Test All Things
A Book Review
On March 5, 2001 a little book was introduced by Dr. Dobson on the radio show "Focus on the Family" called "Prayer of Jabez". In the May 2001 Focus on the Family newsletter, Dr. Dobson felt a sense of urgency that he hadn't felt since the beginning of Focus on the Family as a result of his interview with Bruce Wilkerson,.
"There have been only two occasions in the history of Focus on the Family when I felt this urgency from the Lord. The other dates back to the beginning of the ministry, when the plight of unborn children was heavy on my heart." (May 2001 newsletter)
The Prayer of Jabez was actually published last year but it wasnt until March that the book really took off.
Since then, this book has been splashed across newspaper headlines and has caused quite a bit of division among not only denominations but individual churches as well.
While many churches and Christians are excited about the book, many non-Christian newspapers seem less enthused.
"The Times" a UK based newspaper had the following article entitled :
Please Lord, make me rich (Thursday 05-10-01).
The writer Andrew Brown basically writes that Christians are greedy :
"The Prayer of Jabez, a book based on a passage in the Old Testament, has sold four million copies in America with the message that greed is Godly. Of course, there is a gimmick: Jabez prayed for more cows, more sheep and more land; and by updating his prayer, modern Americans believe they will get more money."
He feels that the book is only for the greedy Christians and that the book "has not sold outside the evangelical ghetto here."
In his opinion, the book is nothing more than another "spirituality" book. A book that isnt really supposed to be read, but its simply nothing more than a "good luck charm".
He goes on to talk about how religion and merchandising are bound up together and how the "religious right pioneered many of the techniques of modern politics".
Finally, he compares the book with the "prosperity gospel" which teaches that God wants everybody rich, and if you ask for riches He will give them to you.
"I once saw, at a Morris Cerullo show, a side stall advertising a scheme whereby God would multiply your investment a thousandfold if you handed it over for "godly purposes". It is easy to laugh or shudder at such obvious con tricks and there is never any shortage of established religious figures to point out the blasphemy of treating God as a gigantic slot machine, with prayer as the handle you jerk to make Him disgorge a huge pile of money."
His conclusion is rather point blank :
"The Jabez prayer will spread through America for as long as people can still hope. In this country it is not even offered for sale on the "Walk Thru the Bible" website. Perhaps that is because we are not as gullible or as desperate as the Americans. Then again, whatever the chances of the Jabez prayer working, they must be higher than your chance of winning the National Lottery. And millions of people bet on that each week."
Here in America, writer Damon Linker on May 25, 2001, wrote an article for the "The Opinion Journal from the Wall Street Journal editorial page"
Say a Little Prayer for Me
"The Prayer of Jabez": New age self-help with Christian trappings
In his opinion
"Despite its biblical trappings, "The Prayer of Jabez" is a book of New Age spirituality--a gospel of personal empowerment. Mr. Wilkinson does not profess to offer rational reflection on the divine and its place in human life; he wants merely to make folks feel good about themselves. His book thus manages to amplify what is arguably the least Christian aspect of contemporary American popular culture.
That Mr. Wilkinson and his legion of admirers apparently find nothing particularly inappropriate about treating God as a means to their worldly satisfaction teaches us something important about American Christianity today-and thus something essential about America itself."
Ouch.
But Christians are hearing so much good stuff about this book! We have prayer circles coming together to pray the prayer of Jabez! Churches are ending their services by reciting the Jabez prayer. Pastors are encouraging their flocks to recite the prayer and to read the book. Radio stations are reciting the prayer and advertising the book.
To date, you can get a Jabez coffee cup, a Jabez money clip, a Jabez Bible Study, Jabez books for Kids or Teens, a Jabez Journal, a Jabez Leather Edition, and undoubtedly there will be other promotional items. Inevitably someone will redefine WWJD as "What would Jabez do?" and start marketing bracelets.
But people are still asking about this book. Out of the millions copies sold it seems that people have issues with this book but many of them are not sure exactly why. Many people seem to have an uneasiness regarding this book.
So lets take a look at the book itself. We shouldnt base our opinion on the opinions of others. Wilkerson seems to have a pretty good reputation in evangelical circles so lets go to the source.
