Day 29: I Chronicles 1:1 - 9:14

I've decided that these nine chapters are the most boring part of the Bible. It's a really, really, really long list of names. There are short, random stories every couple chapters, including a little story about a man named Jabez. Now I see why The Prayer of Jabez was such a popular book. Maybe the author was doing a verse by verse study of I Chronicles. If so, I'd get excited about Jabez praying a prayer too!

All joking aside, I'd like to make a few comments on The Prayer of Jabez. I know the book came out a long time ago, and the excitement has long since worn off. But there are a few concerns I have with The Prayer of Jabez movement and I think some of them still apply today. But I'll keep it brief since the fad is pretty much long gone.

I really don't see the big deal actually. Some guy prayed a prayer, and God answered it. That happens a lot in the Bible. But that doesn't mean that I should model my prayers after every single prayer that someone prayed. He trusted God, prayed a prayer specific to his circumstances, and God answered him. That's great, and it should encourage all of us to pray. But I think that's the main takeaway here. I don't think it was meant as a model prayer.

When the disciples came up to Jesus and asked Him to teach them to pray, He didn't say, "Haven't you read I Chronicles? Jabez has already modeled for us the way by which we should pray."

I think the big problem with The Prayer of Jabez movement was that people were more excited about the content of the prayer than the God who answered it. As I recall people were really excited to pray for God to "expand their territories". But the thing is that even though He saw fit to answer Jabez's prayer that way, that doesn't mean that He'll answer everyone's prayer that way.

The biggest thing that bothered me about The Prayer of Jabez was how the author made it into a 30 day challenge. Pray this prayer every day for 30 days, and I guarantee you'll see results. I'm not a fan of turning prayer into a risk-free trial for prosperity and blessings.

The fact of the matter is, the Christian life is oftentimes hard. It is marked by suffering and persecution. Yes, there are innumerable blessings to following Christ. But most of them are not material. It's much harder to pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done" than it is to pray "Expand my territory".

I apologize for the rant that was pretty much 8 years late, but given the choice, I'll go with the prayer of Jesus over the prayer of Jabez.

Peace.