Come as you are

Ashhur (the father of Tekoa) had two wives, named Helah and Naarah. 6 Naarah gave birth to Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. 7 Helah gave birth to Zereth, Izhar,[c] Ethnan, 8 and Koz, who became the ancestor of Anub, Zobebah, and all the families of Aharhel son of Harum. 9 There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez[d]because his birth had been so painful. 10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!" And God granted him his request.11 Kelub (the brother of Shuhah) was the father of Mehir. Mehir was the father of Eshton. 12 Eshton was the father of Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah. Tehinnah was the father of Ir-nahash. These were the descendants of Recah.

This is an extraordinary passage for several reasons that if considered prayerfully, are so very relevant to us today. Sandwiched, as it is between two completely disparate passages of scripture about genealogy, verses 9 and 10 describe a man of humble birth who knows his God is approachable and able to answer his prayers.  Each of the shoulder passages are so rich in detail but here, almost coming out of the blue is this passage about a man. A man like you and I, echoing the description of Elijah in 1 Kings. There is no genealogy or information attached to Jabez, save he had an (unnamed) mother and some brothers. We can assume he came from the tribe of Judah, as 1 Chronicles 4 is headed 'The Family of Judah' so praise would have been in his DNA. So let us look at what is there in order we can learn from the confidence Jabez certainly had in his maker.

It says 'he was the one' which infers he was alone in his generation. It is believed the book was written during the 400 Silent years between Malachi and the birth of Jesus; this is one of the reasons the order of the Jewish books is different to that of our own Old Testament, with 1 & 2 Chronicles coming at the end. The word 'the' one suggests he was unusual in his time and had perhaps a unique relationship to God. Of course, although the book was written during this time, it is one categorised as 'history' and used sources going back to the time of King David so we can't be sure when Jabez actually lived. Unlike those around him, save a very few exceptions, Jabez knew he could speak to his God on a personal level and more than that, knew that his God could hear him, could protect him, wanted to bless him and even more than all these, would answer him. He spoke to God as though He were his father; in the same way Jesus told us how to address God Almighty. But unlike Solomon who met God only in his dream, Jabez was fully awake when he spoke to God and did not ask for wisdom, rather asking God to keep him from trouble and pain. I am not aware of anyone else asking for this, other than the writer of some of the psalms, notably of course King David himself. In the 21st Century, we take this for granted and it is one of our most common requests.

So what can we learn from these two verses about Jabez. As a man, all that was available to him is available to us – if we act honourably. We are told he was more honourable than his brothers, so we have to be honourable in our relationships, our business dealings, use of all our resources and have purity of heart. We need to act truthfully and be righteous if we are to have our petitions answered. No matter what our background or spiritual heritage, God hears us. We don't need to dress anything up or approach him using 'King James' type language - just come to God as we are. Our father sees beyond our veneer and directly into our heart which must be pure. No matter what our social standing: rich, poor, educated, unemployed, alone - God can and does hear. Jabez prayed and we know prayer is so important if we are to receive what God has for us. Prayer was the bedrock of Jabez's life. He spent time with God and he knew through this intimacy that God wanted the best for him. He didn't see God as an old man with a big stick or raised arm, quite the contrary. That if our plans are to further the Kingdom, he will expand our territory and increase our sphere of influence. We obviously don't know what was in Jabez's mind but certainly for us, we must petition our Father that our labours are for the Kingdom's build, be that at Home church, city or national level. And he asked God for all the above without the help and assistance of the Holy Spirit, so how much more does Father want to bless our lives than even that of Jabez!