A Prayer for Blessing

I had forgotten the "Prayer of Jabez".

In the year 2000, Bruce Wilkinson published a book that delighted Evangelicals. It was called The Prayer of Jabez. I have a copy of it somewhere in the basement. Maybe you do, too.

The prayer is taken from the Old Testament. It goes like this:
Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it not be to my sorrow!

The Bible tells us that God granted Jabez all that he requested.

In the book, Wilkinson encourages Christians to invoke this prayer daily. I remember my Auntie Ruth. She was so taken by the book and what it promised to those who prayed the prayer, that she began praying this prayer over and over all day long, waiting with expectation for the blessings to come.

Wilkinson promised:
"I challenge you to make the Jabez prayer for blessing part of the daily fabric of your life. To do that, I encourage you to follow unwaveringly the plan outlined here for the next thirty days. By the end of that time, you'll be noticing significant changes in your life, and the prayer will be on its way to becoming a treasured, lifelong habit."

Back then, I had one thought: Why do Evangelicals criticize Catholics for their rote prayers (Our Father, Hail Mary) and yet, they have bought up this book with such speed that it made the New York Times Bestseller List?

It seemed to be a double standard. The other thing that bothered me about Wilkinson's book was that it promoted this prayer as a tool to garner blessing from God - a blessing that seemed all too American in its definition.

Today, I thumbed through the Sam's Club flyer that came in the mail. On one page, I saw the latest book by Wilkinson. And the memories surrounding that earlier book came flooding back.

In the space of years between that first book and his latest, I have changed. I am no longer the Evangelical. I am not going to race out and buy this new book. My aunt is no longer living, so I can't expect to get the book given to me. And, I am Catholic.

I have come to love rote prayers. Sometimes, there are no words left to pray, and yet the heart longs to pray . . . the need is still there. The need continues to drive the petition. And peace comes with those prayers. Anxiety cannot survive when the body, mind, and soul are absorbed in praying the Mysteries of the Rosary. Or an isolated Hail Mary. Or the Our Father. Over and over.

The petitions are different as well. The definition of blessing has changed.

To be blessed by God - well it doesn't mean wealth or a life of ease. One has only to read the Beatitudes to see how God defines blessing. Blessed are the poor in spirit, and those who mourn, and those who seek after righteousness . . .

By this definition, I can say that I have been blessed. Last night, I stopped by the Adoration Chapel and kneeled before the Blessed Sacrament. A few minutes later, the youth group of my parish filed in and knelt in the back rows. I listened as they offered up petitions. I prayed with them as they prayed a decade of the Rosary.

Tonight, very soon, I will go to my local parish and help with the Parish School of Religion. I will enter the Sanctuary and cross myself with the holy water, remembering my Baptism. I will walk forward, genuflect, and see the Tabernacle and the Altar where Our Lord comes down . . . and comes to me.

My life has changed greatly since that book was released almost a decade ago. I have met the Lord Jesus Christ, the one I have loved from the time I was a little girl, and I have received Him - can continue to receive Him - every time I pray the Mass.

He has answered my prayer.

Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it not be to my sorrow! 1 Chronicles 4:9-10