He simply prayed a prayer for God to bless him.
We find Jabez buried in a long list of genealogies. It goes on for nine chapters in the book.
1 Chronicles. You are so bored by the time you reach Jabez that you almost skip over him. But he is there like a shining light in this long list of anonymous characters. It is significant that what Jabez is remembered for is not some outstanding achievement, but a prayer. He did not win a great battle or erect a great building. He simply prayed a prayer. But out of all the people in this nine-chapter list of characters, he alone is lifted out because of the prayer that he prayed.
What is so unusual about this prayer, and why have preachers been talking about it for centuries? Let’s look at the prayer piece by piece in order to discover why God was pleased enough with his prayer to have it forever recorded in scripture. His prayer was in four parts:
1. He prayed that God would bless him. God has always blessed those who desire His blessing. God promised to bless Moses with His presence and give him rest. Moses replied that without God’s presence, he did not want to go any further (Exodus 33:14-15.) God wants to bless you so that you can be a blessing to others.
2. He prayed that God would enlarge his territory, or his borders. Spiritual growth is an important part of the salvation experience. Every believer needs to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we grow spiritually, we will “flourish like the palm tree.” (Psalm 92:12).
3) He prayed that God’s hand would be upon him. Because God’s hand was upon Joseph in the Old Testament, He gained the favor of Pharaoh and became the Prime Minister of Egypt. God used him to save much people alive during a time of great drought.
4) He prayed that God would keep him from evil. One of the important parts of the Lord’s prayer is that God would deliver us from temptation. Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers that God will make a way of escape from temptation if we will trust Him.