A "Hearer of Prayer" -1 CHRONICLES 4:9, 10

DOES Jehovah God really answer the sincere prayers of devoted worshipers?  The Bible account about a little-known man named Jabez shows that Jehovah is indeed the "Hearer of prayer." (Psalm 65:2) This brief account is found in what might seem an unlikely place-in the midst of the genealogical lists that open the book of First Chronicles. Let us examine 1 Chronicles 4:9, 10. 

All that we know about Jabez is found in these two verses. According to verse 9, his mother "called his name Jabez, saying:  'I have given him birth in pain.' "  Why did she choose such a name?  Did she bring forth this son with more than the usual birth pangs? Was she perhaps a widow, lamenting  the fact that her husband was not there  to welcome their baby into the world?  The Bible  does not say.  But this mother would someday have reason to be especially proud of this son. Jabez' siblings  may have been upright men, but "Jabez came to be more honorable than his brothers."

Jabez was a man of prayer. He began his prayer by pleading for God's blessing. He then made three requests that reflect a heart full of faith. 

Next time: Conclusion of: A "Hearer of Prayer" 

From the Watchtower magazine, 2010