The Prayer of Jabez: Simple and Effective

By Pastor Francis Inofomoh

The Prayer of Jabez is one of the outstanding prayers in the Bible. Not only does it present to the Christian what prayer is, but it is also a prayer offered by a man that was never referenced anywhere else in the Bible. This prayer was presented to God in the simplest form and the result was outstanding for God granted him that which he requested.

This book is intended to present the simplicity with which to make our requests known to God. The effectiveness of this prayer was simply because Jabez called on the Almighty God, who is a covenant-keeping God. The principles mentioned in this book will guide and aid the readers in presenting their petitions to God. It also presents a picture of what happens once God answers our prayers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973643371

Pastor Francis Inofomoh

Pastor Francis Inofomoh felt the call of God upon his life as a new convert to teach and preach the Word of God.Central to this call is prayers which has moved me in the direction I think God is leading me. He has been involved in ministerial and pastoral duties in the New York area and presently heads The Banner of God’s Grace Ministry, Bronx New York. He is also a visiting preacher to many congregations. Pastor Francis is married to Chenya and together they have three children: William, Precious, and Stephen. He holds a Bachelors degree and MPA in Public Adminstration from the University of Calabar, Nigeria. He also holds a Masters in Professional Studies in Urban Ministries from The Nyack College, Alliance Theological Seminary, New York.

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Copyright © 2019 Pastor Francis Inofomoh.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4338-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4339-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4337-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018912652

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/06/2019

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Chapter One Who Is Jabez?

The Prayer of Jabez

His Present State

Deep-rooted Belief

Inability of Self

And Jabez Called on the God of Israel

Oh That You Would Bless Me Indeed

Enlarge My Coast

That Your Hand Will Be with Me

That You Would Keep Me from Evil

So It Might Not Cause Me Pain

Chapter 2 The Need to Pray

Chapter 3 Asking in Prayers: The Circle of Prayers

God answered my Prayer

Conditions That May Be Involved

Ask According to God’s Will

Personal Lusts and Desires

Operate by Faith

Unconfessed Sin

Asking in the Name of Jesus

Unforgiving Heart

Chapter 4 The Honorable Person

What Made Jabez Honorable?

The Name:

Chapter 5 The One Prayer God Will Always Answer

Sinner’s Prayer

Chapter 6 The Power of Spoken Word

Chapter 7 The Prayer of Jabez as a Contemporary Prayer

Manifestation of Answer

Ask God

Faith in God Is What You Need

Remind God of His Promises to You

God Cannot Fail

The Attitude You Present

So What Is Next?

Conclusion

References

To William, Precious,

and Stephen.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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I want to first give all the glory and praise to almighty God. By His special grace, this book is possible. The burden to write specifically on the prayer of Jabez was borne out of the desire by the Holy Spirit to reveal and make known how simple and effective prayers can receive desired answers.

This was my maiden book, and I got a lot of assistance from many people who have, in one way or the other, contributed to the success of this book. First of all, to my amazing family, my wife and children, I say thank you. Chenya, William, Precious, and Stephen, you guys greatly assisted in the choices I made during the course of writing this book, checking the typos and helping to type the manuscript. The emotional support you guys gave was tremendous.

Special thanks goes to Dr. Stephen Shafe and his wife for giving their spiritual support, reading through the manuscript, and also agreeing to write the foreword to this book. As overseers of the Banner of God’s Grace Church International, it was a great blessing to have received your contributions to this book.

I greatly appreciate Pastor Rotimi Akhigbe and his wife, Celin, for taking time to proofread the manuscript and make useful contributions. Also thanks to my brother, Barrister Ignatius Inofomoh. You took time out to help me go through the contract forms and the legal aspects involved in the publishing of this book.

I would like to appreciate the assistance of Pastor Mike Tolone and his father, who spent a great deal of time going through the manuscript. Mr. Greg Tolone, you constantly asked me what progress I made every time we met as I took this first step into the world of book publishing. This was very encouraging to me, and I appreciate it.

