Let’s turn to two passages. Place a marker at James 4, then turn to I Chronicles 4. The early chapters of I Chronicles are, I’m sure, one of the least read sections of the Bible. The first 9 chapters of Chronicles are genealogies, lists of hundreds of names, most of which you don’t know how to pronounce. They make up the official Old Testament family tree. It traces the lineages of the Israelite tribes from Adam, in the beginning, to about the end of OT history, the time when the Jews had returned to their land from Babylonian captivity.

We’re not going to see how long we can stay awake while reading this section. Rather I’d like to talk to you mainly about just two very intriguing verses. Embedded in the genealogical list in chapter 4 are a couple verses that tell us a little story about a man we don’t read of anywhere else in Scripture. It’s like the author of Chronicles was listing the names in the genealogies and then got to this guy and thought, “You know, I bet my readers don’t know what I know about this guy and what God did in his life. It reveals something awesome about God and the interaction we can have with Him. So let me pause here for a sec in the genealogy and say something about this fella.” Let’s read it. It’s I Chronicles 4:9-10. After saying, “The sons of so-and-so were so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so. And the sons of so-and-so were so-and-so and so-and-so…,” all of the sudden it says, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him with pain.” Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm [or it could be “keep me from evil”] so that it may not pain me!” And God granted what he asked.” Then after the little digression about Jabez it picks right back up with the genealogies, “So-and-so fathered so-and-so. And so-and-so fathered so-and-so…”

I suspect mentioning Jabez reminds many of you of a famous little book that came out in the year 2000 called “The Prayer of Jabez” by Bruce Wilkinson. It quickly became a New York Times best seller and sold over 10 million copies. Many of you have probably read it or at least seen it. Some think it’s about the greatest book ever. Others think it’s horrible and misrepresents God. It’s been at least a few years since I read it so I’m not prepared to comment much on it. I remember having mixed feelings as I read it. I remember liking parts of it, but also feeling that sometimes it promised too much. I looked at the preface again this week and was reminded of why I felt it promised too much. The first paragraph of the preface calls the prayer of Jabez, “a daring prayer that God always answers” and says “it contains the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God.” Well I wouldn’t say that. I think more a key to a life of extraordinary favor with God is the cross of Christ and His Spirit, and on our part repentance and faith. I wouldn’t make it sound like this prayer will always be answered when asked on any condition, because as we’re going to talk about some, the motives behind our requests can prevent God from giving us what we ask in prayer, as can pride. Proverbs 28:9 says, “He who turns away his ear from listening to the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.” In other words, if someone stubbornly refuses to listen to God’s word they can’t expect God to listen to their prayers. God requires humility and submission if He’s going to be granting our prayers. But that’s not to say the whole book is bad, I just think in places it promises more than God promises.

So if you’ve read that little book and disliked it, I hope you won’t let your feelings about it hinder you from getting the message of this portion of God’s word. The prayer of Jabez is part of God’s word. There is something God wants us to learn from it. And if you read the book and loved it, I hope you’ll be open to a fresh look at the prayer of Jabez.

Selfish prayer?

Some are rather critical of praying like Jabez. If you prayed like him they’d say, “That’s a selfish prayer. Just listen to yourself, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil so that it might not bring me pain!‘” They might quote James 4:3, which tells Christians why they may not receive what they ask in prayer. It says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” If we intend to use what we’re asking just on our own personal indulgence, James 4:3 sounds to be saying that that’s not going to be a real God pleasing or effective prayer. We should not ask for wealth just so we can be wealthy and live in luxury. We should not ask for more time away from work and other responsibilities just so we can spend it fishing and golfing. We should not pray like Janis Joplin, “Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz. My friends all drive Porsches I must make amends.”

But what if we want to be blessed not just for ourselves, but that we might be a greater blessing to others? What if we want things from God so that we can do things for God? What if we want more money for giving? What if we more time for service? What if we want more gifts and understanding for the building up and unifying of the church?

You know, Hannah in I Samuel 1 prayed that God would give her a son. “Lord would you give me a son?” And with that request she vowed not to keep that son for herself, but give him to the service of the Lord all his life. The Lord delighted in her request and granted it.

The apostle Paul in Romans 15:30 wrote, “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.” Paul said, “Pray for me, for my rescue from those persecuting me and for my protection and safety and success in my endeavors and refreshing rest.” But what was Paul going to do with that safety and success? He wasn’t going to spend his days on a porch drinking lemonade. Paul asked for these blessings that He might do more in the world for the glory of Christ and the advancement of His kingdom.

There are a lot of other examples we could look at in Scripture which tell me it’s perfectly right and good to ask things from God so that you might do things for God; if the motive of our heart is not to just spend it on ourselves but to be a conduit or distributer of God’s blessing to others.

