Why Not to Abuse the Prayer of Jabez

Between Two Worlds: Bruce Wilkinson Interesting chronicle of Bruce Wilkinson's recent ministry experiences. From my limited vantage point, his life is the fruit of a ministry that wants quick fixes and immediate successes rather than steady faithfulness. How many who have sought bigger borders through the Jabez mantra have experienced a similar inconsistency in life? Interestingly, this morning I began reading John Piper's God is the Gospel. In light of what you read about Wilkinson, consider a few quotes from Piper: ". . . we have turned the love of God and the gospel of Christ into a divine endorsement of our delight in many lesser things, especially the delight inour beingmade much of. The acid test of biblical God-centeredness - and faithfulness to the gospel - is this: Do you feel more loved because God makes much of you, or because, at the cost of his Son, he enables you to enjoy making much of him forever?" "The critical question for our generation - and for every generation - is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?" "Have we shifted with the world from God's love as the gift of himself to God's love as the gift of a mirror in which we like what we see?" We should pray for Bruce and for all those who have allowed Jabez's prayer to become an outlet for trying to increase their own self-worth.