of this, he went through life with a name that meant “I caused pain”. How awful would that be? Everytime someone said your name it would remind you of the pain that you caused your mother!
Jabez was looking to end the pain and grief he caused. In some translations, Jabez ended his prayer with “that it would not grieve me anymore” (italics added by me). Some translations even say that he was RULED by this grief! This was a prayer of desperation! Jabez was tired of being ruled by the pain and grief that he caused his mother. In my opinion, I think he may have caused his mother so much pain that it killed her, but it is not written. The whole point of this small prayer was that he wanted the grief to end, NOT that he wanted to be blessed with riches as some preachers seem to think it means.
It has been preached and prayed by so many as a “bless me” prayer not understanding that the point of the prayer was to ask God to remove the name/label that followed Jabez through his life. Through desperation and an honourable life, God answered his prayer. It was not a prayer of increase to have bigger and better things, but rather an increase to stop the grief.
What name has followed you through your life? Jacob’s name meant “deceiver”, but he did not remain that way. God changed his name to Israel. We all have labels that have been put on us by others or by the way we were raised. Maybe it’s a character flaw that we cannot change on our own strength. Labels can cause us pain, especially when we are powerless to change… but that’s why we need the strength of God to increase in our lives.
I can’t tell you what you have been labelled. You need to search your life and find out what it is that has been dragging you down throughout your life. I don’t think most people will have to search very hard. Once we realize who we are in Christ, those labels disappear. That is not the way the Father sees you. He sees you as perfect, pure, righteous, Holy, lovely, beautiful and more! He is so deeply and madly in love with you that He would give his Sons life just to be with you, AND HE DID! YOU ARE FREE!! Don’t agree with the labels anymore, Your name has been changed. You are not the same anymore. In Christ you are a NEW creation! A creation that has never existed before.
If you want to experience more freedom, I highly recommend reading “The Gospel in Ten Words” by Paul Ellis. It is a powerful book that simply shows some of the depths of Christ’s love for us.
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