May/Jun 2002
Think Big
By Robert AndrescikMove Over Harry Potter, Step Aside Stephen King. Bruce Wilkinson's Little Book On Prayer Is Challenging Men Everywhere To Think Big For God.
There are some answers to prayer that Bruce Wilkinson doesn't want people to know about. Even though Wilkinson is the author of what can arguably be called the best-selling book on prayer ever written, he still worries that some people might get the wrong idea about his message.
Early in our two-hour conversation with the author, he tells us how God had come through on a seemingly ordinary request, but then he asks us not to mention the specifics of that request in our article.
"I don't want people misinterpreting," he explains. "I don't want them thinking I have any more of a right to an answer than they do."
Then, a smile crosses his lips and his eyes light up. "He [God] has no favorites, but He sure enjoys saying yes, to be honest with you," Wilkinson adds.
Whether the author of The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life is being modest or a tad bit overcautious is anybody's call. But his pocket-sized book, based on an obscure Old Testament character, has certainly attracted its share of both fans and critics alike.
Funny thing, this Jabez phenom. How does an unassuming book about prayer, of all subjects, become a New York Times best seller and leave the publishing world scratching its head at the same time?
Part of the reason, perhaps, is Wilkinson's conviction that if you think big for God, there's nothing that He can't do for you or through you.
"The thought that you could do as much as you want for God as long as you keep doing what He asks you to do is a profound thought," Wilkinson says.
"I believe the opposite of the 'name-it-and-claim it' theology," he adds. "But I do believe something that too many evangelicals have been a bit fuzzy about, which is it's right to ask God to bless you. It's not wrong to ask God."
Big Success
It's late afternoon in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bruce Wilkinson is kicking back in a conference room at Walk Through the Bible, the organization he founded 25 years ago and helped to grow into the world's largest Christian seminar organization.
Wilkinson is relaxed. His hands are stretched behind his head and the collar of his dress shirt is open.
"Last week, on one day, I was filmed by CBS, by NBC and had an extensive interview with the Chicago Tribune...one day," he says with a hint of exhaustion in his voice.
Things have definitely picked up for the author. At press time for this issue of New Man magazine, Jabez had sold more than 9 million copies, and its follow-up, Secrets of the Vine, was still holding its own on best seller lists. Not bad, considering that none of his previous books ever sold more than 50,000 copies.
There's something energizing, if somewhat intimidating, about Wilkinson. It seems ironic that this big man with big dreams owes his success to one of the Bible's littlest characters, Jabez.
Not much is said in the Bible about Jabez. His life story, all three sentences of it, is buried in one of the least-read sections of the Old Testament among the endless genealogies in which one ancient begat another.
The Bible says that he was "more honorable than his brothers" (1 Chr. 4:9, NKJV), and that he prayed: "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!" (1 Chr. 4:8-10).
Wilkinson first discovered Jabez's prayer years ago while he was a student in seminary. Desiring to become "more honorable," as Jabez was, he began praying the prayer daily (something that he still does to this day). But, at first, the thought of praying, "Please bless me, God," seemed distasteful to him.
"It felt selfish to me," Wilkinson says.
Until he realized that it wasn't about shaking down God for personal favors, but asking Him for the resources to accomplish His will on earth:
"We think intuitively that it must be wrong [to ask God for His blessings]. And yet here was a man who was more honorable than his brothers and he prayed that way. And this is a prayer that God said yes to."
In 1999, radio host James Dobson heard a tape of Wilkinson preaching about Jabez and invited him to speak at the National Day of Prayer luncheon in May 2000. Multnomah Publishers urged Wilkinson to put together a book in time for the event. With the help of David Kopp, Wilkinson's writing partner and editor, the manuscript took shape.
Kopp explains, "We decided to try a new format that would take risks to be as reader-friendly as possible--short, pocket-sized, and so on. But more important than the packaging for Bruce was delivering a one-shot reading experience that would bring people to a point of personal change. Teaching for life change is a very important priority in Bruce's ministry--enter Jabez."
Kopp did the heavy lifting, distilling Wilkinson's sermons and papers into a conversational manuscript laced with anecdotes. The final draft barely rolled off the presses in time for the prayer luncheon. One Multnomah publicist told the Los Angeles Times newspaper, "Wilkinson was probably walking to the podium as they slipped a copy into his hand."
