Our son Lee wrote:
Dad,
What is the story with
this 'Prayer of Jabez' thing that is going around? I was flipping through a
book catalog last night and saw a book on it. It isn't the first time either,
I've heard about conferences and other things, too. From what little I know
about it, the 'Prayer of Jabez' is basically a prayer for God to bless,
preserve, take care of, etc. the person saying the prayer.
Is what I've heard correct? If so, how does this jive with the fact that the
most important thing in God's economy is His glory? Something for you to chew
on!
Lee
Dear Lee,
You asked about the
current rage of books, tapes and seminars regarding "The Prayer of Jabez." Here
is my open letter to you in reply.
THE PRAYER
OF JABEZ OR THE WARNING TO SOLOMON?
This is the passage that this teaching is based on:
9
Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name
Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain."
10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me
indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You
would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he
requested.(1 Chronicles 4:9,10, NKJV).
I am afraid that this kind of emphasis at a time like this is so typical of the
Church in America: "Bless me! Give me more! Bless everything I put my mind to.
Take over my will and make me a good person." This all fits in with the
cross-less Christianity that is preached from most pulpits in America.
God is not interested in blessing those who are still in rebellion against His
Holy Spirit. He does not take over our wills, but rather crucifies our souls
with trials so we learn to lay down our wills at His feet. If Jesus learned
obedience by the things He suffered, how much more us? He waits for us to give
Him permission to kill the antichrist (that which displaces Christ) within, that
thing in each of us that exalts itself and opposes Him. This is what prepares us
for that moment when He can say, "Behold, the bride has made herself ready."
This is how we "labor therefore to enter into that rest."
For years we heard what should have been a sobering warning to heed 2 Chronicles
7:14. Have we, or have we just grown tired of hearing it and gone on to some
other trippy religious thing that markets a bit easier? Let us look at it again
in a little more depth with the current national tragedy in mind:
When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the
land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name
will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked
ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their
land. (2 Chronicles 7:13,14, NKJV).
America has been in a
drought for most of the last fifteen years. Our forests are burning up, the
corps are failing. Cattle ranchers are having to have hay shipped in from as far
away as three hundred miles north of the Canadian border.
As for "pestilence" there are those in our government that are warning us that
we have not seen the end of germ warfare. Or have we forgot the plague called
AIDS? The government is trying to put a good face on what we are up against,
saying that there is no immediate bio/chemical threat. Just a few hundred miles
north of Afghanistan there is a huge bio/chemical warfare dump left unguarded by
the Russian army. Are our officials whistling in the dark, trying to protect
what is left of our shaky consumer confidence based economy? I expect that
anthrax will be used by terrorists in an attempt to decimate large populations
unless we repent and God intervenes. Anthrax is a spore; it is hardy and easy to
spread. Just this week a man in Florida came down with dreaded disease and has
no idea how he got it.
Joel two speaks of an army sent to destroy an unrepentant Israel by the command
of God. It calls them locust (vs. 2:25)! I see a great similarity to this army
of God and what we are facing in this third world war against Islamic terrorism.
Let's look at what the prophet saw.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at
hand: a day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness (see
Amos 5:18-24), Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come,
great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any
such after them, Even for many successive generations.
Watch for the rise of
Islam and the bloody persecution of the saints of God. For more info on this see
Voice of the Martyrs at http://www.persecution.com
Another good source of info on what Islam really teaches is
http://answering-islam.org.uk/index.html
A
fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the
Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely
nothing shall escape them.
Look at the landscape
of Afghanistan many other Muslim nations. They are totally barren and destroyed
by years of warfare. Look at south Manhattan. You shall know them by their
fruit.
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so
they run.
Interesting that bin
Laden is often pictured riding horseback and has a fetish for horses. These
terrorist come and go by the speed of air travel on our airlines.
With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a
flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array.
Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.
Look at the faces of
the survivors in New York City. It was enough to make me weep. Their stories are
heart wrenching.
They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks. They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down.
I believe this describes terrorist cells in action. Each cell works independent
of the others and yet they move in unison to achieve their appointed missions.
Our weapons and technology do not work to stop them.
They run to and fro in
the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the
windows like a thief.
They infiltrate and go
through our borders like they were not there with their false ID's. They abide
in our cities, seen, yet are not seen and no one stops them. The defense
minister of Canada has admitted that he knows of over a hundred terrorist cells
within its boarders. How many are waiting for the right moment to step across
the line into the US to do their evil works?
The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
At "ground zero" the
earth quaked at 2.5 on the Richter scale. The dust of the collapse of the
buildings darkened the sun.
