The Prayer of Jabez......book

[Heart2Soul]

A friend of mine gave me this book and while I agree with the scriptural content I did not agree with what she told me to do......she said if I prayed that prayer everyday that I would begin to see the manifestation of it in my life within 30 days.

Well I prayed that prayer for 3 days then I finally just said Lord, this man prayed this from his heart because this is what he needed in his life and had faith to believe for. I have faith for those things as well but it isn't what is in my heart....what is in my heart is to draw nearer to you, to die to self, to increase in my walk of obedience, to be used by you to help others. He said EXACTLY! I want you to speak to me from your heart!

That is when I realized that we each have our own personal path to walk and the Bible is a tool to teach us the best way to walk it......but each of us reaches a revelation knowledge of it at different times so it can't be a "one-size-fits-all" at a given place in time. So what I am basically saying is we all work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and as long as the Holy Spirit is guiding us we all will reach our predestined calling and place in our life in HIS TIMING.....of course we can hinder our growth at times but it really is all about a personal relationship with our Father and with our willingness to let Him mold us and make us into what He intended us to be.

So with that being said.....I am just gonna love all you guys no matter what we may disagree on....it's a personal thing between you and God.....and where He has you is where you are meant to be. (with the exception of false teaching of course) because we are all one in Christ!

 

[Enoch111]

A friend of mine gave me this book and while I agree with the scriptural content I did not agree with what she told me to do......she said if I prayed that prayer everyday that I would begin to see the manifestation of it in my life within 30 days.

That would be more like an incantation, and definitely not necessary. Also the prayer of Jabez may not apply to everyone.

 

[Nancy]

A friend of mine gave me this book and while I agree with the scriptural content I did not agree with what she told me to do......she said if I prayed that prayer everyday that I would begin to see the manifestation of it in my life within 30 days.

Well I prayed that prayer for 3 days then I finally just said Lord, this man prayed this from his heart because this is what he needed in his life and had faith to believe for. I have faith for those things as well but it isn't what is in my heart....what is in my heart is to draw nearer to you, to die to self, to increase in my walk of obedience, to be used by you to help others. He said EXACTLY! I want you to speak to me from your heart!

That is when I realized that we each have our own personal path to walk and the Bible is a tool to teach us the best way to walk it......but each of us reaches a revelation knowledge of it at different times so it can't be a "one-size-fits-all" at a given place in time. So what I am basically saying is we all work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and as long as the Holy Spirit is guiding us we all will reach our predestined calling and place in our life in HIS TIMING.....of course we can hinder our growth at times but it really is all about a personal relationship with our Father and with our willingness to let Him mold us and make us into what He intended us to be.

So with that being said.....I am just gonna love all you guys no matter what we may disagree on....it's a personal thing between you and God.....and where He has you is where you are meant to be. (with the exception of false teaching of course) because we are all one in Christ!

No, we are not cookie cutter people...God gave us different personalities and, as long as we are on the RIGHT road...we could be in totally different places on this road. And, God deals with each of us personally. That ha become more and more real to me as I see how He works in my own life.
Good post!

 

[Heart2Soul]

No, we are not cookie cutter people...God gave us different personalities and, as long as we are on the RIGHT road...we could be in totally different places on this road. And, God deals with each of us personally. That ha become more and more real to me as I see how He works in my own life.
Good post!

Yes, and I am beginning to understand to accept each person where they are in their faith and their walk with God.....I read posts and go..HuH??? but I know the person is a Christian and then I get the little nudge from the Holy Spirit to pray and research it before responding. Now others who will not afford me the same respect as to what I believe and have experienced I still want to fellowship but avoid the topic. Its all about love and I can't deny one persons understanding as less or more than my own....we will all end up in the same Heaven!

 

[Willie T]

To me, it borders on Voodoo.

 

[amadeus]

@Heart2Soul
Nothing wrong with words if they really come from a heart which is open to and filled with the things of God.

Jesus said, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." Matt 6:7

The key word there is "vain" which speaks of the idle, the meaningless, the worthless. If a person repeats even words which superficially seem to carry a good meaning will they be "good"? Will they not rather be vainly repeated nothings?

Just a few verses later in that same chapter of Matthew Jesus gives us what has been called the "Lord's Prayer".

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Matt 6:9-13

I have previously testified that as a young Catholic frequently after my confession the priest would give me a penance of reciting a certain numbers of "Our Fathers" and I would go and do so obediently, but I learned, as young boys do, that this could be done very rapidly so I could get on with the things I enjoyed rather than wasting too much time in "prayer". I learned in almost 'no time' able to recite many "Our Fathers" and "Hail Marys" but the day came when God smote my heart. What I was doing was a very vain repetition. I was not talking to God at all. I was performing a very superficial, vain minimum obedience to the priest and supposedly also to God.

I changed my ways. Thereafter when I prayed those prayers I focused on each word and its meaning to me. I focused on God and what I thought its meaning would be to Him. It was never again a "vain repetition" for me even if I recited that "Our Father" 10 times all in once period of penance.

