Hungry for the God Who Blesses

Some 10-15 years ago, an obscure prayer from Chronicles was thrust into the spotlight of mainstream Christian media by a prominent author. The "market" was flooded with bookmarks, bumper stickers and other branded material to the point that I think people developed callouses to the breathtakingly beautiful passion and devotion of the prayer.

To put it simply, this is a hungry prayer!

The pray-er is a man named Jabez who came from the tribe of Judah and is singled out in 9 chapters of name-after-name genealogy at the start of 1 Chronicles.

It seems the circumstances of his birth were painful (whether because of physical or other pain) and so his mother named him Jabez, which means, "He causes pain". In Hebrew culture the meanings of names were important and were often considered to be self-fulfilling prophecies.

This makes Jabez's prayer particularly "hungry" and this is what I want to focus on today...

Jabez knew God and was hungry for God and he believed that walking with God would alter the trajectory of his life. 

• He prayed for God's blessings, because he believed that God is a God who blesses. Jabez didn't see himself as "cursed" (even though his name implied this). He believed that it is the fundamental nature of God to bless. 
• He prayed for enlarged territory (increased boundaries) and God's hand of protection. Some have tried to spiritualize this by saying that this was influence or even evangelistic success, but I think he was really just praying, "Let me be all I can be in every part of my life" or, "Let me reach my full potential". 
• He prayed to be kept from evil and causing pain. When we consider this in tandem with his prayer for enlarged boundaries, then we understand that any "prosperity" Jabez experienced would sidestep the pitfalls of greed, selfishness and abuse of power. It would be for the blessing of others.

Some have turned Jabez's prayer into an incantation.

That misses the point.

We need to see his heart.

Jabez knew God as a Blessing God, as a good God, as a protecting God and as a God who doesn't want our lives to cause hurt to others. He understood that God would bless us and have us going beyond our boundaries to undo the pain in the world. And so, knowing and understanding the abundant, generous, protecting nature of his God, Jabez prayed a hungry prayer wanting to connect to and walk with his God.

And God heard his prayer!

May we be this hungry too...