In I Chronicles chapter 4 there is a story about a man named Jabez who asked God for things and he got them. In recent years this prayer inspired a book called The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life. The book became a ginormous bestseller and spawned a marketing frenzy during which the book was modified slightly to target women, teens* and children.

In the book the author states,

“I want to teach you a prayer that God ALWAYS answers.”

He also says

“I believe [the prayer of Jabez] contains the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God.”

A key? A prayer that God ALWAYS answers? My spidey sense is tingling!

In the last chapter of the book the author challenges** the reader to make the Jabez prayer a daily routine and he gives six steps, the first two of which are:

1. Pray the Jabez prayer every morning, and keep a record of your daily prayer by marking off a calendar or a chart you make especially for the purpose.

2. Write out the prayer and tape it in your Bible, in your day-timer***, on your bathroom mirror, or some other place where you’ll be reminded of your new vision.

Spidey sense on red alert!!

There is a prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He talked about it during the sermon on the mount. It doesn’t emphasize material gain but it’s still pretty neat, mainly because Jesus actually told his followers to pray in this way. I’m just sayin’.

*Christian culture uses the word “teens” and tries to find ways to appeal to said “teens.”
**Christian culture also enjoys “challenging” each other to things, invariably pertaining to spiritual discipline.
***See previous post on the pervasiveness of Day-Timers in Christian culture.