If there is a prayer that is historical for being within a genealogy of the tribe of Judah, it is the Prayer of Jabez, we find it in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, and in it an invocation to God is made to free of evil and that nothing can harm you, if you do not know it, we invite you to do so by reading our article.
Jabez's Prayer
It is a historical prayer that is in the genealogy of the tribe of Judah, we can find it in 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10, there is very little information about Jabes, only that he was a descendant of that Israelite tribe, it is said that he was a very well-known man, and it was his mother who gave him the name Jabes whose meaning in Hebrew is painful or who makes sadness, she gives him that name because her birth was very painful and in a moment of despair she invoked prayer to ask God for her protection and blessing and in the same way Jabes asked God to protect him from having that name that remembered pain.
This Prayer of Jabez has become popular because it appears in a book that has had record sales, the most famous one being The Prayer of Jabez: How to Enter a Life of Blessing from the year 2000, by Bruce Wilkinson and David Kopp:
Now Jabez was the most well-known of his brothers. He was named Jabez after his mother, who said, “Because I have been in pain when I gave birth.” Jabez called on the God of Israel and said, “O God, bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, and let your hand be with me, and keep me from evil, so that nothing may harm me.” And God granted him all that he asked of him.
This prayer of Jabez is a praise to God, a God who was new to Jabez, since he was a foreigner who was joining a new nation, the nation of Israel where he had found refuge. Jabez came to understand that in this nation, with this people, he would be under the protection of a God, the true God, for which he decides to entrust himself to him and be a testimony of his faith.
The interesting thing about this small fraction of the Chronicles and of the sacred writings is that it is recorded in a long family tree of a tribe, and whoever mentions it pauses in his records to talk about Jabez, his birth and of his prayer, therefore Jabez had to be a person of importance so that he was mentioned separately, and that later the writer continued making the chronology of that tree.
Therefore, when referring to the fact that his name meant pain, it seemed that the life of this man would not be of importance or he would not have a good future, but he, in his trust with a new and unknown god, prayed for him to bless him and be his guide, so that his lands would be abundant and that his name would not be the sign of suffering in his life. He asks for his protection and to keep him away from suffering and pain, that's why he follows God and believes in him and God blesses him.
It should be noted that the book of chronicles reveals what the future of the Jewish people was, which was faithful to the laws of Moses and in their worship of God. At that time the Jews were already a more independent people in Persia, they were strengthening their faith in one God, which was administered by a priest and awaiting the promised Son of David.
This book tells the story of the tribe of Judah and its kings, who were the descendants of King David, his lineage begins from Adam, but it does not speak of the kingdom of Israel, where the chosen people were . That is why finding a section where a non-Jewish foreigner is mentioned, who prays to God and asks for his blessing, help and protection, is something interesting.
Who was Jabes?
Perhaps he was a descendant of the Kenites who later became part of the Tribe of Judah, so at the beginning of his life he was not part of God's chosen people, therefore he had no knowledge of God's promises to the people , and that he received the kindness and mercy of being part of this people and in the tribe of Judah, which was the tribe of praise to God.
His story begins with great sadness and pain, since his mother had given him this name that means "the one who causes pain" because his delivery had been of great suffering, despite them he was the most outstanding of all his brothers, and in the passage of the Bible he is mentioned as illustrious. The pain and affliction were a reminder from God to women as a consequence of Adam and Eve's sin of disobeying God, “And you shall bear your children with pain” (Genesis 3:16).
Jabez learned to follow the guidelines of the people of Israel, he became well known or famous and he also learned to fear God, that is why he knows that God is the source of blessings and that requesting a grace from him came from an ancient promise that God had given to Abraham and all his descendants, Jabez wanted his territory to be larger in order to have greater prosperity in life. When god grants him all that he asked for he tells us that his devotion to god and his prayers were compensated and he stopped having the suffering that he had in the beginning.
