Customer Reviews

The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life (Breakthrough Series)

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I had the good fortune to read Bruce Wilkinson's book before marketers began to dream of Jabez action figures, illustrated sport-drink bottles, and 1 Corinthians 4 muscle shirts. So the crass commercialism that followed the New York Times best-seller did not adversely affect my opinion of the book's message.

I wonder, however, whether World Magazine, Hank Hanegraaff, James Mulholland, and other critics gave the book more than a cursory read before dashing off their assessments.

"The purpose of prayer," declared Mulholland in a U.S. News & World Report article, "is not to tell God what you want, but to hear what you need." Implying that the motives of Jabez were self-serving and unbiblical?

If so, why does God make a point of telling us that Jabez is "more honorable than his brothers?" And if Jabez's requests were indeed selfish, how could the Lord have granted them when James 4:3 warns that, "when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

"Oh, that you would bless me indeed," Jabez began.

If, as a growing number of critics maintain, it is impious and ungodly to seek God's blessings for oneself, what should we make of Deuteronomy 28 in which the Lord offers two columns of blessings to those who follow his commands?

Was Elisha selfish when he asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit (2 Kings 2:9-11)? And if so, why did God give it to him?

The Lord even urges his people to pay his tithe with the promise to "throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it" (Malachi 3:10). Is God appealing to our baser natures to get us to write a check?

And Jesus repeatedly encourages his disciples to ask the Father for whatever they want, stipulating only that they abide in him, that his words abide in them, and that they ask according to God's will - no proviso that their requests be altruistic.

At this point, some may jump up to quote Luke 12:30-31: "do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."

Fine, but the passage that we know as the Lord's Prayer, while drawing our attention to the kingdom, also teaches us to petition the Father for "our daily bread."

Later in the USNWR article, radio broadcaster Hank Hanegraaff called Wilkinson's book a "quintessential example of fast-food Christianity," presumably expressing his concern that many readers will misuse the principles taught in "The Prayer of Jabez."

His point is well taken. Some surely have misunderstood and/or abused it, and no doubt others will, particularly those who lack intimate or legitimate fellowship with God. But the book's message is a far cry from "fast-food Christianity."

It's purpose, the author writes, is to introduce the reader to "the amazing truths" in this simple prayer. It is an exegesis of principles rather than a name-it-and-claim-it mantra.

"Bless me indeed," Jabez prays. And because God grants his petition, we can assume that the man's motives were pure, since God knows the secrets of the heart (Psalm 44:21). Presumably, the motive of an honorable man to request blessings would be so that he could be a blessing to others.

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded," Jesus says (Luke 12:48). We can give only what we receive. To give more, we must ask for more. But the religious or self-righteous spirit balks at this, despite the fact that God is an incredibly generous Father whose pleasure is to give his children the kingdom (Luke 12:32).

Being blessed to be a blessing is a solid biblical principle.

"All peoples on earth will be blessed through you," God promises Abram in Genesis 12:3.

"All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring," Jacob is reassured in chapter 28.

Certainly, the reader whose attention is riveted to his own desires and anxieties can easily misread "The Prayer of Jabez," looking no deeper than praying the prayer and missing the kingdom principles to be learned.

For that matter, there are many who have yet to see Matthew 6:9-13 as a teaching that is chock-full of life-changing principles rather than a mere formula to be recited.

Wilkinson's critics do well to warn readers of the dangers of misunderstanding and misusing the message of Jabez. And certainly the author could have done a better job of avoiding these dangers by giving less attention to the praise reports and placing more emphasis on how the principles help the believer to deepen his intimacy with Christ and better love his neighbor.

The critics, however, do a disservice when they assail motives - Wilkinson's or Jabez's - or when, while warning of the dangers, they fail to concede the real value of the message.

The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life

POJ is a timeless little pocket book w/life changing nuggets about the short prayer uttered by Jabez in the Bible; 1 Chronicles 4:9&10. Wonderful insight about a man who wanted and was not afraid to ask God for extraordinary blessings in his life.

I've recently read and reviewed a few other books on prayer that I thought were excellent, but what made this little pocket book so nice to read was the fact that it was actually written by a Christian Preacher sharing passages from the Bible and offering a new way to apply them.

Some people may have complained in a few of the reviews that the author is taking one passage of the Bible out of context, but I'd say by the blessings he has received that is is NOT out of context.

The entire Bible is meant to be the human manual for success, love, morality, devotion, etc. so I don't really believe anything in the Word that someone puts forward in a positive light is something taken out of text. I appreciate the author's ability to share his experiences in a short book in order to spread one little gold nugget that he found hidden in the old testament; out of the thousands of nuggets already there, I would've missed this one if not for Bruce Wilkinson.