Preface
"I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer that God always answersIn fact, thousands of believers who are applying its truths are seeing miracles happen on a regular basis."
This is definitely an intriguing preface : A prayer that God always answers.
What does that mean? Does it mean that I can get anything I want? Is this the gospel of greed that Andrew Brown was talking about?
Is the fact that miracles are happening all over prove that this is the "ultimate magical prayer"? If so, then it will still have to bump the Rosary off the all time "answered miracle" list.
When Wilkerson was interviewed on Focus on the Family, we got the impression that the purpose of the "prayer of Jabez" was not for financial gain so lets not make a hasty judgement based simply on the preface.
But as a bible believing Christian, there are a couple of issues that seem to come up at this point. A couple of issues that we should hope will be addressed in the book:
This sort of theology has caused more than its share of conflict among not only congregations, but among families also. It is unbiblical, heretical and reduces God to nothing more than your cosmic butler.
Will Wilkerson specifically address this heretical doctrine?
Wilkerson takes the prayer of Jabez and separates it and each chapter is a part of the prayer.
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying,
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,
that I may not cause pain!
So God granted him what he requested."
1 Chronicles 4:10
Chapter 1 Little Prayer, Giant Prize - Jabez called on the God of Israel.
"Jabez wanted to be more and do more for God, and-as we discover by the end of verse 10-God granted him his request." p10
Initially when you read this book, one of the things that should bother you is the fact that we know nothing about Jabez. Wilkerson, himself, also points this out.
It seems that Jabez was definitely different, but we know nothing about him. How did he live? How did he end? Sauls life started off fantastic and if you took a snapshot of his life you might read :
"There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel.
From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people." 1 Samuel 9:2
But then Sauls life ended very very badly. So where we take the snapshot is very important. But since the bible offers no other information about Jabez, we have to assume that he lived a righteous life. And this assumption is not unrealistic.
Not knowing anything about Jabez is probably the biggest hurdle in trying to read this book. Jesus never referred to Jabez, none of the gospels refer to Jabez and none of the apostles ever referred to him either.
However, Wilkerson was so impressed with Jabez that he says
"The next morning, I prayed Jabezs prayer word for word. And the next. And the next. Thirty years later, I havent stopped" p11
Wilkerson later brags that hes been praying this prayer for half his life!
So is Wilkerson endorsing ritualistic prayers? What makes the Jabez prayer different than say, the Rosary?
Jesus told us in Matthew 6:7 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words." Then Jesus goes on to say when you pray, pray LIKE THIS and He goes on to give us an outline in what we know as "The Lords Prayer".
Chapter 2 So Why Not Ask? Oh, that You would bless me indeed!
Wilkerson presents the idea that we should ask God to bless us. Thats a pretty good idea. What form should these blessings take? Spiritual? Physical? Material?
If we ask for spiritual blessings, then will God increase our faith, wisdom, or draw us into a closer walk with Him? Thats biblical! Thats fantastic!
In fact, James (1:5-8, 4:1-6) has already told us that if we want wisdom to ask God, if we dont get it, its because we dont ask correctly. We simply ask with wrong motives most of the time.
But what do we desire the most? Will we give up our spiritual blessings for physical blessings? Will we give up our physical blessings for material? Or do we just want everything we can get our hands on?
What if like Job, God allows everything to be taken away from us, material and physical, in order for us to prosper spiritually? Are we willing to accept that?
Most people arent. Prosperity theology will say that God would never do that. Yet, Paul the apostle was beaten, shipwrecked, whipped, imprisoned, just read 2 Corinthians chapter 11! Jesus Himself faced hardship: He was beaten, He was spat upon, and He was killed.
Paul called himself "a bondservant of Jesus Christ", Jude, James, and Peter, they all called themselves "slaves of Jesus". If we are called to be slaves for Jesus, then are we greater than our master?
Thats what we need to do when we are slaves : let our master decide what He will do.
This book doesnt outrightly endorse prosperity theology. In fact, Wilkerson denies it in the book if you look close enough :
"He [Jabez] left it entirely up to God to decide what the blessing would be and where, when, and how Jabez would receive themthe Jabez blessing focuses like a laser on our wanting for ourselves nothing more and nothing less than what God wants for us." p24.
