The Prayer Of Jabez

Please, Don't Let Me Jabez Anyone Else

--- [ I Chronicles 4:9-10 ]  Jabez was honored more than his brothers; and his mother named him Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain."  Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me form hurt and harm!" ---NRSV

Dear Friends, grace and peace be unto you from Jesus.  Amen.

A father was called into school to the principal's office.  Apparently his son had shoved a chalkboard eraser in the mouth of one of his classmates.  When the principal told the boy's father of the incident, the father was furious.  He turned to his son and demanded an answer: "What reason could you have possibly had for putting a chalkboard eraser in that girl's mouth?"  The boy quietly answered, "Because her mouth was open."  

Today we examine the fourth and final petition of the Prayer of Jabez: “and that you would keep me from evil that I may not cause pain.”  It is ironic.  His name is pain and he prays that he might not cause pain.  It is as if he is praying, “My name is Jabez.  Please don't let me Jabez anyone else.”

We first learned that Jabez began life under challenging circumstances.  There is evidence that his father may have done something to bring disgrace upon the family. 

In the midst of his emotional pain and turmoil, Jabez lays hold of the promises of God.  The chronicler writes, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.”  Jabez cries out, “Oh, that you would bless me indeed.”  Jabez realized that you don’t need to resign yourself to fate or tough luck or bad timing.  As a Jewish boy he learned Psalm 121, one of my favorite Psalms:  “I lift my eyes up to the hills.  From whence does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord God who made the heavens and the earth.”  He took his eyes off his problems and put his eyes on God.  He wanted a new and more fulfilling life.

Then we examined the phrase, “and enlarge my territory.”  Jabez realized that he was created for more than he was experiencing at this stage in his life.  His ambition was to have a life and purpose that was God-driven.  It is like Colin Powell, General and Secretary of State, who gives the Army credit for his success, saying, the Army pushed him to the next level.  It is the Churches job to push the followers of Jesus to the next level of service.

Next Jabez prayed, “Oh that your hand will be with me.”  Jabez knew that he needed more than just his own wisdom.  He needed a personal guide, the presence of Almighty God.  He had to switch his life from his hands to the high and holy hands of God.  

Today, we examine the request, “and that you would keep me from evil that I may not cause pain.”  Maybe it was because Jabez knew pain so intimately, that he prayed that he would not cause pain for anyone else.  Sometimes it works that way.  Sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes we see children who are abused grow up to be abusers.  Sometimes we see boys whose mother was abused, grow up to abuse their own wives.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  We can learn and overcome our upbringing.  Jabez did.

If it is true that his father had somehow lost the family fortune and spoiled the family reputation, Jabez looked at the consequences of his father's irresponsible actions and saw the destructive power evil and temptation can have upon a human life.  And he prayed that God would keep him from such evil.

JABEZ HAD DISCOVERED THAT GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH. In our hearts we may seek to always do right, but under our own power, we will fail.  We need God’s help to avoid the lure of temptation.

Several years ago there were four Orthodox Jewish students who sued Yale University.  They sued because the univer­sity had a policy that required all freshmen and sophomores to live in the campus dorms.  But the thing was that in some of the dorms, men and women shared not only the same floor, but the same bath­rooms.  So those Orthodox students argued that living in that kind of environment went against their religious beliefs.  They realized that spending years in that kind of a set­ting could have negative influences on them, and they did not want to run that risk.  So they asked for permission to rent apart­ments off campus, but the school refused to grant their request.  In the end, the courts ruled against those students, saying that the university has a right to make rules about housing, and if the students didn’t like the rules, they should not have enrolled there.

You can imagine the ridicule to which these four young men were subjected.  But they were wise.  The human mind has an amazing ability to rationalize all kinds of destructive behavior.  There have been through history all kinds of outstanding people who have found themselves knee-deep in sin before they realized it. Also they further discovered that they were too weak to extricate themselves before causing all kinds of havoc in the lives of those around them - especially those they loved.

The prayer “keep me from evil that I may not cause pain” is one of the most important prayers that we will ever pray. 

JABEZ HAD ALSO DISCOVERED THAT ONE WAY TO GUARD AGAINST EVIL IS TO CAREFULLY SCREEN THE INFLUENCE OF PEOPLE IMPORTANT TO OUR LIVES.  Author Max Lucado tells of sharing the message of Jesus with a young man named Steven.  Steven was a rough, street-hardened man with a drug habit and a violent temper.  He wanted to change.  He wanted to find new life.  But Steven’s girlfriend didn’t want any of this new life.  She did everything in her power to draw Steven back into his old lifestyle.  Because he was afraid of losing her, he gave in.  Max reports that Steven wept uncontrollably on their last day together.  He knew he was giving up, but he couldn’t find the strength to leave behind his old lifestyle in order to find new life in Jesus.

There are people whose impact on our lives can be destructive. That is why we tell our young people, “Be careful who you run around with.”  And that is why the fellowship of the church is so important.  Here is where you can find people who will build you up.  Here is where you will find people who will give you the support you need to resist evil.     

We’re told that wild dogs on the African plains kill their prey by separating individual animals from the herd.  They accomplish this with precise cutting abilities.  Isolated, the victim seldom escapes.  Terrorists get their new recruits in a similar way – isolating them from the truth and then poisoning their minds.

Satan utilizes a similar tactic in the cunning art of temptation.  He is most efficient when his enticements are aimed at believers lacking mutual accountability and a relationship with fellow Christians.  This is the second greatest reason we come to church: to see and talk with and rub shoulders with other Christians.  Temptation loses much of its seductive punch when shared with a caring, mature brother or sister in Christ. 

Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  Under certain conditions our potential for wrongdoing can overwhelm our desire to do what is right and good.  We need Almighty God’s help to keep us from experiencing those kinds of conditions.  This is one of the most important insights you will give to your children and grandchildren. 

A country song of a few years ago added a new twist to this ancient prayer.  “Lead me not into temptation,” began the song, but then added, “I can find it all by myself.”  And we can.  Much to our sorrow and the sorrow of those we love, without God’s help, we can find it all by ourselves. 

Psychiatrists and psychologists tell us that the two great areas which lead us astray - and the two great causes of crime in the world today - are a bad environment and a tainted heredity.  Here was a young man who had both, yet in the midst of his sense of weakness, of his sense of the impossibility of rising above his circumstances, he falls on his knees and cries to the God of Israel to have mercy upon him and grant him the four desires of his heart.  The four desires were: That God would bless him a lot, that God would enlarge his territory, that God would lead him with God’s own hand and that God would keep him from evil that he might do no harm.

And guess what?  God granted his request.

And so, one last time, let me read these two verses that are inspiring so many people today:  “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)