This book commits two major flaws. The first is to take a verse out of context and run with it into a way to live your life. This passage is an example of a faithful man who earnestly sought God. When this is set against the history of Israel and Judah he certainly stands out. However, I don't think God put his story in Scripture so that we would build our lives around it.

The second is that it contains bad theology. The implication is that if we just pray the right prayer God is beholden to us for His blessings. It's like God is some sort of cosmic Sphinx who has a riddle that we must unlock. Does it make sense that the gracious God of Scripture is withholding blessings until we can discern the meaning of this little passage tucked away in a long list of genealogy? Is this His little trick to get us to read Chronicles more carefully? Perhaps there are more little prayers like this hidden away that we have to find?

Clearly this is absurd. We live on this side of the cross and have more blessings that we can possibly imagine in Christ. Repent and believe in Christ. That is how we break through to the blessed life, though not necessarily by our standards.

Years ago, when I was struggling to put my life back together after a messy divorce and working to find my way back to God, I stumbled across this little book somehow. Recently, I picked it back up again to see if it was still relevant. It was, but in a whole different way. When I first picked it up, it became for me a way to explore communication with God, to learn a little bit about how to pray and about the power of praying the same prayer regularly. When I picked it up now, it was more of a thermometer for my own current prayer life.

The Prayer of Jabez is based off of a small section of 1Chronicles 4. A man named Jabez prays, "Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" The author takes the prayer apart into pieces and walks the reader through how to read this prayer as a part of their daily life.

The principles in this book are solid and Wilkinson has a healthy attitude toward prayer. Prayer does make a difference. Daily prayer makes a big difference and praying the same prayer or set of prayers each day as part of your routine can have immense spiritual effects in your life. I don't think that this tiny little obscure prayer has any magical power. I don't think it's the undiscovered gem of prayers from the Bible that everyone has to know to really pray "right." But I do think it's a great little prayer to study. It is a great start for a daily prayer routine because it has some aspects of daily life included in it and it's short enough to learn easily.

This is not a book about how to pray so you'll get a better job, a bigger house and another car. This is a book on how to pray to be closer to God and to discern His direction for you in your own life, in your neighborhood and in the world around you. It's a book on how to pray so that you'll see the blessings around you and be blessed by seeing God in the ordinary, not just the extraordinary. It's a book about learning how to pray when you don't necessarily have a list of "prayer requests" to go through, because let's face it, prayer shouldn't just be our to-do list for God.

This is a great little book and would work well for daily devotions if you don't feel like you have much time to dedicate. The chapters are small, but full of things that will keep you thinking all day. The concepts are deep and important, but not overly theological or difficult to grasp. I would recommend this book for folks in a wide range of places in their spiritual journeys. I think I might even challenge some of my friends who are not Christians to read this, start praying it, and just see what happens. That could be an interesting assignment!

The Prayer of Jabez written by Bruce Wilkinson is a "small" book but filled with such powerful hope that anyone can have a "changed" life. I just wish I had bought the book when it first came out in 2000 instead of 2010. Ah, well, God's timing is always perfect.

If you truly want to see something wonderful happen in your life, then put in your order today!!

I would suggest this to anyone, regardless to where you are on your walk with the Lord. I found it on my mothers night stand when she passed and read it that same night. It has changed my life... I continue to gift it to my closes friends when they are in time of need.

Wow.

Such a simple prayer, yet so revealing, so powerful and so inspiring. Bruce masterfully pulls together not only the biblical meaning of this prayer, but what it translates into our lives. How we can boldy ask for blessings upon us, how we can expand our capabilities of helping others by expanding our territories and how we can ask our Lord to keep us from evil. All of this in a simple practical and thoughtful prayer.

I enjoyed the short book and am planning to buy more copies for friends. I know it sounds crazy but I read the book, said the prayer and within a few days got a job- and I had been looking for a job for several months.

I gave this book 1 star simply because I cannot give it zero stars!
The book is seriously flawed and very typical of what I all "Commercial Religion". In short, Wilkinson takes a verse from the bible and re-invents it so that it appeals to a wide audience in order to sell books. This book has nothing to do with faith or compassion which I was taught to believe God and His devotion was truly about. Instead it promotes a prayer to ask for stuff!?
For example, if I were to wake up late for work, I should repeat the prayer in order to ask God to have all the traffic lights be green so I can race to work without further hindrance. This is wrong on so many levels!
Here's a thought, save the money you would have spent on this book and donate it to a local charity where it wont go to pay for someone's BMW payment. And instead of speaking to God using words taken out of context by this book, ask God for the strength and willpower to act with compassion and love to all around you. Ask God to extend His love to all people around the world.