Thats great advice. But if youre looking for a magical prayer in the Prayer of Jabez, then that advice is easily overlooked.
Chapter 3 Living Large for God Oh, that You would enlarge my territory!
"The next part of the Jabez prayer a plea for more territory is where you ask God to enlarge your life so you can make a greater impact for Him." p30
This is good advice. As Christians we should desire to make a greater impact for God. We should desire to witness and to be used in greater and greater ways by God.
Wilkerson then relates a story of 2000 college students he encouraged to pray the prayer of Jabez to take an island for Jesus and witness to the natives. He encouraged them to be used by God as witnesses. To expand their territory.
But did these students really need the Jabez encouragement to go out and witness for Jesus? Jesus told us over and over that we needed to go out and make disciples of all people.
Chapter 4 The Touch of Greatness Oh, that your hand would be with me
"As Gods chosen, blessed sons and daughters, we are expected to attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteedunless God steps in." p47
"God did that, nobody else! God carried me, gave me the words, gave me the power and it is wonderful!" p53
This is also good advice. A Christian life is all about learning how to live by faith. Sometimes God will call us to do things that are out of our league. Failure is usually guaranteed unless God steps in!
One statement in this chapter was particularly interesting :
"When we ask for Gods mighty presence like Jabez and the early church did, we will also see tremendous results that can only be explained only as from the hand of God." p55
Did the early church pray the prayer of Jabez in order to see the tremendous results? A search in the Logos library of Church Fathers revealed nothing concerning Jabez. The New Testament reveals nothing about Jabez.
We understand the reason for the tremendous growth of the early church was because of the work of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth".
The prayer of Jabez had nothing to do with the early church. It was the early churchs reliance on the Holy Spirit that gave them boldness to preach. It was the Spirit Himself who expanded their territory!
Chapter 5 Keeping the Legacy safe Oh, that you would keep me from evil!
"The further along in a life of supernatural service you get, the more youll need the final plea of Jabezs prayer" p64
"Somehow we dont think to ask God simply to keep us away from temptation and keep the devil at bay in our lives." p67
"Thats why, like Jabez, we should pray for protection from deception" -p69
"Like Jabez, then, we should ask to be spared dangerous misjudgments" p70
"Like Jabez, we should plead to be kept from the powerful pull of what feels right to us but is wrong" p71
"the more God answers your Jabez prayers, the more you should be prepared to confront spiritual attack." p71
These are bold, but true statements. We do need protection from evil. We do need to be prepared to confront spiritual attacks. But have we truly never thought to ask God for help? If we have not thought to ask God to keep us from temptation, we need to study the model prayer that Jesus gave us "Our Father in heavendo not lead us into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL." Matthew 6:9-13
It seems that almost everyone has heard the "Lords Prayer" at one time or another. Even non-Christians seem able to recite this prayer! Is the "Lords Prayer" simply something to recite or do we actually listen to what is being said?
"He [Jabez] wanted to live free from the bondage of evil because Gods trustworthy character and steadfast Word had showed him something unimaginably better. Stay out of the arena of temptation whenever possible, he would advise". p74
That is really good advice. But do we really need JABEZ to tell us to stay away from temptation? Have we not headed the words of Jesus in His model for prayer?
Chapter 6 Welcome to Gods Honor Roll Jabez was more honorable than his brothers
Wilkerson once again gives good advice : "I dont want to get to heaven and hear God say : Lets look at your life, Bruce. Let me show you what I wanted for you and tried repeatedly to accomplish through you, but you wouldnt let me. What a travesty!" p77
This is good because we should strive to be more the person that God wants us to be. What is our model? Jesus Himself. How wonderful will it be to get to heaven and hear God say "Well done, good and faithful servant". Thats what we should all be looking forward to.
So what happens when we start to live for Gods honor roll?
"I think the immediacy-the now-ness- of serving God is one of the most exciting aspects of living for Gods honor roll." p78
Serving God should always be right now. So many times we put off to "later" our willingness to serve God.
Wilkerson later goes on to relate a story that seems contrary to the above statement :
"I was driving through Atlanta to the airport on my way to an important speaking engagement in North Carolina. Without warning, traffic slowed, then stopped. A major accident had blocked all lanes. When it became clear that I was going to miss my flight, I prayed, Lord, please make my flight late so I can catch it."
