Jabez prayed this prayer because he knew that there had to be more to life than what he was seeing. Some people are content to live in spiritual ruts, because they’re afraid of change… but not Jabez. He knew that the blessing of the Lord would change his life. Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.”
There are those who wish for nothing more than luck, but the blessing of the Lord is so much better than luck. Wanting just luck is like settling for a small cup of water when you could have access to the entire well. Jabez wanted the entire well. He was grateful for what he had, but he knew there was more. He wanted bigger responsibilities. He wanted bigger opportunities.
So that begs the question: “Is it wrong for a child of God to want to be great?”
The simple answer is no. But if all we want is more power, more influence, more wealth, more prestige, just to showoff how rich, and how powerful, and how smart we are; then, of course, it’s wrong.
Jabez sensed that God had more for him to do and he was right. He wanted to make a difference in his world and so should we. There is so much more to our lives than just living for ourselves. God wants more for us than we could ever want for ourselves, but are we willing to pray bold faith prayers? Are we willing to step out, to almost walk-on-water, if that what it takes? Are we willing to take a risk and begin to press in to what God says is available for us this very day?
by Corville Peters
