The Prayer of Jabez

In my previous blog I touched on the positive power of prayer and the way our Lord taught us to pray. For today and the rest of the week I will discuss some other ways to put prayer power to use. These prayers do not substitute using the Lord's prayer, but they are excellent alternatives. Each of these methods have been very helpful in my life.

One of the best Christian books I have read is "The Prayer of Jabez" by Bruce Wilkinson. I highly recommend you check out this small but potentially life-changing book. It is based on the following prayer from I Chronicles 4:10. It has 4 main components. In the prayer, Jabez asks for:

1. Blessing - Contrary to what some may think, it is not wrong to ask God for abundant blessing. In fact, He is waiting for us to ask. You may have heard the verse, "you have not because you ask not". As long as we are asking according to God's will we can ask freely. It's amazing how the blessings soon arrive once you ask in this way.

2. Expand my territory - Want to see miracles? Ask God to expand your territory. This is basically asking for more opportunities to positively impact the world around you. Once again, it's amazing how things start happening by simply asking according to His will.

3. May your hand be upon me - When the blessings start coming and our territory begins to expand beyond our control things can actually get a bit scary. However, the book states that this is ok because we rely on God's power instead of our own. I don't know about you, but using my own power sets me up for failure. Relying on God's power sets me up to witness miracles.

4. Protect me from evil - Similar to the Lord's prayer, this one ends by asking for deliverance from the evil one. Satan does not want to see us blessed or impacting our world for God. He will do all he can to discourage us, which is why we need Heavenly protection.

My favorite part of this verse is the final part....And God granted his request. Simple as that. As the book shares, God will gladly answer a prayer like this. Not only answer it, but take it and run with it. The only times this prayer has not worked wonders for me is the times I neglect to use it. Once again, God is waiting for us to ask for blessing, more responsibility, and dependence on Him. If you have a sincere desire for positive power, this prayer is one way to see it and experience it. I say this from first-hand experience. I look forward to hearing how it works for you.

Have an excellent day : )