God Granted Jabez's Request
I would imagine that most of us have heard of the prayer of Jabez. Whole books have been written about this prayer. It is a gem dropped by God into the midst of all of the genealogies at the beginning of I Chronicles. I don't want to delve into it because it is rather famous. I want us to try to draw out some very relevant truths that will help us have God answer our requests, too. We are told that Jabez was born after his mother went through a lot of pain and trouble in childbirth. That is why she named him Jabez, which means "sorrowful, or he makes sorrowful." (I Chronicles 4:10) Later in his life Jabez prayed to God and asked for God's blessing to be on him and to expand his territory. He asked God to be with him in all he did and to keep him from all trouble and pain. Those were the requests God granted for Jabez. I believe God granted the requests of Jabez for at least two reasons. To begin with, this is a very humble prayer. Jabez wasn't demanding anythin...