Yesterday I went to the mailbox and pulled out what I thought was a Xmas card from my very dear friend in Buffalo. Trouble was, the envelope felt way too thick to be a card and there was extra postage on it. I opened it up and it wasn't a Xmas card at all. It was a cute "thinking of you" card with a little package inside. In the card she wrote "I couldn't resist". I opened the wrapping and found a really cool cross, but what was written on the cross was even cooler:
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying:
'Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain'. So God granted him what he requested."
I Chronicles 4:10
My beloved "Prayer of Jabez", given to me in a tiny book by another dear friend back in NY, in April of 2005. That day that my life began to crack open and change in ways I couldn't imagine. We were getting our nails done and I was telling her what a bad place I was in with three houses and not a lot of money. She told me about the prayer and told me to pray it everyday and my life will change in extraordinary ways. A few days later the book appeared in my mailbox. I began to pray the prayer and my life did a complete 360 and so did the lives of all those I loved and prayed the prayer for. Of course, I read the book and gained greater understanding on just what God was saying here. I don't believe just saying a concoction of words without divine understanding is going to change anyone's cirumstances or life.
A few good years went by and I was in places doing things I could've never imagined. Then I somehow forgot about the prayer. I went along on my ride through the months and let other things become bigger and more important than my faith. You would think God wouldn't care. Oh no. When you are one of His children He never let's you go. If you stray, He grabs you by the collar and puts you in a horrible "sifting season".
It took four months into my "sifting season" for me to realize that I had stopped praying that prayer. But it was not just a string of words I let go of. It was a deep understanding that God and I had daily that I just let drop by the wayside. In it's place I put my faith in people – and we all know how that goes. My life fell apart and I had no strength to handle any of it. It was during this time that my dear friend from Buffalo realized what a bad way I was in and came to visit me for a week. While she was here I told her about the prayer, then after she left I wrote a few blogs about it and resumed praying it. This prayer got me through two very tough years and once again is changing me and bringing me to a new place in life.
And now, to open the mailbox once again and have the prayer there – well, I guess I get the message. I mean, really, who has the same very obscure prayer show up in their mailbox, not once, but twice in seven years, from two entirely different people whose only connection is their deep faith? Only me.
I slipped the necklace on and you can bet I will never go another day without praying it. I never, ever, want to be grabbed by the collar by God and go through anything like that "sifting season" again. As a result of this "sifting" I am a totally different person. I possess more self-control and serenity than I ever could've dreamed I'd be capable of. I don't even remove my jacket or sweatshirt during a hot flash anymore (I used to rip it off in a panicked frenzy), I'm so used to quieting myself and knowing it will pass. No more panic. No more frantic and frenetic. From hot flashes to the big things life throws at me, my first reaction now is to stop, pray, and let it go.
Thank you my dear, dear friends, Karen and Phyllis who understood and helped me find the road back through "The Prayer of Jabez". I love you both.
And so, as another day goes by, I will sleep with the prayer on my heart, and wake with it on my lips, forever, and…I have written.
For more on the Prayer of Jabez, see article below, and/or put Jabez in the search bar to read my posts on it.
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