Jabez must have had some importance for him to be mentioned in the Bible in a list where all the descendants of the tribe of Judah were being mentioned, this being a stranger who was not a Jew; since after he is mentioned and it is said what his cry to God was, he continues with his list of names of the descendants of this tribe and does not emphasize any of them in particular.
Characteristics of the Jabez Prayer
We can divide this sentence into parts and say what its main characteristics are, for that we are going to divide it into five parts.
“Oh, if you would give me a blessing”
Jabez recognizes that the god of Israel was a source of blessings and that is why he invokes him, he knows that by praying to God they can have abundant blessings, but the most important thing is that being a foreigner, he had faith in the God of Israel. This blessing was based on the promise that God had made centuries before to Abraham and all of his descendants, and Jabez must have been aware of them, since he was living with the Israelites.
Jabez prayed that God would make his territory wider
All people who believe in God and have faith can expect their territory to be larger, in the time of Jabez the land of Canaan was very rich, and God had already promised Joshua that all the land he stepped on with his feet he would be delivered, in the same way that he had told Moses, that is why God granted him what he asked for, to bless him for his faith.
Jabez wanted more than anything that his territory was bigger, the same thing that Joshua wanted at the moment he took possession of the promised land, that these lands were widening, but one thing was that they enter this land and another different thing was that they reach to have it, that is why God told Joshua that he had to be very brave and that he had to go out and possess this land, he would give it to him, but first he had to defeat the enemies that were in it, therefore they had to destroy them in order to enjoy it.
That is why Jabez hopes and prays for that victory of having prosperity for all the work and effort he made and that once he accepts and has faith in the God of Abraham, he knew that many multiplications would come in his material goods.
Jabez pray to God: and if your hand is with me
It shows that Jabez had little knowledge and strength, that is why he hopes to receive divine help and the necessary guidance, that is why he wants Two to give him his hand, to put his life in it, he already knew that the God of Israel was a great God and worker of many miracles and knew that many things could be obtained from her hand, since she had taken the people out of slavery in Egypt and had taken them to Canaan.
To have the presence of the hand of God is to ask him to have the direction of your life and to give you the necessary strength to lead your daily and everyday life.
And free me from evil
When an Israelite did not suffer any type of damage, it was said that he was protected and that the hand of God was upon him, the nation of Israel had to fight a lot to be able to have their land, little by little they were defeating their enemies always with the With the help of God, they did not manage to have more land since they made many mistakes and God did not bless them with more land, but those were their moments of greatest glory and power, thanks to the fact that Two was with them.
God was always looking for a way to teach his people that blessings can also come from their failures whenever they want and prepare to have a life full of sacrifices to get what they wanted. Jabez asked him to deliver him from evil, from wickedness, and that is a very great blessing that God is asked to be protected.
This part of the prayer is the same that Jesus taught us all when he gave us the Our Father prayer, so that you deliver us from all evil.
So that it doesn't hurt me or cause me pain
Jabes thought that his name was a cause of sadness and pain, so he asks God that nothing harm him or cause pain because of his name, he knows that God wants to protect all his faithful, but to enjoy it we must follow him faithfully and walking by his side, the one who was a foreigner in the people of Israel had confidence and entrusted himself to Jehovah so that he would not cause him harm or pain.
Sometimes there will be times when it is believed that the answer to our requests to God does not come, but in this prayer we see that with faith we must be certain that God will listen to us and answer what we ask since he is infinitely wise, that is why this Jabez's prayer teaches us a lot, God gave Jabez an answer, since later he says "And God gave him everything he asked for".
God listens to our prayers and fills us with spiritual blessings and makes us greater in our inner growth and this is called having Grace, this is the final message of the prayer and the one that invites us to follow the example of Jabez, this Prayer teaches us that it has power and is perfect to be elevated to God, since God wants to give us many more things than we can ask for.