The text in I Chronicles 4 does not tell us specifically the motives of Jabez in his requests. But there are some hints in the text he was not just thinking about himself with this prayer.

1. You notice in verse 9 it says, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.” What makes someone more honorable. Is it not being less selfish? Isn’t that what makes someone more honorable, when they give more priority to God and the well being of others? I’m pretty sure that’s what makes someone more honorable.
2. Also it’s interesting in the Hebrew language, which this passage was originally written in, this prayer is actually in the form of a vow or a deal that Jabez is offering to God. The first word of his prayer, that my version translates “Oh that,” is a word that usually introduces a condition, it is usually translated “If.” So this could literally be translated, “If you would bless me and do this and this for me…” and then it leaves off at that and doesn’t tell you what Jabez promised to do for God. But that “if” makes it appear that Jabez was asking things from God in order to do things for God.

There’s an ancient Jewish tradition that may shed some light on what Jabez wanted to do for God. It was believed that Jabez was a great scribe. Scribes were those who were dedicated to studying, copying, preserving, spreading and teaching the Scriptures. And because God granted this prayer of his, he was able to start his own scribal school, a Bible college sort of operation. Support for this tradition is in I Chronicles 2:55, which says, “The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites.” So there came to be this town called Jabez. Quite likely it was named after the man Jabez. And perhaps he acquired this town or the area that became the town in answer to his prayer that God would enlarge his boarders. And you notice in 2:55 who lived at this town of Jabez – the clans of the scribes. So this supports the tradition that the territory God gave to Jabez he used for God’s glory, making it a home and training and work place for the scribes.

So here’s what I think we should do in view of this, because He’s the same God today as He was then. We should prayerfully look at what our community needs, what this church needs, what the larger body of Christ needs, that is beyond our resources or abilities to meet, and then fervently ask God for the resources, abilities or whatever it may be to meet those needs for His glory.

A couple modern-day examples:There’s a guy in the Kalispel community, Luke Heffernan, and the elders of the Kalispel congregation and myself met with him and visited with him for a while. He talked about how he noticed a need in the community to have a warm place for homeless people to sleep in the winter. There are other homeless shelters in Kalispell, but they’ve got certain rules and restrictions that keep some people from being able to stay there. So there’s various homeless people that can’t get into a shelter and they have to stay outside in the cold and sometimes they’re sleeping in the police lobby or the hospital or something. I don’t remember all the details, but he saw this need in the community and it was really cool how he talked about how with some prayer and effort, things fell into place. Now there is a warming center that’s just gotten underway here in Kalispell in the basement of an Episcopal Church. They have about 20 beds, it’s full everyday and they’re looking now for a bigger building or land to build a bigger shelter.

I was in Vince Ellingson’s kitchen earlier this week, many of you know him, he’s got a picture in his kitchen where he’s standing next to an older guy and we had a conversation about that guy. He went on a little mission trip, maybe 20 years ago, to an obscure place in Mexico and he saw all these orphans running around who really needed help. To make a long story short, through some prayer and effort things fell into place and he quickly got an orphanage going. It’s been growing and thriving ever since he saw a need and he couldn’t meet it, but he asked for the resources and God came through. I think Jabez did that.

James 4:2…

“You do not have because you do not ask.”

Apparently, having from God sometimes depends on us asking. We are depriving ourselves of blessing and God’s activity in our lives by not asking.

James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” Then he gives an example. He says, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours [He put his pants on every morning just like we do. He wasn’t superior to us.], and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” Elijah controlled the weather by prayer. Now, it wasn’t just at Elijah’s preference. It was what Elijah perceived about the will of God. Elijah knew that when God’s people forsook Him for other gods, it was the will of God to turn them back to Him by taking away the rain. And when the people began to repent he knew it was the will of God to send the rain again. But Elijah also understood that sometimes God wills or wants to do things, but He waits on His servants to pray for it. He gives us the incredible honor and power to unleash His intervention in the world by prayer. Do you remember this story about Elijah? There was this showdown on Mt. Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, and it was demonstrated undeniably that Yahweh the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the true most high God and Baal is nobody to fear. And the people shouted Yahweh is God! Yahweh is God! It was a great revival. So Elijah perceived God will want to bring the rain back now. So he went up on top of Mt. Carmel with his servant. He crouched down with his face between his knees and he prayed for rain. Then he sent his servant to go look out over the Mediterranean Sea. The servant came back and said, “There’s no clouds, Elijah.” So Elijah prayed again, and told him to go look. He came back, “Still nothing.” He did that seven times. But on the seventh time, his servant came back and said, “There’s a cloud the size of a man’s hand coming over the horizon.” Elijah said, “We better hurry home.” Sure enough the sky grew dark and they got poured on. And James 5 is saying, “Christians listen, you are made of the same stuff Elijah was made of. And God is the same God. You can pull the intervention of His Spirit and angels into this realm in mighty ways by prayer.”