To others whom I have not mentioned here, I say thank you so very much. May the Lord increase you and grant you all your heart’s desires, like He did for Jabez. Amen.

FOREWORD

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Frank has written on prayer because he is an ardent believer in its efficacy according to the power of God, which works in us as the people of God. He knows surely that God answers prayers. He has written this book with the aim to help others come into the fellowship of prayer and see God do wonders in their lives through answers to prayers. Frank has written so that you do not have to carry your problems alone. You can bring them to the God of heaven, who answers prayers. Why worry when you can pray? Frank seems to be asking.

The author picks Jabez’s prayer to elaborate upon. He expounds the four-point prayer petition to God, drawing useful spiritual application for the twenty-first-century Christian who wants to have answers to prayer. In the process, Frank explains that effective prayer should stem out of a vital relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. He goes on to examine in brief the sovereignty of God in relation to answers to prayer. This understanding will help the petitioner to appreciate how God responds to people’s prayer as He answers them.

Some useful ingredients to effective prayer are highlighted by the author. He gives also some useful guidelines to help the reader enjoy the privilege of always receiving answers to prayers as a continuous experience.

Frank wants the reader to appreciate God for answers and to pray irrespective of the need presented to God. As a praying believer and minister of the Gospel, he tells of the faithfulness of God in answering his prayers. He knows by a firsthand experience that God answers prayers, and truly He will answer your prayers as well.

If you are a new beginner in the business of prayer, Frank’s writing will spur you to pray, thereby developing this essential aspect of human life. Beyond receiving answers to request, you will begin to grow and develop a vital communion and relationship with God the Father, which you need in this world. You will enjoy the writing of Pastor Frank, but beyond that, you will enjoy being in the presence of God through prayer.

Stephen Olusegun Shafe

Calabar, Nigeria

PREFACE

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As a new convert, I tasked myself to read the entire Bible. The task for me was to know how long it would take me to read the Bible systematically from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 21:22. I was very excited about it, to say the least.

Back then, I was very excited about reading the Bible, coupled with the Bible studies I received from my pastors every Tuesday night in church. As I began with the story of creation, the formation of the nation of Israel, and all of Gods dealing with Israel, I came to this portion of the Bible that captivated me. This was in 1 Chronicles, where a person’s prayer is recorded without any prior reference anywhere else in the Bible. This particular personality, Jabez, struck me. The mention of Jabez was not only exciting but also instigated my curiosity to know more about this person in my spirit. The excitement and interest were because Jabez simply appeared on the scene and interrupted the flow of the history of the nation of Israel. What was it that made the Holy Spirit bring in the name of Jabez at this time? While I continued with the task of reading the scriptures, the desire to know more about this person stayed in my heart.

In Genesis 1, we are told God said, Let there be … and there was. This representation was not surprising to me as a new believer because He is God and can do anything. However, I was fascinated by the authority exhibited over the elements of nature by such men as Joshua in Joshua 10:12 and Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1. These were men of God who were able to speak to and manipulate nature to their advantage and for the glory of God. What more can I say about the three Hebrew children who defiled the extreme heat in the furnace to have fellowship with our Lord Himself (Daniel 3:10–27)? In Daniel 6:12–20, Daniel made the lions in the den his sleeping pillows. This display of faith by Daniel as he spent the night in the lion’s den was so cool. These were some of the stories that fascinated me in the Old Testament, and the Bible was very clear about the relationship of these men with God.

However, I could not establish the same about Jabez once I got to 1 Chronicles 4:9–11. The only thing mentioned about this man in these verses was his prayers, which was very short and to the point, yet they were answered by God. The prayer by Jabez and the answer of God made me curious. I wanted to read the Bible more to learn more about this man and what it was about this man that made God to grant him that which he requested.

For each of the characters and personalities in the Bible, the Holy Spirit presents them in a certain way and for a purpose. God is teaching us something, which I believe is directed in one way or the other to impact our lives.