When the book started flying off the shelves at bookstores, everybody was shocked. Wilkinson jokes, "The publisher called and said: 'The books are selling. Are you getting your relatives to go to the bookstores and buy these in bulk?'"
Multnomah now has an entire division dedicated to his products. "God really had an agenda," Wilkinson muses. "He's the one who's making it happen. There's nobody that can take credit for what's taken place."
Big Controversies
There are many theories as to how Wilkinson has brought the world to its knees, literally. One of the more popular theories to date is that his book is just a repackaged version of name-it-and-claim-it.
The mainstream media, in particular, has been skeptical, Wilkinson says.
"When a secular person interviews you, and you tell them the reason why people are buying it [Prayer of Jabez] is because God's answering prayer, they cannot believe that," he explains. "So they've only come up with one conclusion: It makes you rich."
Wilkinson said he recently invited one network anchorman to join him at a Prayer of Jabez book signing. During the signing, Wilkinson asked fans point-blank if they bought the book to get rich. Not one person said yes.
It's hard to deny the book's impact on the body of Christ. Many have seen dramatic answers to prayer, some of which are recorded at the book's official Web site, prayerofjabez.com.
There's Timothy, a man whose daughter had a spot on her brain and suffered seizures. "I probably recited the prayer of Jabez 500 times," he says. Soon after he started praying the prayer, a miracle happened: the spot disappeared.
Another man, Bill, had been praying the prayer of Jabez for a month when his son, who has cerebral palsy, walked for the first time without a walker.
Listen to people who pray Jabez; you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who is using the prayer as a scheme to get more from God. But the prayer is stretching people to do more for God.
There's Dave from Michigan. Soon after he started "praying as Jabez did," he was given the job of running the local prayer network at the government facility where he works (4,000 people). "Our Lord did indeed expand His territory allotted to me!" he says.
Another man (anonymous) discovered Jabez in a forum on the Internet. "Quite a few people were discussing the book. Many were of the opinion that it was a prosperity gospel message. I read through the book a couple times and decided to pray the prayer of Jabez for myself."
The result? First, the man's schedule at work was changed, which freed him to visit a homebound person on behalf of his church. Soon afterward, he was asked to become the chaplain for his local fire department.
"Following the Prayer of Jabez outline, I asked God to bless me for His service, and He did that beyond what I would have imagined. Some people may say it is a string of coincidences. But I know better."
Wilkinson says we need a new definition for the word "blessing." He explains, "It's a misconception that a blessing from God is always money, when it may or may not be." Still, financial blessings may be part of God's plan, Wilkinson says.
In one controversial passage from the book, Wilkinson discusses Jabez's request that God enlarge his territory and applies it to businessmen today:
"If Jabez had worked on Wall Street, he might have prayed, 'Lord, increase the value of my investment portfolios.' When Christian executives ask me, 'Is it right for me to ask God for more business?' my response is, 'Absolutely!' If you're doing your business God's way, it's not only right to ask for more, but He is waiting for you to ask."
Talking about that passage today, Wilkinson says, "We almost pulled that out. It has created more hassle."
But, he stands by his assertion, and notes: "It's so interesting, every pastor believes God wants to bless the church and grow it. But I have yet to ever in my whole life hear one pastor preaching that God wants to grow and bless your business. And yet, if God doesn't grow and bless the business, there's no more additional funds to grow and bless the church."
Some critics have also questioned the "keep me from evil" emphasis of the prayer. After all, isn't hardship a part of the Christian life sometimes?
Wilkinson says that there's a difference between saying, "Lord, keep me from evil," and "Lord, please don't ever let anything bad happen to me."
"That's why there's some criticism against the book wrongfully because the word in the NKJV is translated 'keep me from evil.' Hardship isn't really part of what he's praying about, I don't believe. I don't think he's saying 'keep me from physical pain or hard things,' I think he's talking about evil."
Wilkinson acknowledges that sometimes God may say "no" to a person's request. But, he explains, "People are just neurotic about asking God for things that He may say 'no' to. If He says 'no,' let Him say 'no.'"
"There's a certain kind of person whose expectations about life are not real," he adds. "They're naive, thinking that everything's supposed to be a green, wonderful day, and if it rains, God didn't come through. And I think those people have expectations that are so unrealistic they are hurt all the time. But the average person who is just a normal person, they understand yes's and no's."
