🙏 Praying the Will of God, like Jabez

 For a while now, I’ve been deeply intrigued by the creation account in Genesis 1. It simplifies so much for me about God’s will and His intentions for humanity. When God made man, He made him in His own image. Then, and only then, did He bless him. And from that blessing came a command with purpose: “Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, and have dominion.”

This divine order reveals something powerful: God blesses us to empower us, and He empowers us to fulfill His purpose. He never asks us to do what He hasn’t already provided the grace for.

So when I read the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10, it struck me that he wasn’t asking God for anything outside of His will:

“Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.”

Jabez was digging directly into the playbook of heaven. Everything he asked aligned with what God had already intended for humanity from the beginning. He wasn’t praying selfishly; he was praying according to God’s will. That’s why the very next words are, “So God granted him what he requested.”

Jabez asked to be blessed—just like Adam and Eve were. He asked for territory to be enlarged—a reflection of the command to multiply and have dominion. He asked for God’s hand to be with him—a request for divine alignment and guidance. And he asked to be kept from evil—because the command is to subdue. In order to subdue what is around you, you must first overcome what could try to overpower you. This echoes the way Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6.

This tells me that knowing God’s will is part of our assignment, and being in alignment with Him brings clarity to what we should ask for in prayer. As 1 John 5:14–15 tells us:

“If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know He hears us, then we know we have what we asked of Him.”

It’s important to note that God didn’t bless man until man was made in His image. That speaks of alignment. And it’s safe to associate being in God’s image with righteousness. When we walk in righteousness, we walk in alignment. And alignment positions us to be blessed and to operate in purpose.

But how is this image restored in us? The answer is simple and central: Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

Through Christ, we are made righteous. Through Christ, we are brought back into alignment. And through Christ, we are restored to the image of God. This is the substance and evidence of our faith—why we can pray boldly, live purposefully, and walk in dominion once again.

This is why Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Because when you seek the Kingdom, you discover your purpose. And when you seek His righteousness, you discover your alignment. From there, everything else follows. You know His will. You know your role. And you know what to pray for.

So like Jabez, let us pray the will of God. Let us walk in alignment. Let us embrace the blessing, not just for ourselves, but to fulfill the original mandate: to be fruitful, multiply, replenish, subdue, and have dominion—all for the glory of God.

(P.S. I actually have the prayer of Jabez tattooed across my stomach. That’s how deep this prayer runs for me. It’s not just ink—it’s identity.)