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The Lost Prayer of Jabez: A Review: Beyond Jabez: Expanding Your Borders

Prayer is the most essential part of a christian life. It is the connector with God. It gives the guidance.

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sunil C
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134 views2 pages

The Lost Prayer of Jabez: A Review: Beyond Jabez: Expanding Your Borders

Prayer is the most essential part of a christian life. It is the connector with God. It gives the guidance.

Uploaded by

sunil C
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Lost Prayer of Jabez: A Review

Larry Pechawer, The Lost Prayer of Jabez. Joplin, MO: Mireh Publishers, 2001. 127 pages. At the General Assembly in Grapevine a friend shared with me a smallish book by a professor of Hebrew at a small Christian college in Missouri. My friend and I talked on previous occasions about our dislike for Bruce Wilkinsons penchant for venturing into subject matter on which he was not an authority and getting rich in the process (i.e., Seven Laws of the Learner). I was pleased to have the book in hand during the delays and layovers on my trip home. And, I was fascinated by the claims of Professor Pechawer as he directly refutes Wilkinsons claims for his popular The Prayer of Jabez. As you may know, either by first hand reading or word of mouth, Wilkinson offers Jabezs prayer (I Chronicles 4:10) as a sure avenue to riches and untold blessings. The popularity of The Prayer of Jabez provides sad commentary on the desire of Americans, Christian or otherwise, for an easy path to finding Gods favor. Even churches jumped on board, turning the prayer toward a prayer of the congregation to expand their reach and curry favor with God. Somehow I missed out on the fun, but Pechawer observes that due to Wilkinsons (and his publishers) shrewd marketing, the Jabez phenomenon is now approaching a half billion dollar business. There is Jabez Praying, a thirty day Jabez Experience resulting in a Jabez Blessing (if all goes well), and paraphnailia for the Jabez Journey which leads one in the Footprints of Jabez. Then there was the follow-up, Beyond Jabez: Expanding Your Borders. The subtitle of Pechawers little book is A Startling discovery now changes everything. Turns out that not only did Wilkinson wrongly interpret this obscure little verse in I Chronicles, but scribes and translators down through the ages have made a fundamental mistake. Without giving away the fascinating discovery, suffice to say that Pechawers finding (confirmed by numerous scholars) is that the meaning of Jabez name has been misinterpreted, and Jabezs actual prayer was for more pasture land so his cattle wouldnt die!

2 If your group wants to have some fun (and learn a little about the difficulties of translating Hebrew) spend a session on The Lost Prayer of Jabez. Then help your congregation avoid the temptation to be seduced by the quick fix of Wilkinsons The Prayer of Jabez and all its marketing hype. Mike Harton

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