Word: jabez
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...question Jabez himself might well have posed is, "Why me?" After decades of willful ignorance, the publishing world has learned--via the triumph of the apocalyptic Left Behind series--that titles by and for evangelical Christians can sell angelically. But unlike Left Behind, which trades on the spectacular cast and characters of the Book of Revelation, Jabez is essentially a bulked-up sermon, pouring much of the evangelical mission into the prayer's five short clauses...
Wilkinson, 53, says he first heard about the prayer from a seminary chaplain 30 years ago and has been "praying Jabez" as a kind of evangelical mantra ever since. What he appears to have found most attractive is the prayer's expansiveness. Evangelical life abounds in thou shalt nots and stresses humility before God. By contrast, Jabez's demand that the deity "bless me indeed" seems buoyant and liberating. Reading the volume's back-cover blurb ("Do you want to be extravagantly blessed by God?"), one might even imagine that Wilkinson is selling Prosperity Theology, a widespread if superficial gospel...
...life, concludes by claiming that daily recitation of the prayer can turn you into...someone like him. Wilkinson, who has preached at Promise Keepers' rallies, asserts that his success in reaching millions via his Walk Thru the Bible Ministries is almost shocking evidence of what God's grace and Jabez praying...
...million question" and testifies that the only one who thought it would hit more than 30,000 copies a year was his wife, who felt that "God would perhaps enjoy getting the message out." He suggests that although most Americans believe in prayer, they save it for emergencies, and Jabez's relatively low-key, daily program may be a welcome novelty. PW's Garrett agrees: "It's very evangelical and very American, this whole notion that if you know the right technique, the right form, that prayer will be efficient and effective. Kind of like golf...
...page tomes into an easy-to-read 93 pages. At $9.99, it can be bought in multiple copies for friends, like a literary W.W.J.D. (What Would Jesus Do) bracelet. Wilkinson's editor David Kopp reports two influential boosters: James Dobson and his wife Shirley, who heard Wilkinson preach Jabez on a tape during a long drive. Dobson then featured the book on his immensely influential Focus on the Family radio show. Mark Tauber, a religion-book veteran now at the Beliefnet.com website, notes that Wilkinson's 30 years of preaching Jabez at rallies assures "a built-in audience...