The Prayer of Jabez is not a get-rich-quick scheme

The prayer of Jabez worked only for Jabez

I was watching an episode of The Waltons where Elizabeth (Kami Coulter) called her pig Jabez. I had not thought of this name in decades. In 2000, Bruce Wilkerson published the book The Prayer of Jabez Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, which became an international bestseller and at one point the largest-selling book in America.

The book went to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, with nine million copies being sold. The popularity was because the author claimed that the prayer of the Biblical character would always be answered by God.

Sadly, this did not happen, and Christians simply moved on to the next get-rich gimmick without calling out Wilkerson for his false message. All across the US, people were purchasing the book and praying the Jabez prayer: "Lord bless me indeed enlarge my territory".

A song was even made based on the scripture behind the prayer and was being sung in many congregations. God answering the prayer of Jabez is not a guarantee that he will do the same for millions of others, and He did not, but no one wants to talk about it

The author no doubt believed this was going to work as he profited from the sales of the book, but mass confession and singing did not result in an unexpected supernatural financial blessing.

No one received a Jabez blessing

In prosperity teaching churches, congregants often are told that if God did not come through they must have done something wrong such as: They missed a principle, didn't have the right attitude, are living with unforgiveness or spoke against their spiritual leader.

This keeps believers in bondage and always feeling like they fell short of the mark and blocked a blessing rather than realizing they were misled. These same individuals sow financial seeds into spiritual leaders above their salary.

This dupes churchgoers into believing that their pastor is living right before God and deserves the riches, whereas they know their own shortcomings and believe they don't really deserve a "blessing."

We cannot manipulate the Lord with scripture and large groups of people praying the same prayer. There are a few articles online rebuking Wilkerson for his false doctrine but overall there has been no massive outcry or anyone asking for their money back

Should the book be banned?

Bruce Wilkinson made millions from unsuspecting churchgoers and there should have been a massive outcry but there was silence. The Washington Post even wrote about the remarkable success of the book and pastors across the nation were preaching about it from pulpits.

I read this book after checking it out of a church library and I am thankful I did not use my money to contribute to the wealth of a man who deceived so many by miusing the word of God.

No one that I know or have heard of ever received a windfall of money from praying the Jabez prayer. This is why some are calling for the book to be banned or burned.

One person made millions from book sales

The Prayer of Jabez Breakthrough to the Blessed Life is still selling in various forms on Amazon so I guess everyone has not yet figured out this is a scam. Nine million copies sold at around $10 each is 90 million.

The body of Christ should have been outraged long ago, because Ephesians 5:11-14 tells us to expose the works of darkness and have no fellowship with those who are involved. One person made money from this book. The man who wrote it.