Prayer of Jabez Reinterpreted
1 Chronicles 4:10 - Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain! And God granted what he asked.
This verse has often been used for “name it and claim it” theology - tell God any of your desires and he’ll fulfill them - a kind of Christian manifestation.
What if it doesn’t mean anything like that?
What happened when God appeared to Solomon and effectively became a genie to him? What did Solomon ask for?
2 Chronicles 1:6-12 - And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. Solomon In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place. O Lord God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”
Solomon didn’t ask to be rich in possessions but wisdom SO THAT he could be a blessing to God’s people and rule them properly.
We know that humans are forever acting foolish - harming ourselves and each other.
What if Jabez, seeing the chaos of his time, was grieved? What if he was a righteous man who didn’t give two licks about owning a lot of stuff but he wanted to bless people by being a good manager over them (have a larger border to influence more with God’s ways) - not for personal gain but community good?
What if Jabez, acknowledging God as a Father, prayed, “that your hand might be with me” - that is, that God would hold his hand and guide him to do right?
What if Jabez was so concerned about sin’s damaging effects on our mind, body, and soul that he prayed, “keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” Not because hard things are bad but because sin is the worst! That word translated “harm” is often translated as “evil”, “wickedness”, and “depravity.” It sounds like the Lord’s Prayer - lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil.
The long geneaologies of 1 Chronicles 3-4 are interrupted to tell us about Jabez. Probably not about a money-grubbing, power-hungry brute but someone longing for God, his presence, his rule, his ways, and his love. Listen, O heart, to this example!