His prayer was answered. And when he discovered his plane was delayed, he said he "found myself wondering if God had something else in mind as well" and he relates a story of how he was able to minister to a fellow passenger.
Whats interesting is that "the now-ness of serving God" involved praying for a delayed flight, not praying for the people involved in the "major accident" and later "wondering" if God had "something else" in mind as a result of the delayed flight.
Chapter 7 Making Jabez Mine So God granted him what he requested.
"I encourage you to follow unwaveringly the plan outlined here for the next thirty days." p86
"1. Pray the Jabez prayer every morning, and keep a record of your daily prayer by marking off a calendar or a chart you make especially for the purpose.
2. Write out the prayer and tape it in your bible, in your day-timer, on your bathroom mirror, or some other place where youll be reminded of your new vision.
3. Reread this little book once each week during the next month, asking God to show you important insights you may have missed.
4. Tell one other person of your commitment to your new prayer habit, and ask him or her to check up on you.
5. Begin to keep a record of changes in your life, especially the divine appointments and new opportunities you can relate directly to the Jabez prayer.
6. Start praying the Jabez prayer for your family, friends and local church" p86-87
Here Wilkerson seems to get back to the idea of ritualistic prayer. You need to pray the prayer word for word every day. Wilkerson has prayed it for 30 years. The Prayer of Jabez website has archives and archives of people who are relating their story of how they pray the prayer word for word.
This may be the most problematic presentation of the whole book.
Regarding the 100 million copies of the "Walk Thru The Bible" series he has sold, Wilkerson says,
"I dont mention these numbers to impress you. I share this story because it is a very personal one and, to me at least, almost shocking evidence of what Gods grace and Jabez praying can do." p89
"Just by looking at what is happening, I can assure you that God still answers those who have a loyal heart and pray the Jabez prayer." p90
Conclusion
It almost seems like the "Prayer of Jabez" was written by two different people. Chapters 2-6 seem to have very good advice for people but the content of chapter 1 and 7 seem rather unbiblical.
What is particularly interesting about this particular book is how general the statements are. The book mentions "God" over and over but no-where does Wilkerson ever get to the single most important issue : you cannot approach God except through Jesus.
If you talk to a Mormon, youll find out they serve a different god. If you talk to a Jehovahs Witness, then youll find out they have a twisted view of God. If you talk to a New Ager, a Hindu, a Muslim, youll get different views of God. What ever happened to the God of the bible? The only open door to God is through the finished work of Jesus the Christ who came to die for your sins.
No "religious" person on earth will feel offended at this book. A "spiritual" person will not feel offended at this book. Homosexuals will not feel offended at this book.
In fact there is a website called the "Jabez Foundation" and their stated mission statement is
We are dedicated to supporting ALL GOD's CHILDREN, including but not limited to, Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgender and Allied Persons by helping them understand that God's bounty is limited only by us, not by God's resources, power, or willingness to give.
We are committed to helping people be empowered by knowing that they are blessed when they refuse to let any obstacle, person, or opinion loom larger than God's nature.
Truly, we want to encourage people in trusting and believing that God's nature is to bless.
So whats the problem? Everybody has found something good in this book! It continues to sell copies and break selling records.
Basically what we are left with is a "feel good" book. Simply a book with no conviction for the reader. A book with no real biblical basis other than the quotation of the prayer of Jabez.
The Jabez prayer becomes nothing more than good luck charm :
"Staring blankly out at the traffic, I reached for the Jabez prayer" p65.
Need a quick fix of spirituality : pray the Jabez prayer.
The book does present some good material. But contained within its pages is a twisted form of the model prayer of Jesus.
Instead of studying an Old Testament genealogy in order to find out how to pray, lets go back to the one person who would know how to pray : Jesus.
Lord Jesus, creator and sustainer of the universe, once again, we ask You to teach us to pray :
And He said,
"When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts
As we also have forgiven our debtors
And let us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil."
-Matthew 6:9-13
The one fact that was left out of this book was the most vital information of all. Jesus said : "No-one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6
We cannot have access to a Holy God by praying the prayer of Jabez. We cannot have access to a Holy God by our good works. We cannot have access to God except through having a personal relationship with Jesus the Christ who came and died for our sins.