The widespread notice of the Prayer of Jabez has latched on to a central claim of biblical faith: that prayer honestly addressed to the God of the gospel may evoke God's decisive, transformative intervention in our lives. That key conviction matters enormously. Like every popularization, of course, this widespread notice takes the easy part of faith and overlooks much else:
-- The prayer is prayed by a man situated in generations of believers (genealogy), not an isolated entrepreneur. In the Bible, prayer is practiced characteristically in a community of long-term commitment.
-- "Jabez" is a pun on the word for pain. The prayer is prayed by a man named in pain, with a name that marked him as a social reject. He prays out of his deep need and impotence. He is not on the make, but like the man in Luke 18:13, he comes to prayer empty-handed. Much of the popular use of the Prayer of Jabez seems to be by people who are on the make and who think that this is an easy way to get ahead -- quite the opposite of the man who prayed it.
