In this regular feature Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call. Here is this week’s question:Dear Dave and T.A., How does the prayer of Jabez fit in with what you’ve been saying about prayer?
Tom:
This is a timely question.
Dave:
That’s the question?
Tom:
That’s the question.
Dave:
Well that’s a short one.
Tom:
But important with regard to what we’ve been talking about for the past few weeks.Now if somebody wants more details—I don’t know what you’re going to say Dave, but we did a Q & A on this so if they get our reprints, we have sort of a lengthy Q & A and we also offer a book and the book is called—
Dave:
I Just Wanted MoreLand by Gary Gilley.
Tom:
Okay.What about the prayer of Jabez?Does it fit in with what we’ve been saying?
Dave:
By the way, that book has a forward by Tommy Ice.
Tom:
Not the prayer of Jabez, but the Gilley book.
Dave:
No, the Gilley book, yes.Well as I said in an earlier segment—I didn’t know this question was coming up but—
Tom:
That’s the idea Dave, we want to get spontaneous.
Dave:
Maybe I’m a little facetious, in fact I did say this sitting next to the (should I say?) publisher of the Jabez book on the airplane, I asked him rather facetiously well what about the Lord’s Prayer?In other words, when the disciples asked Jesus, Lord teach us to pray, he said oh yes, guys I tell you there’s this great little prayer back there offered by this man Jabez and if you will just pray that but once a day for thirty days you will see tremendous transformation in your life.No, Jesus didn’t say that.He didn’t even mention the prayer of Jabez and I would have to wonder why?Suddenly here we come.The prayer of Jabez is a good prayer.He is asking that God—
Tom:
It’s in the Word of God.
Dave:
Yes, that God would enlarge his borders and keep him from evil I think it says in the King James in the Old Testament.
Tom:
I can quote it for you.
Dave:
Yes.
Tom:
This is 1 Chronicles:4:10And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
See All..., “And Jabez called on the God if Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.”
Dave:
Yes, now we’ve got some problems because let’s compare the Lord’s Prayer when it says (Matthew:6:13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
See All...), “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:…” it means moral wickedness.But then again as I said, I read the King James, I’ve got it all memorized, the King James, I can’t start over now. But it is the best translation, but the word that’s translated evil, it comes from the Hebrew, but in the Hebrew it is ra, r-a- and it means like harm and difficulties and—
Tom:
Calamity, natural disasters.
Dave:
Yes, it doesn’t mean moral wickedness.This is not a spiritual prayer.This is a prayer that only an Israelite could pray because God promised them land and he promised them every piece of land that their foot trod upon he would give that to them.And so here is a man who is saying, “God I want to get the land that you want me to have and keep me from difficulties and calamities.”On the one hand it seems a selfish prayer, but it is in response to a promise God specifically gave the Jews concerning the Promised Land.Now to make that a prayer that everyone prays.Bruce Wilkinson, the author, you would get the impression from reading his book that this prayer—you just repeat these that have some magic quality.It really transforms peoples’ lives and many, many people are jumping on this bandwagon.The last I knew, it sold about five million copies.Because this again Tom, in keeping with what we were talking about, it’s the kind of prayer you would want to pray, enlarge my borders, keep me from calamity, but that’s not the prayer of Jesus.“Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil, thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever.Amen.”I could give you many prayers.Let’s go to David’s prayer in Psalm:27:4One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
See All....David says, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”Here’s a man whose heart is after God, not more land.Or Psalm:139:23Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
See All... where he says “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”Tom, these are prayers of some depth, a passion after God and a desire to be delivered from moral wickedness in our lives and Wilkinson takes us to the prayer of Jabez and he says wow, this is a spiritual prayer, this will bring blessing into your life.Tom, I don’t want to be criticizing him, but I think he has opened himself to some criticism.
Tom:
Well Dave, for example, Wilkinson himself says he has prayed this prayer word for word for more than 30 years.Now you have a problem here because on the one hand he is spiritualizing these things.He’s going beyond what Jabez prayed for.
Dave:
Right.
Tom:
On the other hand, he’s taking the words and doing them by rote.Now that’s a formula no matter how you cut it.
Dave:
It’s a mantra.And supposedly the repetition of these words everyday will bring blessing into your life.
Tom:
And not the kind of blessing specifically in the context of how Jabez prayed it.It’s just not the same.
Dave:
Tom, it doesn’t have a moral challenge for our lives of a relationship with God and to be used of God to bless others.I’m sorry.Now he tries to apply it in that way, but why do we go to this particular prayer?There are so many other prayers to so much more depth.
Tom:
And it’s misleading to some who are new to prayer.Hey, here’s something I can really get into and really get what I want.It’s a problem.
Dave:
Tom, we are reluctant to say these things, but I think we have to.