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The Prayer of Jabez: Devotional

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This devotional is designed to be employed after reading The Prayer of Jabez. You are given thirty-one daily readings. "Every page is intended to help you make a lifelong habit of beginning each day with the expectation of seeing and participating in the supernatural with God."

Each day starts with a Biblical quote. Next comes an essay about that day's theme usually illustrated by both a Biblical (from both the Old and New Testments) and a contemporary example. Next, you have activities to do in a journal. Finally, the material ends with one or two spiritual quotes.

The days are organized into five groupings:

(1) "O Lord, Bless Me Indeed!" For seven days, you examine The Favor of the Father, The Royal Life, Holy Askers, God Loves Nobodies, What's in a Name?, The Secret of Abundance, and No Limits. The focus here is that God wants to bless you in ways that further His will for others and you, and that these blessings will not occur in many cases unless you ask for the blessings.

(2) "O Lord, Enlarge My Borders!" The next seven days are spent on Increasing the Yield, What is My Territory?, Advance Planning, The Face of Fear, Comfort Zones, Jabez Appointments, and The Simple Truth. I found this section especially good for encouraging me to want to take on more for God. Moving beyond one's own competence is legitimately daunting!

(3) "O Lord, Put Your Hand Upon Me!" The following seven days are focused on He Provides the Power, By My Spirit, The Bottomless Basket, Power with Purpose, The Brave and the Bold, No Pride Inside, and Right Here, Right now. This section emphasizes that God is doing the heavy lifting when more is accompished, and that we should watch out that we do not start to take credit for God's work. That false pride will sink us!

(4) "O Lord, Keep Me from Evil!" This subsequent seven days consider Don't Even Go There, Finding the Escape Hatch, Decoding Defeat, The Three-Minute Temptation Buster, Opposing Forces, Deliverance and Children of Light. I found this section helpful in identifying many ways to avoid temptation and evil, especially by calling more frequently on the Holy Spirit.

(5) Eiplogue In the final three days, you rejoice in what you have learned and started to apply. This includes Could God Be That Good?, Who, Me?, and Keep This Forever in Your Heart. This section reaffirms that God wants more from each of us, no matter how insignificant we see ourselves.

I have found myself thinking more and more about the concepts that Mr. Wilkinson introduced in The Prayer and Jabez, and have felt closer to God since then. This devotional let me think through my commitment to God in even more fundamental ways. I am very glad that I have read and started to apply both books.

From both of these books I have learned that I should be more active in seeking God out, and especially in seeking to do His will rather than my will. I find a great sense of peace and fulfillment when I take that path. That tells me it is the right one! Try this yourself, and see if it doesn't make a difference.

How can you find and do God's will in more ways?

In Oct. 2000 I began experiencing panic attacks due to circumstances beyond my control. I started with reaffirming my relationship with Jesus Christ and consuming the scripture daily. Every book I could get my hands on about God I read. I read this little book, The Prayer of Jabez, and now each morning when my feet hit the floor I pray this prayer. The miracles have been awesome right before my eyes, for my family and myself. I do not feel this prayer is selfish because in the prayer Jabez ask that God expand his territory and keep him from evil and also to let him not cause hurt to anyone. This book has made a difference in my life.

A book that serves as an eye opener for those 'who seek after God'. The wisdom in this short book is based on the prayer of a humble man. (1) If you haven't found your ministry, this book will teach you to pray in a way that God can lead you to the ministry He has for you. (2) If you are in ministry, God will use it to "grow" that ministry or open new doors for your work. (3) This prayer is for the 'sinner saved by grace' to learn your place in Gods plan. (4) If you're looking at it for selfish gain, forget it... this is truly a book for those who seek to follow God. While the book is small, the message is mighty and God IS using it in the lives of many believers.

