A Simple Prayer
There was a man named Jabez who was more distinguished than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and extend my lands! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request. 1 Chronicles 4:9-10
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What a powerful prayer and witness God put in the book of 1 Chronicles. Each of us can identify with one or more of the requests Jabez made. He asked for God’s blessing and the extension of his lands. He prayed for God to be close to him. And he asked that no trouble or pain enter his life. If God had chosen to grant any one of those requests, Jabez would have been a blessed man. But God gave an answer for each of these petitions and in doing so, fulfilled his plans for this man.
We can learn many things from Jabez and his prayer. Perhaps one of the most important is the fact that Jabez prayed; he asked. He sought God’s blessing. It is essential that we pray—that we talk with God. A simple prayer to God changed the life of Jabez dramatically. We have the same accessibility to the same heavenly Father who granted Jabez his request.
Prayer:
THANK YOU, FATHER, for putting Jabez and his prayer in the Bible. Thank you for loving me and for being just as accessible to me as you were to Jabez. Let me never take the privilege of prayer for granted. And thank you for hearing my simple prayers.
Quotes:
PRAYER IS MEN COOPERATING WITH GOD IN BRINGING FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH HIS WONDROUSLY GOOD PLANS FOR US.
Catherine Marshall (1914–1983)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are 1 Chronicles 4:5–5:17; Acts 25:1-27; Psalm 5:1-12 and Proverbs 18:19.
