Rating: 
Summary: Some inspirational points, but...
Review: Wilkinson, known before this best-seller for the Walk Thru the Bible program, has found surprising success in both the Christian and secular market. There is just the right amount of inspiriation and spirituality. However, there are several inherent flaws in the work. The Prayer of Jabez lacks a solid covenantal, biblical foundation, focusing instead on a few verses taken out of their historical context and stuffed into a 21st century box. As an alternative to this work, I highly recommend J.I. Packer's "Knowing God," and - for a light-hearted look at this book - Doug Jones' "The Mantra of Jabez."
Rating: 
Summary: A Prayer Mantra for the Materialistic Minded.
Review: Yea, for God the Giver! Sign me up! I want more and more and more. Give me, give me, give me. I've got the key now! Bruce Wilkinson preaches that God's existence, God's very reason for being, is to bless you - "a lot". In this book, Wilkinson asks the reader the rhetorical question, "Is it possible that God wants you to be 'selfish' in your prayers?" (YES!), "To Ask for more - and more again?" (YES! YES!). So what is stopping God from giving, giving, giving? Well, it must be me! I am not asking, begging, pleading, cajoling the right way. Wilkinson sets me straight when he writes, "God's bounty is limited only by us, not by His resources, power or willingness to give." Oh, Bruce tell me, tell me what I must do. In "The Prayer of Jabez", I get the mantra, the right words to unlock God's blessings for ME! All I have to do is "Pray Jabez's prayer word for word", everyday. That is what Bruce did for thirty years, and look at him now, author of a run away best seller! I have been redeemed! Bruce has set me straight. All this time I had God figured wrong. My theology was [messed]-up. Even my worship was wrong. Now, thanks to Bruce, I know that "seeking God's blessing is my (our) ultimate act of worship." Wasted years, I could have been rich! According to Bruce I should be praying for God to "increase the value of my investment portfolios." Drat! But here's and idea. Christians, how 'bout skipping forward through the Bible to prayers of Jesus! We know that Jesus prayed before decisive moments, beginning with his baptism and as he faced his passion and death. He prayed in times of human weakness and death, as he did at the grave of Lazarus. He frequently prayed to give thanks. But, NO WHERE do we find Jesus praying "bless ME!". Come on Christians, get your heads out of your pocket books. Move out of the prayer of Jabez and into the prayers of the one you call Lord and Savior. Hey, here's another idea, try saying one of Jesus' prayers each day for 30 years. Maybe, "nevertheless, not my will but thine be done". Not Recommended,
Rating:
Summary: Where will it all END?!!?
Review: I will put it bluntly: this book represents everything that is wrong with Christianity in our time. Commercialism, guruism, materialism, the love of money, the disregard of real doctrinal integrity for sentimental Evangelical sputtering . . . all are to be found in this book, and then some. The book establishes the foundation for its heretical thesis plucking two sentences from middle of an Old Testament geneology, and then proceeds to extrapolate them into what amounts to almost a new religion - one which glorifies wealth, material posessions, and essentially shaking God down for all the 'stuff' to which you are entitled in life. According to Mr. Wilkinson, life is one big trick-or-treat. Now, if you want to believe in such a 'religion', that is fine; after all, you do have a democratic right to be greedy, if you so choose. But to try to make such a twisted belief system pass for Christianity is impermissible and sickeningly hipocritical. If you wish to abandon God's word, as clearly laid out in scripture, then go ahead; but please, don't go around disobeying God's word while claiming to obey it. You are not a Christian unless you believe in God's message as revealed in scripture, and if you claim otherwise, you are fooling no one but yourself. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. The only reason I can give to read this book is to give you some background if you intend to read Douglas Jones' hilarious and biting satire, "The Mantra of Jabez", which I highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Beneficials without the essentials
