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Jabez RPK.00:Jabez.00 5x7.253/11/1010:06 AMPage 3

Jabez RPK.00:Jabez.00 5x7.253/11/1010:06 AMPage 4THE PRAYER OF JABEZPUBLISHED BY MULTNOMAH BOOKS12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HolyBible, New King James Version 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used bypermission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are takenfrom The Living Bible, copyright 1971. Used by permission of TyndaleHouse Publishers Inc., Wheaton, Illinois, 60189. All rights reserved.ISBN 978-1-59052-475-6Copyright 2000 by Ovation Foundation Inc.All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopyingand recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, withoutpermission in writing from the publisher.Published by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown PublishingGroup, a division of Random House Inc., New York.MULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are trademarks of Random House Inc.Printed in the United States of America200916 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7SPECIAL SALESMost WaterBrook Multnomah books are available at special quantity discountswhen purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, and special-interestgroups. Custom imprinting or excerpting can also be done to fit special needs.For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@WaterBrookMultnomah.comor call 1-800-603-7051.Excerpted from The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson Copyright 2000 by Bruce Wilkinson.Excerpted by permission of Multnomah Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Nopart of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Jabez RPK.00:Jabez.00 5x7.253/11/10TABLEOF10:06 AMPage 5C ONTENTSPreface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Chapter OneLittle Prayer, Giant Prize . . . . . . . . 9Chapter TwoSo Why Not Ask? . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Chapter Three Living Large for God . . . . . . . . . 30Chapter FourThe Touch of Greatness . . . . . . . 45Chapter FiveKeeping the Legacy Safe . . . . . . . 62Chapter SixWelcome to God’s Honor Roll . . 76Chapter Seven Making Jabez Mine . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Jabez RPK.00:Jabez.00 5x7.253/11/1010:06 AMPage 6To all who—like those Christians in thebook of Acts—look at who they are now and whothey’ll never be, and what they can do nowand what they’ll never be able to do and still ask God for the world.hWithout the friendship, commitment andskill of my writing partner and editor David Kopp,the early help of my previous editor Larry Libby,and the encouragement of my publishing friendJohn Van Diest, the message of this book would nothave found its way to paper. I am so thankfulthat the Lord brought us together.

Jabez RPK.00:Jabez.00 5x7.253/11/1010:06 AMPage 7PREFACEDear Reader,I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer thatGod always answers. It is brief—only one sentencewith four parts—and tucked away in the Bible, but Ibelieve it contains the key to a life of extraordinaryfavor with God.This petition has radically changed what I expectfrom God and what I experience every day by Hispower. In fact, thousands of believers who are applying its truths are seeing miracles happen on a regularbasis.Will you join me for a personal exploration ofJabez?I hope you will!Bruce H. Wilkinson

Jabez.01:Jabez.019/10/093:24 PMPage 91LITTLE PRAYER,GIANT PRIZEJabez called on the God of Israel.The little book you’re holding is about whathappens when ordinary Christians decide toreach for an extraordinary life—which, as itturns out, is exactly the kind God promises.My own story starts in a kitchen with yellow counters and Texas-sized raindrops pelting the window. Itwas my senior year of seminary in Dallas. Darlene, mywife, and I were finding ourselves spending more andmore time thinking and praying about what wouldcome next. Where should I throw my energy, passion,and training? What did God want for us as a couple? Istood in our kitchen thinking again about a challenge I’dheard from the seminary chaplain, Dr. Richard Seume.“Want a bigger vision for your life?” he had asked earlierthat week. “Sign up to be a gimper for God.”A gimper, as Seume explained it, was someonewho always does a little more than what’s required or9

Jabez.01:Jabez.019/10/093:24 PMPage 10B r u c e Wi l k i n s o nexpected. In the furniture business, for example,gimping is putting the finishing touches on the upholstery, patiently applying the ornamental extras that area mark of quality and value.Dr. Seume took as his text the briefest of Biblebiographies: “Now Jabez was more honorable than hisbrothers” (1 Chronicles 4:9). Jabez wanted to be moreand do more for God, and—as we discover by the endof verse 10—God granted him hisrequest.What sentenceEnd of verse. End of Bible story.hasLord, I think I want to be a gimper forrevolutionizedYou, I prayed as I looked out the winmy life thedow at the blustery spring rain. But Imost?was puzzled. What exactly did Jabez doThe cry of ato rise above the rest? Why did Godgimper namedanswer his prayer? I wondered. For thatJabez.matter, why did God even includeJabez’s miniprofile in the Bible?Maybe it was the raindrops running down thewindowpanes. Suddenly my thoughts ran past verse 9.I picked up my Bible and read verse 10—theprayer of Jabez. Something in his prayer would explainx10

