Using a play on words, Jabez, the “man of sorrow,” asks God to keep him from that sorrow that his name both recalled and foreboded. In his prayer, Jabez cries out to God for protection and blessing. Little is known of Jabez, other than he was a descendant of Judah, he was an honorable man, and his mother named him “Jabez” (meaning “sorrowful” or “sorrow-maker”) because his had been a painful birth. The prayer has become well-known due to the publication of the best-selling book, The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life (2000), by Dr. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request” (1 Chronicles 4:9–10). The prayer of Jabez is found in a historical note within a genealogy: “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.

Prayer of jabez study pdf