Jabez…If you’ve heard this name before, I’d guess it was within the walls of a church. It’s not a common name. Pastors speak of it when they’re attempting to describe to their congregation the right mindset we should all have when we ask God ta bless us. A mindset that will undoubtedly bring us the favor we all seek. After all, after the prayer is made they make sure to declare, “and God granted him what he requested”.

It’s often used in messages of prosperity. A method of means in which people, if they simply repeat this prayer, and believe it…it’ll happen. And it’s not that I don’t believe it, I just think there’s more to it.

The average bible contains roughly 1,200 pages. Out of those pages the name “Jabez” exists only in one small, easily unnoticed verse. It’s sandwiched in between a lineage chapter of 1 Chronicles 4. It starts with the typical so in so begets so in so and so on until it comes to Jabez. Then suddenly in verse 09 it says, “And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.” And it continues in verse 10 with:

  “And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “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!” So God granted him what he requested” – 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

And that’s it. No other mention of Jabez.

Books have been written. Sermons have been preached. All on that one brief mention of that man and his prayer. It’s been broken down, dissected, studied, practiced, memorized, recited countless times. Yet, of all the parts and ramifications of that scripture that stands out to me is: the ending.

“That I may not cause pain”…

They say he ended it that way because of what his name meant. That he grew up living a life of shame of it. But I think differently…

Whatever the circumstances in which Jabez made this list, one thing is for certain, Jabez was a full grown man when this was mentioned. And although I know the weight of a name can have a marked impact on a man, I think his ending of that prayer reached deeper than that.

I think Jabez had reached a place in his life where he had taken stock of where he was at and how he got there and I think he was having a moment of self awareness. A moment when the weight of the pain of his past caused him to cry out to God, not in an effort to prosper; but to heal. I think Jabez had come to the realization that sometimes even with the best of intentions: we fail.

…”That I may not cause pain”….why end it like that unless you’ve suffered a history of it? So much more than simply a difficult birth. 

I don’t think for one minute Jabez prayed that prayer in the hopes of getting rich or “Prospering”.

I think he prayed that prayer because he was tired. Tired of the turmoil and strife that he caused in his life.

and I get it…that feeling of exhaustion and the feeling of being done. So much so that you fall to your knees, reach your arms to heaven and cry out…”That YOUR hand”...because I am flawed…because I am broken…because I have proven I can’t be trusted to operate on my own accord…because in spite of MY best efforts I fail…”Be WITH me…So that I may not cause pain”…a request for it to end…a request of mercy, of forgiveness…

It’s the prayer of a broken man.

One I’d wager, that in spite of a pastors encouragement, you won’t see the results of by simply reciting it on the daily.

You have to feel it. Deep in your gut. A longing and willingness of surrender…for a promised peace: “So God granted him what he requested”.

…That you’re at a place…that you’re ready to leave the pains of the past, in the past, and look towards a future without your hand, causing pain.

So for me…when I read this verse, I’ll pray…Father, give my portion to another…I’ll forgo an increase in my territory…above all else, be with me…so that, in spite of my best efforts, I may not cause pain. Grant me THIS…help me live a life without causing pain. 

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