Big Passion
Wilkinson's passion to do more for God is catching. Even if you don't buy into his message, you can't help but appreciate his drive and enthusiasm to build God's kingdom. The key to this, says Wilkinson, is total dependence.
Many men miss this point because we like to be in charge of our lives. But, Wilkinson explains, "Just try to do something for God that's beyond your capability, then you're dependent overnight."
Instead of asking, "What can I do for God?" we should ask, "What does God want done?" he adds. This is where miracles often happen:
"It's my conviction that the miraculous most of the time takes place in the middle of you trying to do something for God that is beyond what you can do."
Wilkinson also says that many men shrink from being influential for God and asking God to "expand their territories" because of their past mistakes.
"A lot of men know where they've fallen, and they know God knows it. And they're probably still wrestling with the sins right now. And they think, when I ever get my act really together, that's when I'll come back to God."
But nobody ever gets their act all together, Wilkinson says:
"Even when we clean up our act, and we don't even know if there's anything else left, I promise you within six months God will show you a whole other area you were blind to."
Sexual sins, in particular, have a way of zapping a man's confidence. This is where praying, "keep me from evil" comes in, Wilkinson says. By praying, "God keep me from temptation, keep me from evil," you can align your mind to think: I don't want to sin. Keep it away from me. The author also has these practical suggestions for men who are striving for sexual integrity. First, there's this practical exercise:
"I tell guys the next time you feel tempted to stop immediately, take out your watch, time yourself for two minutes and just say out loud: 'Holy Spirit, You were given to comfort me. I don't want to sin. Please comfort me.'
"Without exception, I do not know to this day of one exception where God will not do that. When the comfort's there, the temptation is not because there's no distress pushing you to 'fix.'"
And what about Internet pornography, the crack cocaine of sex addictions? Many times, it's just a matter of holding your ground, Wilkinson says.
"If you timed the seconds that a person is tempted with the Internet, it's less than 5 seconds. It's just intense. And if you fight that and just say for 15 seconds, 'I'm not going to do this,' you won't. It's just that first rush."
Many times, if a man is asking God to bless him and "expand his territory," he becomes more of a threat to the enemy. So, if we ask God to bless us, we should prepare ourselves for increased temptations and spiritual opposition, Wilkinson says.
"When a person begins to stretch out and the borders grow and God's hand does start moving on him, he becomes a real target. And he'll experience some temptations and spiritual opposition that he is perhaps ill-equipped to meet."
Still, Wilkinson recognizes the human part of the equation. The devil-made-me-do-it excuse wears thin fast.
"Many times when a guy turns on the computer and lets his finger slip over to a certain site, that's not the enemy, that's his own flesh saying, 'I want to see this.' Satan gets a little bit too much credit for that."
And what if a man asks God to bless him and he keeps on living in sin?
"If a guy's really living in sin and praying, 'Dear God, please bless me, use me for Your purpose and keep me from evil,' either he will stop the sin or stop praying," Wilkinson says.
Big Hype?
If you've been to a Christian bookstore lately, you've probably noticed the flood of Jabez-inspired products that have hit the shelves in recent months.
This oft-imitated overnight success story has become the McDonald's of the Christian publishing industry--build one anywhere you want, and people are all over it. Wilkinson says that much of the recent product development was started in response to what was already happening in the industry.
"It took me off guard initially, because I went to a Christian bookseller's convention and walked up and down the aisles; it [Jabez-inspired product] was all over the place. And finally I said to Multnomah, 'We need to get together and make sure that the quality out there is at least a minimum standard.'"
In the end, he says, it boils down to this: "I guess I would rather err on the side of giving too many tools than giving too little."
Big Dreams
Shortly after our interview, Wilkinson announced that he is resigning as Walk Through the Bible's president and moving from Atlanta to Los Angeles to focus on the mediums of television and film.
"My desire is to open more people's hearts to everything God has for them," he later explained.
And what of people who say that this whole thing is just a passing fad?
"I think if people were just to understand that it's a lifestyle of thinking this way and asking this way. You'd never go back to the mundane because when you live the Jabez way, you see the hand of God intervening time after time."
