The prayer of Jabez has become one of the most popular prayers of the Bible, and yes, it is a wonderful prayer to pray for our lives. One of the requests Jabez makes is that God will "ENLARGE HIS COAST" (1 Chronicles 4:10). What do you think he is really asking for? Surely, he doesn't want more land and a larger house just for the sake of it. He knows that God would not give that to him unless there was a purpose for enlarging.
Our God is not a miserly God. He has a huge heart. His heart is always for ENLARGING, INCREASING, AND MULTIPLYING. It's very interesting the this word "enlarge" is exactly the same Hebrew word that God uses when He gave His very first command to mankind, "Be fruitful, MULTIPLY, and replenish the earth"(Genesis 1:28). It is "rabah" and is translated 227 times in the Old Testament by such words as "enlarge, exceedingly, increase, many, multiply, plenteous." This is God's language. It was also the heart of Jabez, and because Jabez had a heart like God's heart, "God granted him that which he requested."
It is the same Hebrew word when God says, "ENLARGE the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles" (Isaiah 54:2-3).
Like Jabez, is your heart for increasing, enlarging, and multiplying? Do your prayers line up with God's heart?
Love from Nancy