A review by the_weirdling
The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life by Bruce H. Wilkinson

1.0

This was so close to a Christianized version of "The Secret" it should be sold under New Thought or New Age. While it is theoretically set up as an exposition and commentary on the Prayer of Jabez, that's mostly just the chapter headings. Primarily, it's a collection of anecdotes by the author of how amazing his life is for using this prayer every day, or how amazing he's made other peoples lives because he uses the prayer. In between, he slips in how amazing he's heard other peoples lives became when they used the prayer. Apparently, if you use this prayer you are able to make God your slave and God will fulfill all your dreams like your own personal genie in a bottle. The author takes time in several places to deny this is really what he's saying, but gives no detail about how he isn't saying it. Page after page is filled with promises of a richer, fuller life for using this prayer. Apparently, the prayer has the capacity to overrule Jesus' promise that the life of faith will require crosses, burdens, and sufferings in addition to great blessings and fulfillment. This is a manifestation of the worst tendencies in American Christianity and religion in general. We only want a faith if it gets us a bigger car and lessens our prescription for Zoloft.