Rating: 
Summary: "Ask and You Shall Receive"
Review: "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, '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." So God granted him what he requested."The prayer is a simple one, yet one which can have a powerful effect upon our lives. There are many people who would be put off by what seems to be a selfish prayer, one which asks God to "enlarge my territory." Yet the second part of the prayer, "that You should keep my from evil..." is as important. It is the fulcrum balance that, in effect reminds us that we are to use God's blessings to do good in this life. The author makes a fine presentation to the power of this prayer and indeed, all prayer as we seek to define our relationship with God and the world. In the Bible, we are reminded, "Ask and You Shall Receive." These are powerful prayers. While we can be tempted to ask for inappropriate things, the spiritual grounding of the prayer and other prayers remind us that we have gifts and blessings come with an awesome responsibility.
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Thin
Review: Contrary to some reviewers, I didn't see anything particularly "selfish" about the premise of this book. Asking God for His blessing isn't necessarily self serving. I believe that He wants to bless all of us every day. I do think that Mr. Wilkinson took a great many pages to say more-or-less the same thing several times -- and still the book is very short, and not terribly original or deep. Reading it, though, I couldn't help but be struck by the comparison to Fr. Tim Cavanaugh, the main character in the Mitford Series by Jan Caron, who begins every day with the prayer, "Father, make me a blessing to someone today".
Rating: 
Summary: I fail to see why this book has gained any following.
Review: Wilkinson puts forth in this book a mode of prayer that is both petty and self-serving. By basing the book entirely on material found in the Old Testament it lacks any of the wisdom and kindness espoused by Jesus (and others) to be found in the New Testament. Read Bonhoeffer, read C.S. Lewis, think about why you believe what you believe instead of reading inane books such as this one that can be a hinderance to one's sense of the spiritual.
Rating:
Summary: You gotta be kidding, right???!!??
Review: I am still not sure if this book is a joke. I didn't know whether to laugh at its clever irony or cry at its cruel exploitation. Can anyone seriously believe the Old Testament contains an incantation that makes its chanter wealthy? The poor and unintelligent should stop believing in nonsense like this (and lotteries), and realize that they have to work to make money. Authors like the self-styled "Doctor" Wilkinson are hypocrites for preying on the gullible to make themselves rich.
Rating:
Summary: Greed as a way of life...an utterly worthless book
Review: I was given this book for Christmas by one of my aunts who is an evangelical Christian (I'm Catholic). I had heard of it, but didn't know anything about it, or what to expect, and went in with no preconceptions of what it was about. I finished the book in just over an hour, and was appalled. Being selfish, and greedy, and asking God for more material things-- and this is supposed to change your life? Hardly. Wilkinson is advocating trusting these words-- this prayer-- instead of God. Using this prayer to get what you want. Treating God, as a reviewer before me said, as a vending machine. It reeks of manipulation to me, and it's a cynical way of looking at God. I don't much care for the message being spread here. A good website showing the faults of this book can be found here: .... I highly recommend that anyone thinking of buying this book read that article first. There are many reasons why Jabez was a little known person, and the prayer is all but ignored by biblical scholars. Remember the words of the Scripture: " we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us.... according to the will of God." (Romans 8:16-17) To ask God to enlarge your territory, and to bless you more than what he wills? It's arrogant, and presumptuous, and misses the point. Sure, we often ask for things when we pray ("Oh God, help me pass this test", etc....) But to ask for influence? And to ask for material gain? Rubbish. Utter rubbish.
Rating: 
Summary: Are you ready for Divine Appointments?
Review: If so, then this is a must read! The concepts in this book and it's sequel, "Secrets of the Vine," will help you see God moving in your life, and using you as a vessel in others' lives, more and more. Get ready for some awesome adventures (aka Divine Appointments) in your walk with the Lord!
Rating:
Summary: Book with a purpose!!
Review: This book was well worth the time invested in the reading. Left me with a feeling of connection and understanding. If God cares about you and loves you - why wouldn't He grant you your needs and make life pleasurable? I really can't understand the negative reviews I see here! People - avoid those that use God to mete out their own personal judgement system.... Read this book - It will liberate your love for God...
Rating:
Summary: Hooray for the power of prayer
Review: I have long been a believer that our higher power, God, or what ever you choose to call it, has always wanted to give us the very best and all we needed to do was to be open, receptive, and responsive. This book and its little prayer just reinforce that concept.
The book is well written, concise and practical. I found that I had to overlook some of the fundamentalist jargon, but overall I found it to be deeply spiritual and only slightly "religious dogma".
I found myself in the middle of a "divine appointment" while reading the book on an airplane when I was asked to pray with the person next to me. Made me a believer.
Rating:
Summary: God as Vending Machine?
Review: When I first noticed "The Prayer of Jabez" climbing its way up the besteseller charts, I was excited to see a Christian book which seemed able to reach a wide public; however, I soon began to hear criticism of the book from many friends and theologians whose opinions I respect, so I decided that I ought to read it and make up my mind for myself. This I did, and what I read appalled me. Based on his own outrageous extrapolation of a few sentences taken from one of the Old Testament histories, the author argues that the quintessential relationship with God consists of us asking Him to give us whatever we want, and getting it. Thus, the measure of an individual's faith is the quantity of material possessions which God has given him; faith in God merely means that you are willing to let him give you whatever you want. Not too long ago, I would have taken for granted that most Christians would see the utter hypocrisy behind such a statement, but after seeing this book's sales, I am not quite so sure as I once was. How can Mr. Wilkinson account for the myriads of great men and women in the Bible who gave up their material possessions for their faith? Would he really have us believe that there is more to be learned from Jabez than from Job, Isaiah, or even Jesus? In the trendy buzz created by Mr. Wilkinson's book, it is becoming all too easy to overlook another prayer, prayed by another man, in a later part of the Bible. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God, taught them not to say "enlarge my territory", but to say "Thy will be done," and later in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night before he was to be crucified, Jesus himself said to God " . . not as I will, but as You will," even though he knew fully well what God's will was in that case. God's will was indeed done in that particualr instance; Jesus was crucified, even though he had prayed the night before for "this cup [to] be taken from" him, but he did not neglect to add "Yet not as I will, but as you will." It is awful to consider what might have happenned if Jesus himself had taken a page out of Mr. Wilkinson's book and asked God simply to "keep me free from harm so that I will be free of pain," as Mr. Wilkinson would have us pray. Of course, Jesus would never have done that, because he knew that God, by His very nature, knows more than we do about our situations, and His will is in every instance something which we as Christians should strive to act in unison with, since that is what He specifically asks of us anyway. This said, I do not believe that "The Prayer of Jabez" has a leg to stand on theologically, and its only staying power derives from the fact that it tells people something that they want to hear, regardless of its falsehood, and it proposes a neat and tidy solution to all of life's problems which conveniently winds up giving everyone everything they want.
Rating:
Summary: Unusual at first but.......
Review: A truly significant and meaningful short book. While many books offer inspirational guidance--this book truly transcends even that effort----it is a must to read, own and to give to others.
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