The following mini-study is presented to familiarize you with Pastor Chuck’s method of Bible study and provide an opportunity to study the passage yourself.

“Jabez prayed for a bold vision despite the fact that he came from obscurity. He is a classic example that obscurity need not overshadow any life.” —Pastor Charles R. Swindoll

Prepare Your Heart

Begin this study in prayer, asking God to reveal His bold vision for your life through the lens of Jabez’s example.

Turn to the Scriptures

“There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request” (1 Chronicles 4:9–10).

Observation: Painful Past to Bold Vision

A Hebrew-speaking Jew reading, “There was a man named Jabez,” (1 Chronicles 4:9) would have immediately paused at Jabez’s unusual name because in Hebrew, it sounds like the word for pain. Drawing only from his name, what might the Jewish reader conclude about Jabez’s character?

How did Jabez get his name?

How did Jabez overcome the meaning of his name?

Identify the four components of Jabez’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 4:10, and write them in the lines below.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Jabez’s heartfelt prayer moved the Lord’s hand of mercy: “God granted him his request” (4:10). By answering Jabez’s prayer, the Lord elevated him as an honourable, distinguished, and respected man in Israel.

Interpretation: Overcoming a Negative Self-Image

The chronicler was writing to Jews who had come back to Jerusalem many decades after the city was destroyed in 586 BC. These returning refugees could identify with a man named “Jabez,” because they, too, bore the pain of their past.

We’re not told the details of Jabez’s naming, but we can assume that each mention of Jabez’s name was a reminder that his existence brought pain. He must have grown up with a devastating and negative self-image.

Similarly, an equally dark cloud hung over the heads of the returning Jews who had been born in painful exile. Put yourself in their place and in the space below, write down the principles that each of the four requests in Jabez’s model prayer might communicate to the returning Jews. Try to keep in the forefront of your thinking how the original audience would have interpreted Jabez’s statements.

Request for divine engagement: “Oh, that you would bless me” (1 Chronicles 4:10).

Request for divine enlargement: “Expand my territory!” (4:10).

Request for divine empowerment: “Please be with me in all that I do” (4:10).

Request for divine enablement: “Keep me from all trouble and pain!” (4:10).

“Jabez rose above his pain in his prayer to God. He said, ‘Oh, that You would come to my rescue. Engage Yourself in my life. I long for You to break through the cloud that has covered me and the pain and the shame that has surrounded me since birth. You can do that, God. I call out to You!’” —Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Correlation: God Hears Our Prayers

Like Jabez’s birth, the circumstances surrounding Ishmael’s birth was full of strife and pain. Read how “the angel of the Lord” comforted Hagar beside a spring in Genesis 16:7–12. What did the messenger from God say to Hagar about her son? What does Ishmael mean?

What did God say to Hagar regarding Ishmael, whose name means “God hears,” according to Genesis 21:17–21? How did God rescue them?

God also hears our prayers forged in the crucible of our pain.

Application: Three Lessons and a Question

If the painful patterns of Jabez’s past match yours, then consider the following three lessons his life models and one question it poses of us.

First, a struggling start doesn’t necessitate a limited life. God says to us, “You can live beyond your limitations through Me.”

Second, no measure of success is safe without God’s presence. We need to continually recognize and rely upon God’s protective hand to shield us each step of the way.

Third, when God blesses a life, there is no reason for guilt. When Jabez occupied a place of honour, he had no need to feel guilt, as it was false guilt. As long as God is glorified in our successes, we don’t need to feel ashamed.

Now, here’s the question: What large thing are you asking of God? Ask the Lord to remove the pain of your past and replace it with a bold vision for the future.

My prayer for divine engagement:

My prayer for divine enlargement:

My prayer for divine empowerment:

My prayer for divine enablement:

Remember, limitations need not limit us when we serve a limitless God.

A Final Prayer

Father, bless me, indeed! Enlarge my world. Give me a bold vision. Help me overcome the pain of my past. Give me the courage to act in faith and go beyond the expected, so that I might serve You in a way that is only possible because of You. In Your Son’s name, amen.

Go to insightforliving.ca/bold to download the full-length Searching the Scripture Study and listen to Pastor Chuck’s message.