Jabez, Descendant of Judah

Renewing Your Mind

Ligonier Ministries

Religion & Spirituality, Reformed, Study, Jesus, Preaching, Christianity, Scripture, Spirit, Bible, Holy, Theology, Christian, God, Teaching

4.8 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Prosperity preachers twist the prayer of Jabez as a template for getting whatever we desire from God. Yet the true lesson of this Old Testament prayer is far more profound. Today, Derek Thomas speaks on God's providence and faithful care for His people.

For your donation of any amount, receive lifetime digital access to Derek Thomas' new teaching series, Who Are They?, and the companion study guide. We'll also send you a special Renewing Your Mind journal: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4459/offer

Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Get the digital teaching series and study guide with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global

Meet Today's Teacher:

Derek Thomas is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.

Meet the Host:

Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast.

Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Transcript

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0:00.0	He was a man of prayer. He believed in prayer. He believed that there was a purpose in prayer.
0:05.0	He believed in the sovereignty of God and that he understood that God ruled and reigned and was powerful.
0:14.0	And he was utterly dependent upon God.
0:28.6	I've said it a number of times in recent weeks on renewing your mind that we all need help to grow in our prayer lives.
0:31.6	I'm not aware of a single Christian who believes they've made it when it comes to prayer.
0:36.6	And as a result, we can be quick to try and find shortcuts.
0:41.3	And today, we'll learn about a man whose prayer, which is recorded for us in First Chronicles,
0:47.3	has been promoted by some as a kind of shortcut to prayer.
0:51.3	But is that really the case? Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and this is the
0:56.9	Wednesday edition of Renewing Your Mind. This week, you're hearing messages from Derek Thomas's
1:03.7	new series, Who Are They? Lesser-known characters of the Bible. And until tomorrow, you can own
1:10.3	the entire series, its study guide,
1:13.3	and a Renewing Your Mind notebook when you donate at renewingyourmind.org.
1:18.2	Jaybes's prayer is far more widely known than the man himself.
1:24.3	So who was Jabez, and what can we learn from his prayer? Here's Dr. Thomas.
1:30.3	Today we are going to look at J-Bez and we read of him in First Chronicles 4 and verses 9 and 10.
1:43.3	So tucked away in an otherwise lengthy chapter, four and verses 9 and 10.
1:44.6	So tucked away in an otherwise lengthy chapter and it's a chapter full of names, as is the first
1:55.2	four chapters of Chronicles is a list of names. I once said in a sermon, I was doing a series on Romans 8, which was later published.
2:10.6	I called it the best chapter in the Bible and one of the members of the church took umbrage with me at the door and
2:22.2	said, if you say one chapter is better than another, isn't that a denial of inspiration?
2:28.7	And I said, look, you've got two minutes to live and I'm at your bedside and I'm going to read to you some
	...

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