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Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez, saying 'I
gave birth to him in pain' Jabez cried out to the God of Israel,
"Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!
Let your hand be with me and keep me from evil so that I may not cause pain.
And God granted his request.
If you don't know much about 1 Chronicles, the first eight chapters contain a genealogy
of Israel which is full of names that I won't attempt to pronounce. That is, except for the
prayer of Jabez. Have you ever noticed this prayer before? It is hidden in a list of names
often skimmed and missed by readers. This is the only prayer mentioned throughout the
genealogy and so why is it so important ? What is so special about Jabez that his prayer
and his name have never been forgotten?
The first part reads, "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers" we can also read this
as his brothers were less honorable than him. Jabez looked at his family and saw
something he wasn't satisfied with, something that could be improved upon, something
that challenged him to rise to a higher moral standard. And in this very first statement,
Jabez is also setting a standard for us: to look around at the world and our brothers and
sisters and challenge ourselves to seek a higher moral standard as well. As Virginia
mentioned yesterday, our actions speak louder than our words and by challenging
ourselves to rise, we in turn are challenging those around us.
In the next line of this passage, we are taken back to the birth of Jabez. "His mother
named him Jabez, saying I gave birth to him in pain." There weren't any drugs back then
and I think we can say that every birth was painful. But what made Jabez's birth
different? So much that his mother named her child Pain. I was talking to a friend last
night, who mentioned that she had been in labour 58 hours with the birth of her first
child and that she had yet to meet anyone who topped that. 58 hours is almost 2 1/2
days. Perhaps this is why Jabez's mother chose his name or maybe it was emotional
pain? We'll never know. But think of what it was like for Jabez, to start life with a name
like Pain.
Yet Jabez does not ask God to change his name. Instead he starts his prayer with " Oh,
that you would bless me and enlarge my territory." Often I wonder what I've done to
deserve God's blessings, and that's the point ‐ I don't deserve them and yet God always
wants to give us his blessings if only we would open our hearts to receive them.
Jabez also asks God to enlarge his territory. This doesn't appear applicable to us today
but in the time of Jabez, a man's territory would be the land he was most familiar with
and a request for enlarged territory would add unfamiliar land to the familiar. Jabez
didn't specify what kind of territory and therefore didn't know what he would receive ‐
would it be hilly or flat, fertile or arid? In today's life, a request for enlarged territory is a
request for God to take us outside of our comfort zone and from the familiar to
unknown. Moving outside your comfort zone is like getting out of bed. We might not
always want to do it but at some point we have to.The bed is warm, safe and
comfortable but the second your feet touch the cold floor you are venturing into a new
territory ‐ one which is familiar but unfamiliar and different each day.
Next Jabez prays " Let your hand be with me,". He is asking God's presence to be with
him as he goes into this unfamiliar territory. We can always pray for God's presence and
like Jabez, we should be praying for His presence not only when things are unknown or
uncertain but also when we are basking in God's blessings. Yet the more God is with us
and the more of his work we do, the greater the temptations which is why Jabez prays
"keep me from evil so that I may not cause pain." This is similar to what we pray in the
Lord's prayer. But Jabez's prayer offers a reason for his prayer ' so that I might not cause
pain.' If you recall Jabez's name means pain but instead of trying to hide from this
meaning, he embraces it as something he to contradict. (the Pain who causes no pain).
And even though our names do not mean pain, as Jabez's does, we should still be
striving for the same ‐ to not cause pain and to go a step further, to love our neighbors
as ourselves.
1 Chronicles 4: 10 says ' And God granted his requests". Jabez's prayer is short and
sweet and very powerful and it honors God.
The word pray means to entreat or ask eagerly. And as Jesus said in (matt 7:7 mk
11:24), Luke 11:9 : Ask and it shall be given unto you. Like Jabez, may everything we do
and pray honor God in every way forever and today.