Pray to enjoy Christ

Praise the Lord for Jabez! The one who was held in "more honour than his brothers" (1 Chron.4:9). Reading through the first three chapters of 1 Chronicles may have seemed rather dry but among all the names -- some of them known to many -- Jabez stands out as a brother who focused on the enjoyment of Christ. V.4: "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that You would richly bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand would be with me, and that You would so keep me from evil that it would not grieve me!" And the response to this prayer? : "And God caused what he had requested to come to pass". Hallelujah! As the Recovery Version to this footnote reads: "We all should have such a prayer, a prayer that God would enlarge the border of our enjoyment of Christ".