Prophetic Prayer-
Prayer for Dominion
Only two verses were dedicated to his story, but the book launched about his prayer became a smash hit, selling millions of copies. Despite repeating his desperate cry to the Lord daily, many fail to have their petitions heard, because they have the wrong heart.
Jabez raised his request to G3D during a turbulent time in Israel. Each tribe’s members were responsible for conquering their inherited parcels within the Promised Land and Jabez’s tribe Judah was leading the charge. But because G3D had already promised that He would deliver their enemies into their hands, the men proceeded with great courage and were constantly victorious (ref. Judges 1:1-17). Jabez’s supplication that G3D would bless him and enlarge his territory came from asking for triumph in the challenge that the LORD had given him.
But many of the other tribes did not have faith that the G3D which had delivered them out of Egypt and had helped them conquer every enemy they had come across, would assist them in accomplishing the task He had given them. So rather than overthrow and expel the inhabitants like they had been ordered, they lived amongst them, intermarried, and adopted their false idols (ref. Judges 1 & 2). These other tribe’s failing to fulfill the LORD’s Command led to a dark time for Israel’s first families.
We know from the scriptures that His mother had maned him Jabez, because she had given birth to him in pain (ref. 1 Chronicles 4:9). Whether it was because Jabez was one of the last children born in Egypt before being freed, Jabez’s father was one of the many people who died after turning away from G3D, or Jabez was born during the Israelite’s 40 years in the Wilderness, we aren’t certain.
Jewish tradition holds that Jabez is actually a secondary name for Othniel, the First Judge of Israel. While it’s not scripturally confirmed, since it’s unclear in the Chronicles lineage who Jabez’s father was, it’s reasonable to assert that they were at least familiar with each other, since they are both of the tribe of Judah and lived in the same time period.
When the Israelites were trying to conquer their inheritance, Caleb, one of the previous scouts into the Promised Land, offered his daughter Achsah in marriage to whomever overtook the giants in the land of Debir. Othniel rose to the challenge, cleared the region, and married Achsah, but she requested of her father Caleb, that in addition to her dowry of dry fields in the lowlands, that she also be granted a spring/stream so that she could water her lands. Caleb, her loving and generous father, not only gave her the springs of the South that she requested, but also the springs in the Northern region, mirroring how G3D granted Jabez what he pleaded for (ref. Judges 1:11-15).
After Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, had died, they fell into idolatry and did evil in the sight of the LORD and forgot Him to serve false gods. G3D’s Righteous Anger was against them and He allowed to be conquered by the king of Mesopotamia and serve under him for eight years. The children of Israel cried unto the LORD and He raised up a deliverer: Othniel. The Spirit of the LORD came upon Othniel and he judged Israel and went to war against their oppressors and overthrew King Chushan-rishathaim. While Othniel served as Judge over Israel, the land had rest for those forty years (ref Judges 3:1-6).
If Othniel is the same man who cried out to G3D asking that the LORD’s Hand would be with him and keep him from evil so that he that he would not cause pain, it makes sense that he would desire G3D’s Guidance and Direction, not only during his military campaign, but more importantly during his forty year judgeship over Israel. His prayer that G3D would bless him and enlarge his territory, did not stop with the land that his father-in-law Caleb gave in addition to the dowry, but extended to his responsibilities as Judge that G3D had bestowed upon him to rescue Israel.
One of the most important details that implies Jabez is actually Othniel, is the fact that his story begins that “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers”. In a list chronicling the first families of Israel, with Othniel, Israel’s first Judge, being listed only a few lines later, such a title is extraordinary. But even if they are not the same person, Jabez’s standing in G3D’s eyes, helps us understand why his prayer was not only worth becoming scripture, but why G3D granted him what he requested.
At a minimum, we know Jabez first committed himself with G3D before he made his supplication. His asking to be given support and have his territory extended, lined up with his responsibility to retake the Promised Land. And his desire to be kept from evil to avoid causing damage, probably related to him trying to avoid becoming like the other Israelites who had fallen away from the LORD and His Will. Most importantly, he cries out to G3D, recognizing that he must rely on the Creator to accomplish all this.
If Jabez is actually Othniel, his prayer is compounded exponentially.
Not only does G3D protect Othniel during the initial siege of the Promised Land, He is also with Othniel while fighting giants in one of the most dangerous regions in the territory. After winning the equivalent of a princess as his wife, his new bride is wise enough to ask her father for water to provide for their lands and subsequently has her dowry doubled with some of the best land in the nation included. When the nation is conquered by outside invaders, Othniel is not limited to simply being remembered as the son-in-law of a famous Israelite leader, but has the Spirit of the Lord come upon him marking Othniel as the first Judge of Israel. With G3D’s Hand protecting and guiding him, he is able to repel the invading forces and maintains Peace in the land for forty years. But because Othniel was a righteous man, who sought to fulfill G3D’s Will, the Lord granted him what he requested.
Whether these two great men were one and the same, or simply relatives of some sort, is ultimately irrelevant. Their lives are testimonies to the power and requirements of the Prayer for Dominion.
We cannot pray for greater blessings and more power, influence, or responsibilities, until we have aligned ourselves with the Ways and Will of G3D. Even more so, we need to recognize that, like the children of Israel, once they become successful, many people forget Him, and do what is right in their own eyes. G3D will bless us in ways that are affiliated with our accountabilities to Him, but if asked, He will also protect us from the human temptations that come from gaining greater dominion. Jabez’s (and possibly Othniel’s) Prayer for Dominion was answered, because his heart was focused on the Will of G3D, rather than the desires of Man.
Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator
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Apostolic Prophet, Kent Simpson
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