A few years ago, the Prayer of Jabez became very popular through a book written by Bruce Wilkinson. This prayer comes from a passage in the Bible located in I Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV). It says, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”
Do you want your territory and influence to expand? Do you want the impact of your mission to expand and your vision to become a reality? There are three points that we can take away from Jabez’s wisdom.
The Inside (Not the Outside) Determines Your Potential
In Jabez’s culture the name parents gave to their children determined their destiny. Jabez’s name means pain. But Jabez did not want his past (a painful childbirth) to determine the destiny of his life. So he asked God for a changed future.
Each of us is made with a set of unique and incredible talents that have the potential to create waves of blessings around us. Too often we let our past determine who we think we are meant to be in the future. However, circumstances were never meant to determine our identity. Who you are on the inside (not on the outside) is your identity. Do you know what your talents and strengths are?
Teams Expand Potential
As an individual your strengths can expand your territory to a certain point, but as one person you can only go so far. Jabez as an individual could control only so much territory. But this passage also says that he was an honorable man. Honorable people tend to attract others to them, and I wonder if Jabez had a team of people who believed like him and expanded the territory even further.
To expand beyond your individual potential you have to be a part of a team. When an organization or team is made up of people who have a shared vision and values, the potential of their impact can be limitless. Does everyone on your team have shared vision and values?
The Power of Synergy Released
People who have the freedom and empowerment to work from their strengths and to openly share information become an unstoppable force. Teams need structure, not bureaucracies. Teams also need vulnerability among team members, not silos of egos. This is often seen when an athletic team of individual top talent, doesn’t share and the team doesn’t win (i.e., The Lakers!). Open communication of information allows the synergy of creativity to expand.
In the prayer of Jabez, it says God granted his request. We need to listen within. What is your highest value streaming from your unique strengths to produce wisdom? We need to then share and listen to those around us. What wisdom is coming from the collective team? How are you then applying it to create the new and expand your mission?