PERSONALIZING THE PRAYER OF JABEZ

I enjoyed Dr. Bruce Wilkinson's small book, "The Prayer of Jabez." He encourages his readers to pray this Old Testament prayer, from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, as a part of their daily life. I believe it is an expression of a desire to increase your influence for God. I disagree with those who take a cynical view that it is a cry for monetary blessing. I have been trying to incorporate it into my prayer and journal time. If I personalize it with my name, this is what it reads like:



Rich prayed to the God of Israel saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil, that I might not cause pain." So God granted Rich what he requested.