The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is
the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very
terrible; Who can endure it?
Does God send destruction to a people? Some say, "No, ³ but the Bible says He
does. He used foreign armies to deal with backslidden Israel for thousands of
years. Will America get the message of last resort that God is sending us so
that we might repent? Is not one of the terror organizations called Hesbola or
"The Army of God"?
"Now,
therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with
weeping, and with mourning." So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return
to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of
great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and
relent, And leave a blessing behind Him--A grain offering and a drink offering
For the LORD your God?
Repentance and true
mourning for our sins, rending our hearts and not just an outward putting on of
pious prayers is what the Lord is looking for. He waits for this nation to turn
back to its God with our whole hearts. This must come first, before He will
again bless us.
Chuck Colson recently wrote:
"But what's missing in the flurry of flag-waving and comfort-giving is something
that should be the first
business of the church: Calling ourselves, and then the nation, to repentance.
Christians of the past knew that repentance and faith are a package. The
Christian life is a life of returning, of going back to the cross daily in
repentance and faith.
"For years, many of us have half-jokingly said that if God doesn't bring
judgment on America soon, he'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. I
approach this subject gingerly because it is easy to be misunderstood. But I
think we do have to try to discern God's purpose in the events that have shaken
the whole world."
Please forgive me if my
approach to this subject has not been as "gingerly" as Chuck's, but the hour is
to late for playing social games.
Continuing with Joel chapter two:
Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the
people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and
nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from
her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the
porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give
Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should
they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" Then the LORD will be zealous
for His land, And pity His people.
God is still looking
for "the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within"
our nation (see Ezek. 9:1-11). I am so disappointed in the churches of America.
Where is the call to repentance? Where is the call for fasting and gut wrenching
prayer? Instead we hear a call for business as usual, a call that appeals to our
pride to rise up and rebuild. Yes, we have had prayer gatherings in which we
pray for those lost and their loved ones, but this does not begin to deal with
the wickedness that masks itself in a religious cloak in our nation. Can we
honestly compare what we call "the Churches" in America with THE CHURCH found in
the Book of Acts, that Church that was ONE and filled with God's love of which
it was said, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too"?
If any religion is turning the world upside down in this hour it is Islam! I
think that the words of Jesus fit America even more in this hour:
Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought,
they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom
it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it
be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:28-30, NKJV).
I watched the "national day of prayer" performance at the national cathedral and
not one of these supposed "holy men" mentioned the need for repentance, except
Billy Graham. He also preached "God bless America." I found his message weak and
lacking for the lateness of the hour we are in. It was interesting that the
procession on the way out was lead by the military honor guard. It seems that we
still think in terms of "God and country" and not necessarily in that order. I
am a patriot at heart, but since Jesus captured me, like Him, my kingdom is not
of this world.
The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and
new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a
reproach among the nations.But I will remove far from you the northern army, And
will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the
eastern sea And his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And
his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things.
Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things!
Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing
up, And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their
strength. Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God;
For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to
come down for you--The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. The
threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new
wine and oil. So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has
eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My
great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And
praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My
people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst
of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never
be put to shame.
And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My
maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."
We have been hearing a call for revival from our pulpits for many years. But
notice that the blessings of God and the Holy Spirit's reviving come
"AFTERWARDS." After the invading army, the plague of locust, the drought, God's
strong arm against us because of our sin, and most importantly after we have
repented of our evil ways and turn back to Him (Compare Hosea 6:1-4)!
And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and
pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into
blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall
come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in
Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said,
Among the remnant whom the LORD calls. (Joel 2:1-32, NKJV).
Fear not, saints of God. We have been promised an "IF and a "Then." "IF my
people who are called by my name WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES, AND PRAY AND SEEK MY
FACE, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, then I will hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin and heal their land."
God is waiting for all who are HIS PEOPLE and are called by HIS NAME, Christ
ones, to HUMBLE THEMSELVES. He is looking for true heart-felt humility. He is
waiting for us to climb down from our lofty pulpits and our over inflated
opinions of our "ministries" and positions in life and weep before Him in
repentance from all our pride. He is waiting for prayer from broken and contrite
hearts and broken spirits (Ps 51:17) that seek His face with clean hands and
pure hearts, hands that have turned away from their wicked ways and hearts that
belong to Him. THEN AND ONLY THEN will He hear our prayers, forgive our sins and
HEAL OUR LAND!
So, my son, there you have it. The way I see it, this is not a time for the self
centered "prayer of Jabez," but a time for America to hear and obey God's
warning to Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:13 and 14). Jesus said to the Pharisees,
"Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot
discern the signs of the
times." Some things never change. May the Lord somehow get through to us before
it is to late.