Do you believe this? There are powerful works God wants to do in our lives for His glory and the good of His people, but He is waiting on His servants to ask.

Here’s something else in I Chronicles 4:9-10 that may not be apparent on the surface…

“His mother named him Jabez saying, ‘Because I bore him with pain.’”

The name Jabez in the Hebrew sounds like the word in Hebrew for pain or sorrow or grief. That’d be a tough thing to be labeled all your life, wouldn’t it? Can you imagine the first day of school, the teacher asks, “What’s your name, son?” “Mom always calls me Pain.” The teacher would think, “O goody! So glad you were assigned to my class.”

Maybe his mother had an extremely difficult labor or perhaps while she was bearing him her husband died, or some other tragedy occurred in her life. We’re not told the cause of her grief around his birth. But it was so monumental she named her son “Pain.”

Not a very promising start to a life. I imagine because of how he came into this world and the name he was given by his mother, some probably thought he was cursed, that he would never amount to much of anything but a pain. But this man refused to be defined by the label he was given. This man rose above people’s expectations. He broke out of to the label he was given.

Have you been labeled? Have you heard, “You’ll never amount to much. You’re a pain. You’re a bad person. You’re a dumb person. You’re a useless person.” You know what? There is not a single person here who is limited to labels, or to what people expect you to be, or how you have been in the past. The God of the Bible, your God, specializes in making people who were a pain into people who are honorable, making nobodies into somebodies, shepherd boys into kings, fishermen into fishers of men, fearful Gideons beating out wheat in a winepress into mighty men of valor.

The fruit of the Spirit, says Galatians 5:22, what the Spirit wants to produce in us in great abundance, is love, joy, peace (Are you lacking in any of these? Do you want any of these?), patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. All those honorable qualities, the Spirit of the Lord wants to grow in our character and life. And not just that, according to Isaiah 11, He is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. He wants to produce all of that in every one us abundantly as well. The only thing hindering the development of that honorable stuff is our wills. The more we yield to His Spirit, the more we give Him control, control of our thoughts, of our time and our finances and our mouths, the more honorable and above people’s expectations He will make us.

God doesn’t make shabby stuff. He only makes master pieces. And he would love to do this with every one of us. But He doesn’t force us against our will. We must yield to Him. We must give Him control. We must let Him have His way with us.

And as we end here, let’s just think briefly about each of…

Jabez’s requests

The first I think is the general summary, “Bless me.” And he wants to be blessed not just for himself, but so he can be a greater blessing on the earth.

More specifically, “Enlarge my border”. More land. More property. More territory. More resources. It’s okay to ask God for bigger barns as long as your motive is not like the guy Jesus told a story about in Luke 12 who wanted bigger barns. We should not seek bigger barns just so we can take our ease, eat, drink and be merry. But I think it’s right and good to seek bigger barns when your intention is to feed hungry people or so you can finance the spread of the gospel. Likewise when motives are good, it’s right and good to pray for more talent, more skill, more education, more business, more position, more sphere of influence. All that stuff is a bit dangerous though. Because the more of that stuff we get, the easier it is to become prideful. So God who knows us better than we know ourselves, in His love for us, may hold some of that back until our character develops to the point where we can handle it well and not become prideful. But let’s pray for those things and for the humble character to be able to handle them well.

“And that Your hand might be with me,” Jabez prayed. God’s hand is figurative for His empowering, guiding, protecting, helping presence. He’s asking the Lord to make him successful and prosperous in all his endeavors.

And then, his final request, “That You would keep me from evil that it may not pain me.” My version actually says, “that you would keep me from harm that it may not pain me.” That Hebrew word can mean harm or evil. I think evil is the sense of it because it seems kind of redundant and makes the last phrase of the statement unnecessary to say, “Keep me from harm that it may not pain me.” Well, of course harm is going to pain you, that goes without saying. But if his request is “Keep me from evil,” it makes the last phrase more meaningful. It’s an expression of his faith that straying from God’s ways into evil is what will pain him. We will destroy ourselves by going our own way. Our success and well-being depends on going about life God’s way; because He loves us and knows how life is to be best lived and how relationships work. Jesus taught us to be praying, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

I love the song we sing that expresses this request, “Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee, prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, here’s my heart O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”

In other words, “Whatever it takes, Lord, just keep me from evil, that it may not pain me. Keep in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake.”

And it says, “God granted what he asked.” And He is the same God today and still listening to the prayers of His people. So let’s be all the more prayerful, let’s think about what needs to be done for His glory. And let’s pray for those resources and those abilities.

-James Williams