1 Chronicles 4:

¹ The descendants of Judah:

Perez, Hezron, Karmi, Hur and Shobal…

⁷ The sons of Helah:

Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, ⁸ and Koz, who was the father of Anub and Hazzobebah and of the clans of Aharhel son of Harum.

⁹ Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ ¹⁰ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.

¹¹ Kelub, Shuhah’s brother, was the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. ¹² Eshton was the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah and Tehinnah the father of Ir Nahash. These were the men of Rekah…

 

Buried in the list

Our main text here is verses 9 and 10, but I’ve shown a few others above to give you a feel of what the rest of the chapter is like. You know what it’s like when you’re diligently disciplining yourself to read the whole bible through and you get to one of these chapters that are just a list of names. Yet, in this case the writer chose to break from the monotony and comment on Jabez. Jabez stood out from all the other people in the list. I’m sure there were some good people in that list, some who did great things, some who were remembered for a long time. But why did the Holy Spirit inspire the author to elaborate on Jabez? What was it about him that deserved this out-of-the-ordinary added information? There must be something important we can learn from him.

Here are some suggestions:

 

1: Labelling

Jabez was labelled from the start. He was called by a name that sounds like the Hebrew for ‘pain’ because giving birth had caused his mother so much pain. I don’t know what you’d say to his mum if you had the chance, but if I were there, I’d be questioning her wisdom. Yes, the birth was painful, and I cannot imagine what that was like. But for that moment, for your pain, to be put on your child for the rest of his life? Is that really fair? He’ll probably outlive you and any pain in your life will be forgotten. But he will still be called Jabez.

Jabez was a pain from the start, but he did not let that stop him asking for God to bless him. And it did not stop God from blessing him. Whatever start you’ve had in life, whatever people have said over you, however small you’ve been made to feel, even if you feel like your existence is more harmful than useful, God has other ideas. Don’t live the rest of your life by the labels someone else gave you. Even if they were an authority figure.

Craig Groeschel leads possibly the largest church in America. It started in 1996 and now has over 30 locations with around 100,000 people in attendance on weekends. At bible college he was in a class of 40 students. 39 were ordained at the end of the course, but Craig was not. His denomination believed his methods and style were too unorthodox. He was labelled as different. To many he was a ‘pain’. But perhaps the very thing others saw as a problem was something God had put in him for a purpose. Don’t let an external label deter you from being all that God has called you by name to be.

This series of talks is about prayer. When you pray, do not let the labels of the past stop you praying audacious, heart-felt prayers. Jesus encouraged it, and you should just go for it! God certainly won’t let someone else’s label for you deafen his ear to your prayers.

 

2:  Honour

Jabez was more honourable than his brothers (v9)

I guess this is how Jabez stood out to God amongst this list of his family members. Amongst them he was more honourable. The word used here also means ‘respected’. This means that his life was honourable in a way that was recognizable to others.

I believe this is one of the key components of effective prayer. The prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Yes, God hears our prayers however messed up we are. And yes, we are all righteous through the blood of Jesus (although he hadn’t arrived in Jabez’s time). But there is still a sense in which God is more likely to respond positively to a person who is living in line with biblical principles.

The following verses are written to believers or by believers:

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened (Psalm 66:18 NIV)

 

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3)

 

²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. (1 John 3:21-22)

 

Jabez was honourable. He was respected. And God answered his prayer.

3: Crying out to the God of Israel

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel

Jabez knew where to direct his prayers. In a culture that was surrounded with false gods that incessantly crept into Israelite life, Jabez called out to the Covenant God, the true and living God. The fundamental condition of prayer is that we must know God as our loving heavenly Father and cry out to him alone.

How many times are we tempted to surf the internet to answer a problem, or call a friend, or throw money at a problem? Direct your prayers to God and have some patience – give him chance to answer! He may be waiting for you to prove you are really giving the problem to him.

And how much ‘crying out’ do we do? Or do we just offer moderate requests and thoughts to God? The bible is full of examples of passionate prayer, people crying out to God with their whole heart. Lose the British reserve and let it out!

 

4: Audacious Asking

‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ (v10)

We now know that Jabez was honourable, he was right with God. We also know that he cried out to the living God rather than taking his emotions elsewhere. Now we see four elements to his prayer.

a) God’s Blessing

Some of us might hear this kind of prayer being discouraged. It’s all about you Jesus, as if you should do things my way, etc. But the truth is, God wants to bless you. Don’t be shy to pray this prayer. God is ‘able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.’ (Ephesians 3:20)

What I like about this prayer is that Jabez does not tell God how to bless him. He leaves that to God. It might be financially, it might be spiritually, it may be with a large family.

b) God’s Growth

This seems more like a prayer for material gain. More specific (see 1b above). But Jabez was surrounded by Canaanites. This was the land that God had promised. The more God enlarged Jabez’s territory, the less territory belonged to the wife-swapping, child-sacrificing Canaanites. Please pray this prayer for the kingdom of God. Increase what I have Lord, for the sake of the Kingdom.

Many Christians are content to remain as they are in the faith. “We need to pray that the Lord will enlarge our territory, increase our capacity, deepen our faith, inflame our love, give us more opportunities, make us more usable and conform us more to the image of His Son.” (Francis W Dixon).

So, this prayer for growth is not selfish at all! In fact, it’s costly. It will mean testing, because it’s by testing that we grow. A father disciplines the child he loves, so the child will grow! Only pray this prayer if you’re prepared for the process as well as the responsibility of stewarding new growth.

c) God’s Hand

A helping hand: Jabez prays that God’s hand would be with him. Let us too pray for God’s presence in our everyday lives. This prayer is asking for God to manifest himself in tangible, practical ways. He prays for God’s hand, not his spirit. Lord, I want to see your hand at work in my life!

A guiding hand: The hand of God represents guidance and safe passage. Ezra was later given a speedy and safe journey to Jerusalem because the

‘Gracious hand of the Lord was on him’ (Ezra 7:9).

d) God’s Protection

Keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain. I wonder if Jabez felt he’d spoiled his mum’s life, or that his life might still be reflective of his label. What he prays is completely endorsed by Jesus who teaches his disciples to pray that God would lead us not into temptation (or testing) and deliver us from evil.

One good way to pray this prayer in faith is to declare the words in 2 Timothy 4:18: “Thank God, the Lord is able to deliver us from evil and to enable us to live a life that is glorifying to Him, a life that is pure, holy and Christ-like!”

 

Praying like Jabez Prayed

If we are to pray like Jabez, we must

1. Put aside any labels that have been imposed on us by others or by ourselves, realizing who it is that God declares us to be.
2. As we recognize our righteousness in Christ as our true ‘label’ we must live lives worthy of that calling. God will respond to our prayers when we do not cherish sin in our hearts.
3. Cry out to the God of Israel as our first response, with all other means of help taking second place.
4. Ask audaciously and unashamedly for God to bless us
5. Pray for growth for the sake of the kingdom
6. Ask for God’s guiding and helping hand to be upon us
7. Pray and believe for God’s protection.

What a lot we’ve learned from just a couple of lines in the middle of a list!

 

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Home Group Activities

1. Read 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
2. How would you respond if you knew a mother had called her child, “Pain” or “Sorrowful”?
3. Are there any labels we’ve had to deal with in the past? Or are even dealing with still today? How can we re-write these labels, knowing who God says we are?
4. Let’s look at the four areas and perhaps share with the group ways we can pray into one of these areas tonight (see notes above if you need an explanation):
   1. God’s Blessing
   2. God’s Growth
   3. God’s Hand
   4. God’s Protection

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