Jabez.01:Jabez.019/10/093:24 PMPage 11Little Prayer, Giant Prizethe mystery. It had to. Pulling a chair up to the yellowcounter, I bent over my Bible, and reading the prayerover and over, I searched with all my heart for thefuture God had for someone as ordinary as I.The next morning, I prayed Jabez’s prayer word forword.And the next.And the next.Thirty years later, I haven’t stopped.If you were to ask me what sentence—other thanmy prayer for salvation—has revolutionized my lifeand ministry the most, I would tell you that it was thecry of a gimper named Jabez, who is still rememberednot for what he did, but for what he prayed—and forwhat happened next.In the pages of this little book, I want to introduceyou to the amazing truths in Jabez’s prayer for blessingand prepare you to expect God’s astounding answersto it as a regular part of your life experience.How do I know that it will significantly impact you?Because of my experience and the testimony of hundreds of others around the world with whom I’ve sharedthese principles. Because, even more importantly, the11

Jabez.01:Jabez.019/10/093:24 PMPage 12B r u c e Wi l k i n s o nJabez prayer distills God’s powerful will for yourfuture. Finally, because it reveals that your Father longsto give you so much more than you may have everthought to ask for.Just ask the man who had no future.THE PRODIGYOF THEGENEALOGYSomeone once said there is really very little differencebetween people—but that little difference makes a greatdeal of difference. Jabez doesn’t standastride the Old Testament like a MosesSomethingor a David or light up the book of Actsabout this manlike those early Christians who turnedcausedthe world upside down. But one thingthe historianis sure: The little difference in his lifeto pause, clearmade all the difference.his throat, andYou could think of him as theswitch tactics.Prodigy of the Genealogy, or maybe theBible’s Little Big Man. You’ll find him hiding in the leastread section of one of the least-read books of the Bible.The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are takenup with the official family tree of the Hebrew tribes,beginning with Adam and proceeding through thou-x12

Jabez.01:Jabez.019/10/093:24 PMPage 13Little Prayer, Giant Prizesands of years to Israel’s return from captivity. Talkabout boring! The long lists of unfamiliar and difficultnames—more than five hundred of them—are likelyto make even the bravest Bible student turn back.Take chapter 4. The descendants of Judah: Perez,Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. And that’sjust the beginning.AhumaiIshmaIdbashHazelelponiAnub I’d forgive you if you suddenly considered puttingthis little book aside and reaching for your TV remote. Butstay with me. Because forty-four names into the chapter,a story suddenly breaks through:Now Jabez was more honorable than hisbrothers, and his mother called his nameJabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying,“Oh, that You would bless me indeed, andenlarge my territory, that Your hand would be13

Jabez.01:Jabez.019/10/093:24 PMPage 14B r u c e Wi l k i n s o nwith me, and that You would keep me fromevil, that I may not cause pain!” So God grantedhim what he requested. (1 Chronicles 4:9–10)In the next verse, the roll call for the tribe of Judahpicks up as if nothing has happened—Chelub, Shuah,Mehir. Something about this man Jabez had caused the historian to pause in middrone, clear histhroat, and switch tactics. “Ah, wait aJust underminute!” he seems to interject. “Youthe surface ofjust gotta know something about thiseach requestguy named Jabez. He stands head andlies a giantshoulders above the rest!”paradigmWhat was the secret to thebreaker.enduring reputation of Jabez? Youcan search from front to back in your Bible, as I have,and you won’t find any more information than wehave in these two brief verses:x Things started badly for a person no one hadever heard of. He prayed an unusual, one-sentence prayer.14

Jabez.01:Jabez.019/10/093:24 PMPage 15Little Prayer, Giant Prize Things ended extraordinarily well.Clearly, the outcome can be traced to his prayer.Something about Jabez’s simple, direct request to Godchanged his life and left a permanent mark on the history books of Israel: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.At first glance, the four requests may strike you assincere, sensible, even noble, but not terribly remarkable. Yet just under the surface of each lies a giant paradigm breaker that runs exactly opposite to the wayyou and I usually think. In the pages to come, I wantto show you just how dramatically each of Jabez’srequests can release something miraculous in your life.LIVINGBEYOND THELIMITSWhen was the last time God worked through you insuch a way that you knew beyond doubt that God had15

Jabez.01:Jabez.019/10/093:24 PMPage 16B r u c e Wi l k i n s o ndone it? In fact, when was the last time you saw miracles happen on a regular basis in your life? If you’re likemost believers I’ve met, you wouldn’t know how to askfor that kind of experience, or even if you should.What I have to share with you has been opening uplives to God’s mighty working for many years. Recently,I was in Dallas to teach on the Jabez blessing to an audience of 9,000. Later over lunch, a mansaid to me, “Bruce, I heard you preachWhen was thethe message of Jabez fifteen years ago,last time Godand I haven’t stopped praying it. Theworked throughchange has been so overwhelming Iyou in such ahave just never stopped.”way that youAcross the table, another friendknew beyondagreed. He said he’d been prayingdoubt God hadJabez’s little prayer for ten years withdone it?similar results. The man next to him,a heart surgeon from Indianapolis, said he had beenpraying it for five.I told them, “Friends, I’ve been praying Jabez formore than half my life!”Because you’re reading this book, I believe youshare my desire to reach for a life that will be “more hon-x16