Application of prayer for life
This prayer should be applied by doing it every morning, and making a record from the first moment we start doing it, you can also write it down and place it in a place where you can see it every day. Every time you say the prayer, do a meditation and write it down. You can also talk to other people indicating your commitment to the prayer and teach it to them. Make a record of all the changes that come to you from the moment you started the prayer, pray together with your family and your brothers.
The primary objective of this prayer is that we are free from living with pain, for what we read of this prayer in the Bible, God compensated Jabez, that is, he gave him an answer because he says that he gave him everything he asked for, Jabez began to to be very successful, one that helped him offset the pain he had been going through since birth, and his prayer became more famous than his own name.
This prayer is a good example of how to pray to God, and that we should give it priority in our lives, seek God's help when we are in need and deliver these requests directly to his throne, but it is not just asking at the time that we are most in need but to pray to him every day, and thank him for everything he gives us. This prayer teaches us how you should be children of God, full of humility, having faith and trust that God is kind, merciful and great before everything that we ask of him.
Importance of this prayer
The importance of this prayer is that a person who knew nothing about the God of Israel manages to understand what many Israelites had not understood, that there was only one true God and that he should be at the center of their lives. He understood that God wants to bless his people, but before doing so he wanted them to ask him to come into their lives and ask for his blessings.
Jabez wanted to be more prosperous, successful, and more important, so he asks God for help. He understood that when you want to achieve an important goal you must have God on your side. In Proverbs 16: 3 he says that if you place all your works in the hands of God all your thoughts will become firm, that is to have a direct and intimate relationship with God.
Jabez approached God and in him he sought the necessary support for his life, now he knows who God is and that he will protect him from all evil and from any pain, for his faith he was blessed with what he asks for, with what he prayed and he cried out to God.
This prayer teaches us that all of us have struggles to continue, but that if we count and ask God what happens to us and ask for his blessing and protection, he will give it to us, it also teaches us that we must learn to have faith and trust in God, this prayer is not only for Christian people, believers, but it is a prayer that all people can do to get closer to God and see that life is a long process of growth not only physical but also spiritual.
However, we must review all the scriptures to see and understand that God cares about all his children, and that all those who seek him in prayer can have what they seek. Jabez is an example that God is interested in what you want to achieve and this can only be achieved when he prays to him with passion and with faith, with constant prayer.
This prayer can help a beginner in knowing God since it establishes a direct relationship with him, if you have confidence he will respond to what you ask, God likes to be prayed to because he knows that this is a sign of the fidelity of his children and that they never forget God, just as he never forgets us, remember that there is no heavy load that God places on your shoulders if he is not sure that you can handle it. Just have faith and trust and keep praying to God.
This is why his faith and trust in a God that was unknown to him, is enough to demonstrate to that people, that if he had been chosen by God as his nation, that if a foreigner asked with faith, and God granted him his blessing , that other benefits could not be delivered to those who were his people. In the same way, this reflection can be extended to Christians and believers, to those who are seeking to meet God and who do not know how to do it.
If we pray with faith to God, he will hear what we ask or need, but for them we need to believe that God is with us at all times, to know that God made sacrifices for his people, punished them when they disobeyed him, that God is just, good, kind and merciful, but that we must approach him with humility, with sincerity in what we ask for.
Prayers are cries and requests, praises that we make to God to praise his name, to thank him for everything he gives us, to thank him for his forgiveness, and to thank him for his last alliance with men so that we believe in his son, if you believe in Christ Jesus, in his mission of salvation and forgiveness of our sins, then you believe in God. If you believe in God, you believe in prayer, prayer is strength, it is power, it is determination that we can have the things we want.
Whenever you ask, you must do it with the same faith that Jabez had in asking God to help him, so that you never forget that he will always be with us to help us and be our guide, so that you do not leave the path that he has predestined for you, so that blessings, prosperity, success and eternal happiness come into your life, in the right way and forever.
Only see God as love, since that is his word, if you love God you can love your neighbor and your fellow men, you can love your enemies, so that God fills you with the blessings that he believes necessary in your life, only apply the power of prayer that we are teaching you.
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