It has been more than 50 years since I was an active practicing Catholic, but in the past several years in my own prayer life, I have been including the Lord's prayer along with verses 14-15 ["For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."] heartfully to God. When I have given this testimony in the past on forums at least one person attacked me accusing me of using "vain repetitions" like Catholic. But I believed that person was in error. I still do.

I have also heard or read that if a person reads daily from the Book of Proverbs so that he completes the whole thing regularly he will become a rich man materially. Whether it actually works or not the but the problem with that is the same as the one with the praying of the Lord's Prayer or the praying of the prayer of Jabez:

What is our purpose? What is it that God wants from us? What is it that God wants us to do? Our sister @Heart2Soul caught the right Spirit on this in her OP. Consider well what she wrote here:

That is when I realized that we each have our own personal path to walk and the Bible is a tool to teach us the best way to walk it......but each of us reaches a revelation knowledge of it at different times so it can't be a "one-size-fits-all" at a given place in time. So what I am basically saying is we all work out our own salvation with fear and trembling and as long as the Holy Spirit is guiding us we all will reach our predestined calling and place in our life in HIS TIMING.....of course we can hinder our growth at times but it really is all about a personal relationship with our Father and with our willingness to let Him mold us and make us into what He intended us to be.

Are we all, or are we all to be, parts of the Body of Christ? Not all of the parts of the same, but all of them are part. The Holy Spirit will lead each one of us the right way for us. We must talk to God and listen to Him. It may be easy to get caught up in "vain repetitions" but it is really not difficult to talk to Him the right Way when He is in our hearts guiding us. Listen carefully to what our sister has said and her own resolution with regard to how she intends to treat people... even people who disagree with her. She plans to do more of those impossible things, but what is impossible for our God in us?

 

[bbyrd009]

we will all end up in the same Heaven!

14narrow is the path, and few there are who find it

 

[Helen]

I read the book when all the hype was going on about it...I did not have an inner witness to it at all.
Enough said...I dumped it.

( I felt much like @Willie T about it...)

 

[Nancy]

I read the book when all the hype was going on about it...I did not have an inner witness to it at all.
Enough said...I dumped it.

( I felt much like @Willie T about it...)

This book does not sound like anything I would be drawn to so, glad to hear the reviews

 

[Heart2Soul]

@Heart2Soul
Nothing wrong with words if they really come from a heart which is open to and filled with the things of God.

Jesus said, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." Matt 6:7

The key word there is "vain" which speaks of the idle, the meaningless, the worthless. If a person repeats even words which superficially seem to carry a good meaning will they be "good"? Will they not rather be vainly repeated nothings?

Just a few verses later in that same chapter of Matthew Jesus gives us what has been called the "Lord's Prayer".

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Matt 6:9-13

I have previously testified that as a young Catholic frequently after my confession the priest would give me a penance of reciting a certain numbers of "Our Fathers" and I would go and do so obediently, but I learned, as young boys do, that this could be done very rapidly so I could get on with the things I enjoyed rather than wasting too much time in "prayer". I learned in almost 'no time' able to recite many "Our Fathers" and "Hail Marys" but the day came when God smote my heart. What I was doing was a very vain repetition. I was not talking to God at all. I was performing a very superficial, vain minimum obedience to the priest and supposedly also to God.

I changed my ways. Thereafter when I prayed those prayers I focused on each word and its meaning to me. I focused on God and what I thought its meaning would be to Him. It was never again a "vain repetition" for me even if I recited that "Our Father" 10 times all in once period of penance.

It has been more than 50 years since I was an active practicing Catholic, but in the past several years in my own prayer life, I have been including the Lord's prayer along with verses 14-15 ["For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."] heartfully to God. When I have given this testimony in the past on forums at least one person attacked me accusing me of using "vain repetitions" like Catholic. But I believed that person was in error. I still do.

I have also heard or read that if a person reads daily from the Book of Proverbs so that he completes the whole thing regularly he will become a rich man materially. Whether it actually works or not the but the problem with that is the same as the one with the praying of the Lord's Prayer or the praying of the prayer of Jabez:

What is our purpose? What is it that God wants from us? What is it that God wants us to do? Our sister @Heart2Soul caught the right Spirit on this in her OP. Consider well what she wrote here:



Are we all, or are we all to be, parts of the Body of Christ? Not all of the parts of the same, but all of them are part. The Holy Spirit will lead each one of us the right way for us. We must talk to God and listen to Him. It may be easy to get caught up in "vain repetitions" but it is really not difficult to talk to Him the right Way when He is in our hearts guiding us. Listen carefully to what our sister has said and her own resolution with regard to how she intends to treat people... even people who disagree with her. She plans to do more of those impossible things, but what is impossible for our God in us?

This really ministered to me, thank you @amadeus.....words of wisdom that penetrate the heart and stick are more valuable than all the hidden treasures in the world....you are a blessing! Thank You!