Note from Amoy! (Historic
Xiamen, China). Jabez Prayer Wheel void where prohibited by law, common sense, or lack of faith. Also: I'm not criticizing the Jabez book itself. It's well written and insightful--but only if read in entirety, and the verse preceding Jabez' prayer is kept in mind. But some truly believe simply parroting this prayer always guarantees the answer you want. I think prayer is always answered, but not always as we expect. And thank God for that, because I've winged prayers aloft that I later regretted--and was thankful He was wise enough--and loving enough--to answer differently. Dr. Bill
Toying Around When we first arrived in
China in 1988, we could not buy good toys locally, so I made playthings from cardboard, paper, string, and wood. Even adults played on my 50 lb. wooden rocking horse (I threatened to publish a photo of the Foreign Affairs' Director on the horse if he didn't renew my contract; he is now one of
Xiamen's top leaders).
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| Shannon, 1992 |
I did my best, but I was not Santa's toy-making elf, so in 1992, both Shan and Matt were thrilled when Sue and I promised them a real store-bought toy when we returned from a Beijing meeting. But dear old mom had a trick up her sleeve.
The Black Lacquer Plate Plot Sue gave Shannon a beautiful Chinese cloth box, which the 6-yr.-old gleefully opened to discover not a toy but a black lacquer plate. Only Shannon's eyes betrayed his disappointment. He smiled, thanked us, and walked away with the plate clasped to his chest. I could have cried (and kicked his mom).
"Come back Shannon!" I said. "Mom's fooling you. We do have a toy for you!" Shan hesitantly unwrapped a second package. He laughed as he held up a plastic basketball game, then hugged, kissed and thanked us. He started from the room, prized toy under his arm, then stopped in the doorway and said, "But it really was a nice plate."
I did cry at that point.
Toys 'R Us—I want everything! A few months later, Shannon saw his first Toys 'R Us. He was overwhelmed by the towering shelves of toys and said, "I want this! I want that! I want…" and he stopped, thrust his arms out happily, and said, "I want everything!"
(The Hong Kong Toy's R Us had a sign at the entrance saying "Please leave your values at the counter." It was a typo--but later made sense!).
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| Hong Kong Toys R Us |
The World 'R Us—We all want everything! So which was the real Shannon—the one who accepted the plate, or the one who wanted everything? They were both Shannon, but even the 6-yr.old who hid his sadness at not getting a toy was easily led to exclaim, "I want everything!" And we've all been this way since Eden.
Adam and Eve
did have everything—except for one tree. But they gave up their inheritance for that one forbidden fruit—and ever since, we have all hungered for everything, and used clever psychology and even theology to justify it.
Maslow 'R Us. Maslow's 'Theory of Needs' helps explain what drives us. He said we all seek first to survive (physical needs and security), and then to belong (to be with others), and then to have self-esteem (for those others to look up to us). But even Maslow could not explain the highest need, which he called "self-actualization" (SA).
Ultimate Drive or Desire? SA is our need for purpose and fulfillment, but Maslow admitted, "It is unfortunate that I can no longer be theoretically neat at this level." Unlike 'lower' needs, Maslow said SA is not a driving force but an unexplainable universal 'desire.' It is unexplainable because scientists cannot admit that our ultimate need is to fill what Pascal called the "God-shaped abyss" in our hearts—a spiritual silence we try to drown out by an endless and mindless accumulation of anything and everything, living a lifestyle that is all style but little life.
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| Evolution from Simian to Shopper (Homo Ebaggit) |
Consumer or Consumed Only two centuries ago, a "consumer" was a squanderer, or a wasteful person, but yesterday's vices are today's virtues. In 1955, the economist Victor Lebow said,
"Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate."
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| Distressed Jeans or Distressed Consumer |
Cult of Consumerism People who want everything are easily led to buy anything—such as a $200 pair of ripped and stained "distressed" jeans. But today, even churches reinforce Sony's Youniverse campaign, which says we are the center of everything and deserve everything.
The church of the Dark Ages amassed a fortune by squeezing poor peasants for money to free loved ones from purgatory. As Tetzel said, "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, another soul from purgatory springs."
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| Today's Tetzels |
In this even Darker Age, today's Tetzels amass fortunes by focusing not on the afterlife but on this life, promising an immediate tenfold return from God if we donate to their 'ministries.' (Why not bypass the middleman and give us the money so God can repay them tenfold?)
Seek Ye First—or Demand Ye First? Ironically, our Father does want to bless us—and is eager for us to ask! Jesus said that if earthly fathers know how to give good things to their children, how much more our Heavenly Father! (Matt. 7:9-11).
But how do we ask for our Father's blessings? Jesus said,
"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be given to you" (Matt. 6:33). And Jesus said to pray first for the Kingdom, and then ask for our daily bread. But today, we are taught better prayers than Christ's, and told to skip the Kingdom part of it and go straight for the desires. And now, we don't ask, but demand an answer.
The Prayer God Always Answers? The preface to the book "Prayer of Jabez" begins with,
"Dear Reader, I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer that God always answers!" This is followed by stories of people who succeeded simply by repeating Jabez prayer for months and years. Not surprisingly, an entire Jabez industry now caters to people who want a foolproof prayer to get anything and everything. You can now buy a dozen versions of the Jabez book and endless Jabez trinkets, from mugs, cups, ties, rugs, plaques, key chains, etc to $250 Jabez jewelry.