Review: For better or worst, I feel like the recent trend in mainstream Christian literature has been greatly affected by this book. Just look at the Size, Style, and length of recent books!!! I chuckled to myself when I first saw books coming out in response to this book with the similar-looking-covers (such as The Mantra of Jabez and The Prayer of Jesus)...but when others continously adopted the style set forth by Wikinson, I grew a bit concerned. What does this tell us about Christianity today? Although Hank Hanegraff doesn't say it bluntly, his book, The Prayer of Jesus can be seen as a response (more of a reaction) to The Prayer of Jabez. In the introduction of Hanegraaff's book, he suggests some criticisms. In it he writes that some people say that The Prayer of Jabez is an example of fast-food Christianity--fast and easy way to have an effective prayer life. Hanegraff also points to popular misconception of prayer that right method and form is a necessary means to get "blessings" from God rather than to develop an intimate relationship with Him. Others, he says, also worry that it relies more heavily on personal stories than on passages of Scripture. Are these claims true? I had to read it for myself. Well, I have read The Prayer of Jabez; and I have to say most of these criticisms are quite accurate. Although Wikinson does have good things to say, but the main problem really lies in what he doesn't say. Wikinson's whole focus is on asking God to bless us with riches as if God is waiting in heaven saying, "Come on guys-I really like it to work out that you pray this way!" Here, it's not about storing our treasures in heaven, it's all about asking God to give us treasures stored in heaven. It's nice that Wikinson tries to emphasize that they are spiritual riches, but when "asking God for riches" is the central theme it easily becomes mis-understood by Christians and non-Christians alike (and I believe it has). I'm convinced that this is so because "asking God for riches" is not correctly contextualized with the HARD CALL of the Gospel. When you pray to God, what sort of God is He and what is your standing before Him? What is Wikinson's answer to this? Of course Wikinson's point in writing this book was not to address this question. But all I'm suggesting is that without answering this first and seeing prayer in its proper context, we are in grave danger in misconstruing God in our own image. Although I can give much credit to Wikinson for putting his foot in the door in his effort to reach the lost and get Christians thinking more about prayer, I cannot help but wonder if, in the long-run, he did more damage than good. (we see more of its ramifications today) My main problem is that his whole treatment misses the most important aspect of prayer--that prayer is itself the blessing, because it is in Christ we are able to have a relationship with God. This book is often enlisted under the category of "Christian living." I believe in Christian living, God must be central and supreme. I believe, therefore, all books in this category, must exemplify this fundamental reality. The Prayer of Jabez is a well written book, but in the final analysis, Wikinson--I believe--compromises the essentials for the beneficial. (If you are interested in this topic of prayer I highly recommend The Prayer of Jesus by Hank Hanegraff. And for much enriching study pick up Grudum's Systematic Theology or A.W. Pink's Gleaning from Paul or Effectual Fervent Prayer. And Puritians like John Owens is a great read...trust me on this!)
Rating:
Summary: Judgment v. Discernment.
Review: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Matthew 7:1-2, KJV. "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." John 7:24, KJV. We are not to judge incorrectly, but with an acceptable standard and using our discernment as the Holy Spirit provides us. The popularity of this book, which, by Biblical standards twists a text and teaches a false doctrine, proves the spiritual death of this country. "Pray a mantra and God will give you lots and lots of stuff!" Does not one's sense of discernment cry out against such a false preaching? If it does not, one has bigger problems than Mr. Wilkinson's book can solve. It is wrong to judge a man's soul, as we do not have the ability to know it the way the LORD does, but it is permissible and even commanded of us Christians to judge doctrine against the Bible. Sadly, this doctrine falls far short of that standard. Rather than buying this "short-cut" book, please dust off (or go buy) a copy of the Bible. A thorough, prayerful reading of the Bible will pay dividends of the spiritual, not temporal, kind. Those are the treasures that Christians ought to seek (Matthew 6:19-20).
Rating: 
Summary: O h, R e e e e a a l l l l l y ? ? ? ? ! ! ! !
Review: I offer you a quote, "L e t n o m a n j u d g e, L e s t y e b e j u d g e d." is that accurate enough for you? Let us all, do unto others as we would
have them do unto ourselves.
Search for the good in a creation
and offer praise of it's merits.