It all comes back to this, says Wilkinson, "There's not a limit to what God can do for you, that God could do through you. For me, that's one of the most exhilarating facts there is in life. That there isn't a limit." NM
Robert Andrescik is editor of New Man magazine.
DISSING JABEZ? TAKING ON THE CRITICS
A Commentary by Bob Liparulo
Like most successes, Bruce Wilkinson's The Prayer of Jabez has acquired a contingent of detractors.
David Bay, director of Cutting Edge Ministries, claims the book is "not only unbiblical, but is the core essence of witchcraft!" Other critics have been less excitable, couching their Jabez bashing in scholarship.
Still, I have to wonder if they read the same book I did, since I don't see the blasphemies they do. Essentially, the criticisms boil down to five unscriptural teachings that are supposedly present in The Prayer of Jabez:
1:Prayer releases God's power. Yup, that is what Wilkinson writes. But instead of implying that God can't work through you if you don't pray, the book acknowledges the biblical truth that He tends to work through people who seek Him, who have prepared their hearts to hear His voice.
This points to an assertion Wilkinson makes clear, but the critics seem to have missed (an ignorance that led to most of the misunderstandings, I believe) that prayer alone means nothing without a believer's deep abiding in the will of God.
The power of The Prayer of Jabez is not the prayer, but that it and all sincerely felt prayers help bend the believer's mind and spirit toward God. C.S. Lewis said it best: "[Prayer] doesn't change God; it changes me."
2: The book turns Jabez's cry to God into a "name-it-and-claim-it" prayer. Critics accuse Wilkinson of saying that it is always the will of God that the believer prospers on Earth, that reciting the prayer will lead to, as one reviewer put it, "untold earthly treasures." Where in Jabez is that?
The book defines the prayer as having "nothing in common with the popular gospel that you should ask for a Cadillac [or] a six-figure income. Instead, the Jabez blessing focuses like a laser on our wanting for ourselves nothing more and nothing less than what God wants for us." And awful as it may seem to us (because His ways are higher than ours), that may mean martyrdom or a life of humble service. Wilkinson never says otherwise.
3: Repeating the prayer daily (as Wilkinson suggests) violates Jesus' admonishment against repetitious prayer. What Jesus said was: " 'But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words'" (Matt. 6:7, NKJV). Formula prayer doesn't please God, but plenty of prayers before dinner and bedtime are as sincere as they are unchanging.
Besides, while Wilkinson writes that he prays the prayer "word for word," he also encourages adjustments to Jabez's words to reflect a believer's specific circumstances. In fact, Wilkinson has done so on numerous radio programs, and even offers an example in the book:
"O God and King, please expand my opportunities and my impact in such a way that I touch more lives for Your glory. Let me do more for You!"
4: God answered Jabez's prayer because of some virtue in Jabez, proving God favors some Christians over others. Critics cite the times Wilkinson calls Jabez "head and shoulders above the rest" and "more honorable."
They miss the point: the author doesn't claim God granted Jabez's petition because he was already esteemed, but he became esteemed because he prayed. "Do you think God has favorites?" Wilkinson asks frankly. "Simply put, God favors those who ask."
Doesn't that reflect James 4:2: "You do not have because you do not ask God"? On page 49, Wilkinson reminds readers, "[Through prayer] you do not become great; you become dependent on the strong hand of God."
5: Jesus and His atoning work on the cross are all but missing from the book. But they're not absent. Page 74, for example: "Through Christ we can live in triumph."
The Prayer of Jabez is not a work of apologetics. Not all Christian books necessarily need to explain the gospel. But I do wish Wilkinson had put more emphasis on John 16:23, where Jesus says, "'Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give to you.'"
There are other complaints--such as the claim that the book usurps the authority of the Lord's prayer--but addressing them feels too much like debating whether the moon is made of green cheese.
Some concerns are obviously prompted not by Wilkinson's intent, but by his sometimes incautious wording. He tends to use "blessings" and "miracles" interchangeably, for instance.
I suspect some critics are merely concerned that readers will abuse Wilkinson's words. They will give the prayer more attention than they do the Bible, or will think it some magic recitation for receiving God's blessings. Could happen, but The Prayer of Jabez isn't the culprit.
I know people who won't go near the book because of the criticisms. Of course, that's their prerogative. I only wish their decisions weren't based on so much hot air.
Bob Liparulo is a writer and reviewer, and a regular contributor to New Man.
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