Jabez, The Prayerful Man

“Bless me, God, and give me much land. 

Be with me and

keep me from anything evil that might cause me pain...”

1 CHRONICLES 4:10 TEV

Do you know the meaning behind your name?

Do you know your lineage?

Do you consider yourself honourable?

Do you let the symbolism of your name, your familial history, or your status in life affect your relationship to other people and to God.

Do you use prayer as a way to ask God’s blessings or for God to be with you to be blessed?

Jabez was a man from the tribe of Judah. His name in Hebrew sounds like “pain”.

“Pain” might be attached to Jabez from his birth, nobody knows the reason. But he never let it affect his relationship with God. Instead of turning away from God, he maintained strong and loyal relationship to Him.

He prayed all the time and at all circumstances.

1. God’s blessings –“bless me, God, and give me much land...”;

2. God’s guidance –“be with me...”; and 

3. God’s protection –“keep me from anything evil...”

Reflection to his Prayer:

He knows what he wants in life and he knows who can give it- God. In spite of the pain and hardships he might have encountered or experienced in life, he relied to God.

We never know if Jabez was praying for a favor or a gift or an approval to do something. But like Jabez, in our present times, when we earnestly want to achieve something, we must ask God in prayer.

When we are uncertain of decisions to make, we must seek guidance from God in prayer. Approval from God should be our utmost concern of a lifetime. We will only know His will and what He wants for us if we keep our relationship with Him in prayer. 

The land is symbolic to heart or people. As our hearts grow bigger, our love for our brethren grow deeper and that will inspire us to go outside our comfort zones in advancing the Kingdom of God through street evangelism, church ministry and mission works. As we go farther, our physical territory enlarges, not for our personal gain but for God’s Kingdom.

He knows that evil and wickedness are all around but he never prayed for the strength to fight or resist them, he didn’t even ask God to take them away but he asked God to be with him and to protect him.

Reflection to his name:

His name means sorrow; pain. And he prayed that he will be free from pain - free from himself.

We might have come to a point in our lives when we also don’t recognize ourselves; we might have wished that we are somebody else. We might have done things that make us feel that we are not deserving, and we just want to be free.

Sin is the greatest source of pain and sorrow. Sin cages us inside ourselves and make us feel imprisoned, we can’t do our purpose in life and expand our territories.

Pray. Pray that God will help you fight these inner battles and free you up.

We never know if Jabez was desperate and in pain  during that time. But like Jabez, when we feel a pain that is too much to endure, if we feel sorrow and loneliness and desperation, we must cry out everything to the Lord in our prayer.

We are like Jabez. Our birth and existence is also marked by a unique story that our parents and loved ones treasure. ‘Though the current names we have mean differently or maybe no meaning at all due to continuous evolution of name trends, but like Jabez, we also face and feel pain almost every day and in different ways... But we should still live our lives full of hope and dreams- to be successful, to multiply and grow. We should also expect greater things from God. We should accept the truth that only God can provide what we need in life and who can save us from the pain and hardships that the devil bring about in our lives, and most specially from sin. Let us keep our relationship to God open and strong through our constant prayers to Him.

Some of us turn their backs away from God and forget to appreciate the beauty of life because of not-so-good experiences in their lives, problems and trials, failures and nothingness but we should always remember that life is not all about us, it’s not all about the name we bear, it’s not about the story when we were born but the story of life that we live now and the promise of beautiful eternity with God...