Rating:
Summary: Far less than one star
Review: This book is so full of biblical error that one is at a lost as to where to begin giving a proper and fair critique. This book may be an indication of the excessive biblical illiteracy of many (Or rather most) people. What concerns me most is that this book also seems to be a run-a-way best seller among those who claim to "know" Christ. It doesn't suprise me that unbelievers are so gullible; but Christians? Lord help us.
Rating:
Summary: Popularizing obscurity.
Review: Even though I am a student of the Bible and have read the Good Book several times through, I had never heard of Jabez or his prayer until Bruce Wilkinson's book became a national bestseller. Though that popularity helped me discover and learn about an obscure Old Testament figure, I was reluctant to read the book because of it's popularity (I have often found that popular success often means watered-down Christianity). Several years later I have finally read the book and have been surprised. The book takes the prayer of Jabez and examines how it can be applied to our own lives in a practical manner. The book does not support a "step by step" faith; if you do this, God will do this. Instead it focuses on how by earnestly praying Jabez's prayer and opening ourselves to God's will, we can begin to experience a blessed life (though the blessings may not be what we would imagine them to be). I only have two complaints with the book. One is that it is so short that Wilkinson doesn't really take enough time to expand upon his thesis; the book kind of feels like a college essay rushed together so the student could turn it in on time. The other negative point is that even though the book makes a statement that the most important thing about praying is the spirit of the prayer and not the words, the point is not made clear enough. It needed to be repeated so that people would not become confused. The book is interesting and it's message is worth reading. After all, how often does one get to read about a popularized obscure Biblical figure?
Rating:
Summary: The most balanced and model prayer is ....
Review: I think that the prayer of Jabez might be breakthrough for those who do not know how much God wants to bless the people who believe in Christ and aim to follow Jesus. We cannot pray for others unless we are blessed by God and filled with holy spirit. However, I believe that the most balanced and model prayer is Lord's Prayer.
Rating: 
Summary: A Simple, Biblical Prayer...See For Yourself!
Review: Read this book for yourself and see if you aren't humbled and challenged to serve God more! After reading many, many reviews here--both positive and negative--I was reluctant to read this book. Often that much controversy means that something is wrong, so reader beware. But as a passionate student of the Bible and critical of people who only regurgitate others' opinions without personal examination of the source, I knew I had to read this popular book for myself. And you should too. A lot of the criticism I've read focuses on 2 things: Jabez' property request and the seeming encouragement to regularly repeat this prayer as a formula for automatic blessing. After reading the book I discovered that the problem with these criticisms is twofold: they just plain disregard the book's message and read more into the book than is actually there. First, it is true that Jabez' request was probably for property. After all, the land was everything to the ancient Israelites--God's big blessing for his small and weak people. But does this have to be the application for today? Of course not! To request an enlargement of your MINISTRY, which is how Wilkinson interprets the request, is a perfectly reasonable application and consistent with Paul's prayer in Ephesians 4:14-21. To think that the book, or the Bible passage that it's based on, are encouraging materialism in some way is just plain irresponsible. It is simply not there. Second, there just wasn't anything in the book that dictated that regular formula-like repetition of this prayer is the key to unlocking God's blessings. Yes, the book encourages you to pray this prayer, but obviously it's the CONTENT of the prayer that's important, not the exact words. That's basically what most books on prayer teach, including this one. Do you see a pattern here? It seems to me that some people are overreacting to this book without actually paying attention to its message. With all that said, PRAISE GOD that I was pleasantly surprised by this little book's simple message. Wilkinson takes a small Old Testament prayer and simply applies it for Christians to use today. Pray for protection from evil and ask God to enlarge your ministry; that is, to use YOU more to spread his love to all people. This is a simple, Biblical prayer that all Christians should incorporate into their regular communication with God--not as a formula, but as heart-felt requests. And of course Christians should learn from the other many examples of prayer throughout the Bible, especially Jesus' prayer. I give this book 5 stars because it accomplishes what it sets out to do...no more and no less.
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