1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.

Jim Collins coined the phrase ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goals’. They are goals that an organisatior or individual can set that seem ‘out there’, yet excite and energise people to reach further than they think they can.

Jabez was conceived in pain, his mother even called him ‘pain’. Imagine being compared to pain all the days of your life. That can create further pain.

Jabez woke up one day and decided to break with the cycle of pain. He decided to cry out to God with a ‘big, hairy, audacious prayer’:

“Oh, that You would bless me”

He asked God for His blessing on him. Not God’s blessing on someone else. God’s blessing on him. Not God’s average on him. God’s blessing on him. An audacious prayer that did not come from a place of selfishness, but from a place of both pain and desire.

“And enlarge my territory!”

Jabez asked very specifically for territory and for enlargement of it. He knew God is big and He knew God is an enlarger and increaser of people. He did not have a problem asking God for success.

“Let your hand be with me”

Jabez knew he needed God to be with him. He knew he could not enjoy lasting success without God’s presence. He also asked for God’s hand to be with him, rather than the hand of anyone else. He trusted in the hand of his heavenly father.

“And keep me from harm”

He had had enough pain and harm in his life. God’s hand is not just a blessing hand but a protective hand too. He wanted to be kept free from harm for the rest of his life. The future would look different than the past.

“So that I will be free from pain.”

To be free. Not to be bound anymore. To not have pain anymore. To live a completely different life. To experience total and lasting freedom.

Jabez asked for all this in his heartfelt, audacious prayer.
And God’s response? God did not say, “That’s a bit much to ask for, Jabez” or “How dare you be so selfish”. No, look at God’s answer:

And God granted his request.

God will answer big, hairy, audacious prayers that come from a place of both pain and desire. Ask God for what you really want. Do it now.