My first impression was that this was another 'self-help'-type book, but the more I read, the more Bruce's perspective compelled me to look at prayer and my role in God's kingdom in a more actionable light. I recommend that you take up Bruce's challenge - give God 30 days to bless you, and see how your role as his child can change to bring you more joy and bring the kingdom closer to reality.

I awake every morning praying the short prayer of Jabez along with many praises to God. I have been doing this for the past 4 months and I am amazed at all the blessings (big and small) that I have been able to enjoy as a result of sincere prayer. This book serves as an excellent guide for prayer, although I must add that the Bible comes first. The small blessings are just as wonderful as the bigger ones and I've come to enjoy life more and to let go and let God when times seem to be uncertain.

Reading this book coupled with meditating on the scriptural references used in the book has blessed my life. This process has strengthened my spiritual development. My relationship with my Heavenly Father has intensified because I'm compelled to seek him even more --- on a daily basis --- throughout the entire day.

This summer, while healing up from surgery, I read quite a few books trying to lift my spirits and keep from feeling housebound. The Prayer of Jabez was a comfort during a hard time, but not, I felt, an explanation of suffering as a blessing.

By far the best explanation of this that I read this summer came from Tending Roses, by Lisa Wingate. If you want something that will really make you reflect on God's purpose for your life and the lives of those around you, make the time to read this book. It is not about asking God for everything you want, but, as is said by the grandmother in the book "the secret to a good life is not in getting what you want. It is in learning to want what you get. Don't waste your time crying over what you're not given. When you have tears in your eyes, you can't see all the beautiful things around you."

Sometimes, God has different plans for us than we could ever have guessed! My surgery this summer has brought me back to family, neighbors, and The Lord, when I would otherwise have spent the time working seventy hours a week. Who would have thought?

"Oh that thou wouldst bless me and enlarge my border, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from harm so that it might not hurt me!" And God granted what he asked." 1 Chronicles 4:10

Next to the basic message of salvation, this must be one of the most powerful messages from God I have come accross.

My life has been dramatically changed since I read this book and applied its wisdom.

Dr Wilkenson uses his very pleasant narrative style to show to his readers the power of a short scripture contained in the Old Testament, if prayed on a consistent basis.

There is much to be learned from this wonderful 31 day devotional, not only in what it teaches, but in the questions it asks one to think about, and seek the answer within.
It is a helpful companion piece to Dr. Wilkinson's "The Prayer of Jabez", his first book in "The BreakThrough Series" ("Little Books/Big Change").
The format is excellent, dividing the month into weeks, each week focusing on a part of the Jabez prayer:
# 1, "O Lord, Bless Me Indeed !"; # 2, "O Lord, Enlarge My Borders !"; # 3, "O Lord, Put Your Hand upon Me !", and # 4, "O Lord, Keep Me from Evil !".
For each day there are 3 pages which include Dr. Wilkinson's insightful piece, 2-3 marvelous quotes from other sources that apply to the theme of the day, and a question for one to dig deep into one's motives and activities, and use as a springboard for the journaling one does afterwards.

The prayer of Jabez, from 1 Chronicles 4:10, is life changing, similar in so many ways to The Lord's Prayer ((Matt. 6:9-13), and the full understanding of it seems to only come when one is ready for it, and prepared to serve the Lord in a larger capacity. Many misunderstand it, thinking the blessings asked for are for one's own gratification, but this is not the case. The lesson of Jabez is in doing more for the Lord, as stated on pg. 54, "God wants you to urgently desire a larger life with more opportunities to serve Him".
A well constructed and aesthetically pleasing little book, with light peachy-beige marbleized pages and dark brown easy-to-read print, reading this every morning for a month is time put to good use. For a powerful 365 day devotional, I highly recommend Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest".

I'm so glad I ordered this book! It's profoundly practical and gives a clear picture of the Father's desire to bless us if we would just let Him--all we have to do is ask! Why does asking the Father to bless us abundantly seem so strange? We love to hear our children ask us to help them! Thank-you to Bruce Wilkinson for this eye-opening book.