Beyond Jabez: Expanding Your Borders

Before I read the prayer of Jabez I always wondered about praying for blessings, but this follow up to that let me know that God really does want to bless his children. Thanks Bruce for making so easy to uderstand God wants to bless us!!

Dr. Bruce Wilkinson has written this follow-up to his phenomenal bestseller, THE PRAYER OF JABEZ, for several reasons. Primarily he hoped to delve more deeply into each section of the prayer and to explore its deeper practical applications. Also, he felt it necessary to clarify some of the misconceptions that led to controversy over the first book. "And Jabez called upon 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." 1 Chron. 4:10 This is the prayer that inspired the books and generated strong debate among Christian factions, especially extremists at either end of the spectrum. There were those who decried it as another "name it and claim it" gimmick while others were bursting with positive testimonies of personal miracles when they "prayed Jabez." Dr. Wilkinson says that he never meant for it to be a mantra or a magic lamp but simply a model to help people enrich their prayer lives. I remember buying the book as a Christmas present for my son. And I prayed the prayer just to see what would happen. Within two days my already bloated caseload increased 25%. The Lord increased my territory! Reinforcing a truth that we often forget, God's ways are not our ways. What we might have in mind and what He has in mind are often entirely different. While it's true that God cares about our smallest needs and can provide a parking place right up front on a day that you're in a hurry, it's 110 degrees and your hip is killing you. On the other hand, when you get home you may receive that dreaded phone call telling you that the friend everyone at church has been praying for did not survive her latest stroke. So, what's the deal? The real deal is God's sovereignty. His ways are not our ways and we'll never understand everything. We just have to trust that He knows what He is doing. Whether you "pray Jabez", address Him in King James English, or talk to Him as you would to your loving Father, the key is the relationship. BEYOND JABEZ is an inspiring sequel to THE PRAYER OF JABEZ and is sure to help those who read it expand their understanding of the importance of prayer and faith. Dr. Wilkinson challenges us to broaden our horizons. --- Reviewed by Maggie Harding, a substance abuse counselor in Phoenix, AZ who wanted to be Brenda Starr before life intervened. (...)

My Prayer life changed after reading The Prayer of Jabez, I began to believe for the Impossible. Since then GOD has lead me on a continuing path to seek Him and hear from Him personally and Wilkerson's works have been a big part of that.The Prayer of Jabez DVD is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to everyone. In this new book,Wilkinson lays out greater details on each of the 4 parts of the prayer and practical and real life applications of each. He also includes pitfalls to watch out for and misuses. As usual, anyone changing status quo gets a lot of heat(in love of course) for rocking the cradle. Wilkerson does a good job of defending the Prayer of Jabez against the accusations of the Prosperity Gospel label. Bottom line though is that this is a heart issue with GOD. People not right with GOD will forever try to abuse His Word and His Love for their own means. I believe GOD is bigger than self serving people anyway and He is NOT a Genie in a bottle. I love being challenged to believe the Father for the impossible and hearing stories the press the envelope to the impossibe. This book is full of such challenges and answers. As all of Bruce's materials I highly recommend this book as an inspiration to seek the Lord at a much Higher level, to allow the Father to use you to expand His Kingdom through you and to allow yourself to be a vessel GOD can use to bring His life to this World. Dream big think big have Big vision for we worship and infinite GOD of love and wonders. Read this book and take the limits off GOD. JB

Bruce Wilkinson has blessed us once again with a well-written apologetic and follow-up of the best-selling "Prayer of Jabez". He easily dismisses the groundless complaints that "Jabez" promoted a prosperity gospel, and moves on with personal testimonies to God's faithfulness around the world (especially Wilkinson's ground-breaking work in Africa). I have personally experienced the effectiveness of this prayer in line with God's will (which the author repeatedly emphasizes). It is more encouragement for the weary Christian sojourner who only desires to do more for his or her Savior.

Thank you Bruce for this exciting followup to The Prayer Of Jabez! This book confirms what Blessings we can receive if we put God first and foremost in our lifes.