All through the years, as I read the Bible over and over, I found nothing written or mentioned anywhere else about Jabez to suggest who he was and why he received the particular attention from God concerning his prayers. The only mention of this man is what we read about him in the verses that contained his simple but effective prayers. I have read this prayer many times over and saw that the prayer was very simple, yet God answered him. This fascination triggered my desire to study more of the prayer of Jabez relative to other prayers recorded in the Bible, especially the model given to us by Jesus Himself in Matthew 6:9–15 (the Lord’s Prayer).

There are many Christians who take prayers to be something very complicated that can only be said by some super spiritual people, or better still, by some who have the gift of praying. Others think that there are special rituals we need to perform in order to offer prayers, which will receive the attention of God. Consequently, most people are scared to pray because they do not know how to pray or don’t know what to say. Some think there is no need to pray because God will not answer them due of their spiritual condition. Some do not pray at all, thinking that they are not good enough to stand before a holy God and call on Him in prayers.

Yet some people think, Because God knows my needs, why do I still pray? These are lies from the pit of hell, which Satan put in people’s minds to prevent them from their relationship with God through prayers. As you read this book, you will realize that a prayer is not as complicated as you may have thought it to be. The prayer Jabez prayed was very simple, and this will challenge the readers to present their prayers in such a simple manner to God. The prayer of Jabez proves these fears and concerns wrong concerning not being worthy to call on God. It portrays the fact that prayers should be simple and offered with a sincere purpose and from a heart that is yearning for and trusting in God.

The desire to write a book on the prayer of Jabez had been planted in my mind since my stunning discovery of this prayer as a young babe in Christ. However, the push to write this book came in 2015 as I talked with a friend on spiritual issues while I was at work one night. As we talked about different spiritual issues, from nowhere I asked, Why do we pray?

As we talked about this question, I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, The simple prayer of Jabez. I pondered in my heart and prayed over these words of the Holy Spirit in the coming weeks, and it became clear to me that though many people have read this scripture many times over, not many have seen it from the perspective the Holy Spirit has laid in my heart. That is, this prayer was a simple one made by an ordinary person calling on the God who is able (The God of Israel). Why did the Holy Spirit take me to this prayer? What is it about this prayer that the Holy Spirit wants to expose to the reader through this medium, especially because little or nothing is known of or written about Jabez in the Bible to warrant any serious thought? As this burden became even stronger, I decided that the only thing to do was for me to hold on to the promise of God in Jeremiah 33:3, and this scripture constantly crossed my mind. Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.

As I asked God in prayers, all the pieces of the puzzle that I was looking for came out clearly and in place. One of the things that God revealed to me is that we all have our prayer circles, unique to each of us. The prayer of Jabez, as presented to me by the Holy Spirit, is characterized by three main issues: a simple prayer, made by an ordinary person, and to a God who is able.

As you read this book, it is my desire that your prayer life will receive a new meaning and experience that will make God’s ears open to hear you at all times.

Glory be to God.

INTRODUCTION

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Prayer in ordinary form means communication with God, whom we as Christians believe to be our Father who answers prayers. Just as we communicate with people daily, so we are to talk with God. Communication is either verbal or nonverbal, but with God, it is mainly verbal either vocal or in silence. It is an expression of a person’s heart to God. The aspiration for a particular need or desire to be met brews the willingness to call on God in the heart of a Christian. This desire to call on God could be for fellowship, glorification, and personal needs of security, protection, or even provision of material things. This desire may even be to repent of sin or to prepare for spiritual battle, or it may also be to seek God’s face for other people.

Jabez, as a child of the covenant, felt the need to call on God his heavenly Father to intervene in his life. Rather than accept his condition and go on in life with the curse occasioned by his name, he did what any person would do, which was to seek for a way to turn things around in his life. There are some of us today who, when we face one difficult situation or another in life, either leave it