Dear Lord, we have sinned. We have fallen short of your glory. Forgive us of all
our wicked ways. Turn our hearts back to you with a holy zeal that is born from
above for YOUR kingdom and not the kingdoms of religious and lustful men. Help
us, oh Lord Jesus. Save us from ourselves. Amen.
Love,
Dad
-------
Dear Saints,
I just got this great letter from a dear friend that puts "The Prayer of Jabez"
in a Biblical perspective. Larry has been a blessing to me and really has a
heart for God's kingdom. His web site is worth the time to explore and read:
http://www.lettersoffaith.com
Bless you all,
Michael
-------
Dear Michael;
Thank you, brother, for you heartfelt and moving call to
repentance. Surely, this must be the message of the hour.
I would like to offer a twist on the prayer of Jabez though,
that the Lord placed upon Charlie's and my heart, because we find this little
prayer to hold repentance and rightness with Elohim to be fundamental to its
fulfillment:
"Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his
mother called his name Jabez, saying, 'Because I bore him in pain'. And Jabez
called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and
enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep
me from evil, that I may not cause pain!' So God granted him what he requested"
(1 Chronicles 4:9,10, NKJV).
First, Jabez "was more honorable" than his brethren. Jabez
was repentant. Jabez had already ordered his life aright before God, and had
sought His face for a very long time. Jabez was honorable in the sight of God.
This fact has been grossly overlooked by the religious organizations, but,
praise the Lord, it has not escaped our attention at all.
In light of this fact, Jabez approached God in fervent prayer
- seeking for the glory of God! And this is the same approach that Charlie and
I take as we approach His throne through His Son.
We seek for His blessing; that we may be a blessing to His
children. We seek His light, that we may reflect that light in the darkness of
this world. We seek His righteousness, His wisdom, knowledge, understanding,
compassion, mercy, forgiveness and love (especially His love) that we may
display this fruit unto all that we encounter.
Furthermore, we seek for the expansion of our boundaries -
Not that we want to own things, but that He would increase the area of our
ministry for the praise of His glory. We seek very little for our selves (those
of our needs, which are always rendered through His loving provision) but we
seek for whatever is needed to progress His Word and minister to His lost
children.
The next part, "That you would keep me from evil" is repeated
in the New Testament over and over again, but nowhere more significantly than in
the Lord's own teaching on how we should pray. As a matter of fact, Michael, if
you seriously look at the contents of 'The Lord's Prayer', many elements of
Jabez' prayer can be found here as well... Jesus said we are to pray thus, "Our
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the kingdom, and the
power and the glory, forever. Amen]" (Matthew 6:9-13 NASB).
And I guess here is the rub of it all... Religion distorts
and diminishes the truth and fullness of everything that is spiritually
relevant. And the current teachings on the prayer of Jabez are in full
agreement with that fact.
Just as the Catholic Church repeats the Lord's Prayer, as if
it were meant to be some sort of mantra, along with the 'hail Mary', the false
Protestant/Evangelical/Whatever religious organizations are now distorting the
prayer of Jabez to accommodate their need for something to grasp a hold of - in
their positive thinking mindset - because everything else is tumbling down
around them.
Only a truly repentant and contrite heart can pray in line
with Jabez - and receive a response from our Messiah.
And the last line of his prayer is, I think, the most
precious of all. And, the most forgotten. Oh, "That I may not cause pain"...
Can you hear it, Michael? Can you hear the heart of His faithful children
crying out to Him in this prayer?
"Father, please, do not let me teach anything in error.
Please give me the strength and courage to teach the fullness of You; to
prophetically look into the hearts of Your lost children - and to speak directly
to their sin - not maliciously, but in Your love - so that they may discover
their need for repentance, and so that they may return to You with contrition
and the joy of Your Spirit. To the praise, honor and glory of Your Most Holy
Name."
Personally, I believe that the warning to Solomon is meant to
be KNOWN first. Then, when our hearts are right with Him, a prayer like that of
Jabez will naturally flow from those hearts, because the sole desire of a heart
that is right with God will seek to please, honor, glorify and magnify The One
who has called us, redeemed us and disciplined us. Sadly, the religious
organizations have forgotten these things, again, and in their forgetfulness,
the sheep are led further astray.
Praying that all is and remains well with you and yours, and
that our loving Messiah will continue to be glorified and magnified through your
heart - and your writing. I remain faithfully and humbly your servant in
Yahshua our Messiah,
Larry and Charlie
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