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| Magic Jabez God Box |
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| Dr Bills Patent Pending Jabez Prayer Wheel |
Jabez Magic One ad promotes a Jabez Prayer inside The "God Box" pendant. The God Box is identical to boxes sold to hold spells and potions—which isn't surprising, because the Jabez Prayer is used like a magic prayer that God must "always answer." But the Jabez merchandise ignores the verse before the prayer, 1 Chron. 4:9: "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers."
As Jesus said, and Jabez demonstrated, 'Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be given…"
The World-Changing Jabez Prayer Wheel! The Magic Jabez God Box reminds me of Tibetan Prayer Wheels, with written prayers inside that fly off to Buddha when the wheels are spun. Chinese temples take it a step further, with motorized prayer wheels that send prayers heavenward 24/7.
The ingenuity of Tibetans, Chinese, and Jabezite Christians inspired my spiritual invention, the Jabez Prayer WheelTM, a brilliant concept destined to change the world (I say with all humility). My wood-handled tin can prototype is adorned with plastic gems as a reminder we want answers in cash, jewels, etc. A backup Jabez Prayer in the swinging locket doubles the prayer's punch, and the locket swings faster than the can, so "The Prayer God Must Answer!"TM gets faster results!
Coming Soon! An electric Jabez Prayer Wheel, because "You Do Deserve Everything. 24/7!TM"
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| New Improved JP for Young Hearts 2.0 |
Jabez is Child-Tested! Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." So I suggest baby rattles with Jabez InsideTM so even toddlers can learn that they too deserve everything, and can get it by simply wielding, "The Prayer that God Must Answer!"TM
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| Backyard Millstone, Xiamen, 1992 |
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Does this sound farfetched? Then consider the half dozen Jabez titles for tots: PJ for Kids! PJ for Little Ones! PJ for Teens! PJ: Living Big for God! PJ for Young Hearts! And the Jabez industry is evolving rapidly. The cover of the first Jabez for Young Hearts' had what looked like a balding poster child for poverty. But JP for Young Hearts 2.0's new and improved cover shows a child opening a shining pot of gold. There may not be gold at the end of the rainbow, but Jabez for Young Hearts 2.0 will ignite any child's passion for his very own personal "Prayer Pot of Gold."TM
Millstones. But neither we nor our children need infallible prayers because our Heavenly Father is faithful and always answers our prayers—though sometimes the answer is not what we expect.
I love giving to my sons, but I would not give them something I know would harm them, or something they would not take care of. In the same way, our Father hears and answers all of our prayers, but sometimes answers "no," or "wait." And sometimes, we have to just grow up and work ourselves out of a situation we've pushed ourselves into.
I cannot imagine how I would feel if my sons tried forcing me to give them whatever they desired—yet we teach children magic prayers to force God to answer prayer! I am reminded of Jesus' warning in Mark 9:42, "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck."
Heirs of "Everything" Jesus' life and teachings prove that we do not need 'trick prayers' because even tiny mustard seed faith can move mountains. Most importantly, Jesus taught that as God's children, we are already to everything—but we will not receive our inheritance until we have grown up.
Child, Heir –or Slave? Galatians 4:7 says, "So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." But Galatians 4:1 explains, "What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate."
When we try to manipulate God with magic prayers, or even religion, we act not as heirs but as slaves trying to usurp what is not ours. We will never receive our inheritance until we have shown obedience and stewardship. As Jesus said:
"Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matt. 25:23
Prayer—a Two-Edged Sword God not only hears and answers our prayers, but he knows what we need even before we ask (Matt. 6:8). But blessings are a two-edged sword, because with answered prayer comes responsibility. As Jesus said in Luke 12:48b,
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
One of my favorite passages is Jeremiah 29:11-13,
"I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." But every time I read those verses, I am also careful to read what follows:
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Heart or Lips? Do we seek our Father with all our heart or is our relationship just an endless plea for everything he can dole out? No wonder Jesus said in Mark 7:6,
"Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."
The Greatest Gift is Giving Jesus taught that the best way to receive is to give. Luke 6:38, "Give and it will be given to you…For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Or as God says in Malachi 3:10, "Prove me now…if I will not open upon you the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it!" But even more important than giving is simple obedience (1 Samuel 15:22, 23)
God Answers All Prayers. If prayers seem unanswered, the problem is not God's but ours. Perhaps we are not acting as heirs but as children—or worse yet, as slaves to the spirit of this dark ,age that teaches we are the center of our own Youniverse and that we deserve everything, here and now.
Ironically, I have learned to be thankful even when my Father says "no," or "wait," because when I have stubbornly persisted in some prayers, and he has at length answered them, I have regretted it! But even my wrongheaded prayers were used for good, because they helped teach me faith and patience, and to trust that my Father knows not just what is good for me but what is best.
In closing, repeating Jabez' prayer or reciting Biblical promises is fine for encouraging ourselves, but we do not need infallible prayers because our Father is infallibly faithful. We all want everything, but our Father wants to give us even more than we can think or imagine! But His answer to our prayers may well be "no" or "wait" –at least until we show ourselves wise stewards of what he has already blessed us with.
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Amoy (historic
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