Prayer of Jabez
Prayer of Jabez: What is it?
The Prayer of Jabez comes from the Bible. In 1 Chronicles 4:10, we read: “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.” The prayer is composed of four parts. First, Jabez asks God to bless him. Second, he asks God to enlarge his territory or increase his responsibility. Third, he prays that God will be with him and stay close. Lastly, Jabez asks that God keep him from harm so that he will be free from pain.
Prayer of Jabez: Why is it important?
The Prayer of Jabez reveals that Jabez understands what many people do not — there is only one God and He should be the center of our work God wants to bless every life. But, we must first make the choice to invite God into our life and ask for His blessings. Jabez wants to succeed and increase his sphere of influence for God. The specific sphere of influence is not important. What is important is that when we want to reach for goals and accomplishments that we have God on our side. Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” It is critical to understand and practice this in a close relationship with God. Further, it is equally important to stay close to God and rely on His continued support and guidance throughout life. Jabez clearly knows and prays specifically to the One who can protect him from evil and pain — God. At the end of the verse it is clear that God approved of this faithful prayer by granting it. It is also important to see that Jabez was passionate in his plea to God: “He cried out to the God of Israel.” God wants to hear that we need Him through passionate prayer.
Prayer of Jabez: What does it mean to you?
The Prayer of Jabez reminds us that everybody struggles with choosing to rely on himself or God. Whether you are a focused Christian
or just searching to find out more about God, life is a growing process. However, it is very clear in reviewing the Prayer of Jabez, as well as the rest of the Bible, that God is faithful in caring for those who seek Him. Jabez sets a great example of how God wants everyone to come to Him through constant and passionate prayer. If you are looking to start a relationship with God or improve your existing relationship with Him, start with prayer. God answers prayers when you trust Him (1 Chronicles 5:20). Prayers to God also please Him (Proverbs 15:8). We can all learn from Jabez and faithfully pray to God always in everything that we do.
Prayer of Jabez: The Book by Bruce Wilkinson
The Prayer of Jabez is covered in phenomenal detail by Bruce Wilkinson in his book of the same name. We highly encourage you to read this fantastic and inspiring resource, that challenges each of us to:
“Attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed…unless God steps in!”
ANCESTRAL HEALING
Now, in my continued search to further validate my point about the importance of ancestor veneration amongst various cultures, I came across another article online written by David Furlong called “Healing Your Ancestral Patterns” where he talks about the need to grab every opportunity to heal our ancestral family lines because we are all linked to the universe through our ancestry. In this article, Mr. Furlong enlightens us with an excerpt from a book called “Karma and Reincarnation” by Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama, Head Priest of the Shinto Tamamitsu sect of Japan which states:
“The parent/child connection manifests as one link in a long chain of ancestral karma that stretches back through time. Your link to your family allows you to be born into that specific line – it is a link that needs to be understood and respected. In this modern scientific age it is very difficult for people to accept the fact that they are responsible to their ancestors, that they are actually liable for the actions of their ancestors if the resulting karma has not yet been dissolved. Many find it absurd to think that the actions of an unknown ancestor could possibly have anything to do with what is happening to them today. But time and time again when investigating someone’s karma, I find problems that stretch back generations. Their spirit is not just an individual entity, it is also part of the family spirit that births and nurtures it.”
Even in the bible, Numbers 14:18, there is reference to us as children suffering for the sins of our forefathers even unto the third and fourth generations clearly suggesting how integral the ancestors are to our lives and how we must learn and teach prayer and sacrifice including the giving of ourselves to keep us in harmony with our lineage. This article further makes it clear that many cultures, both sophisticated and primitive, pay a great deal of attention to the ancestral family line proving that this form of veneration is one of the most widespread of all religious belief systems.
Many people venerate all of their ancestors without any emotional problems or hang ups but there are some who find it uncomfortable or they feel bitter about giving veneration to ancestors that have been abusive in some way or another whether emotionally, physically, sexually, and/or verbally. While in many cases, it is understandable why someone may not want to venerate an ancestor that has caused harm to him/her or to another loved one, however it is my plea to keep in mind that you must TRY TO forgive. Of course, it is up to you and what makes you comfortable. I know this is easier said than done but when we forgive, we heal ourselves. Many times, ancestors who have done wrong in life will seek light and prayer from you, wanting forgiveness, wanting repentance, and wanting to give, help, and do for you on the other side what they did not get to do in life, all because they have transitioned through “The Light of Understanding” and have come to realize their mistakes now that they reside on the other side. If you can find it in your heart to pray for your ancestors who have done wrong, then great, it not, then you must do what makes you comfortable.
[If you choose to pray for an ancestor that has caused harm to you or a loved one, you can say a brief prayer that you forgive them and that you pray for the soul of {name of person} to elevate and find the light, peace, and love in God that he or she needs that will bring peace to you, your family, and your home.]
Either way, we need to pray for healing, for both the deceased, for ourselves and for generations to come so that we can alleviate as many dysfunctional and abusive patterns as we can so that they will cease and will no longer plague any member of the family line, directly or indirectly. On another note, we also need to pray for ancestral healing from karmic energy. Many of us have heard of karmic energy that affects an individual singly but multiple family members as a whole can also carry karmic energy, whether negative or positive. From a negative aspect, I am sure that you can think of at least one family that just cannot get it together – they struggle and suffer for many reasons. These families can carry a karmic energy of sickness, poverty, death, or even mental illness. While in other families; drugs and judicial problems are prevalent. Some would even view this type of enery as a generational curse.
Through ancestral healing, whether through prayers, rituals, or ceremonies we can work to heal our ancestors in the spirit realm so that they can help us to heal in the living for a better way of living. For this reason, I have written an “Ancestral Healing Prayer” that can be said at your altar or at any time that you get the feeling to help not just the deceased but yourself in the healing process.
ANCESTRAL HEALING PRAYER
written by Aladokun olo Obatala
I offer light and pour libation with respect and honor for all my ancestors whose names I know (say all the names that you know) and all the ones I don’t know to uplift and liberate their soul(s) in the name and light of the Almighty God. For it is through the love, the will, and the power of God that all souls are saved.
I offer prayer and protection by way of the Divine Creator for those ancestral souls that are in darkness, forgotten, or lost. Let the light I offer fade out the shadows of fear and guide them toward the arms of God.
I offer guidance to my ancestors by way of the Guardian Angels and Protective Spirits who by the power and order of God will assist them in their greater act of evolution. Let the light I offer be a Beacon of Hope and serve as an escape and protective shield from the shadows of despair.
I offer love, compassion, and comfort to those ancestral souls that are suffering and depressed. Let the light I offer lead them from discord and the miseries of their souls to the sanctuary of God and the joys of heavenly bliss.
I offer healing by way of the Supreme Being on all spiritual levels for those ancestors who were abused, afflicted, deceived, enslaved, hated, lonely, misguided, neglected, oppressed, pained, saddened, traumatized, and died tragically. Let the light I offer to their souls inspire clemency, liberation, faith, love and harmony from today onward.
I offer forgiveness to the ancestral souls that want to repent, sincerely, for the error of their ways in both realms of life and death. Let this light guide them to the truth, enlightenment and righteousness of God.
In addition, I forgive those ancestors that committed wrongs that have set their generational line “us that are living” in barrenness. And I forgive those ancestors whose past sins I’ve had to suffer as a result of their own naivety, ignorance and inferior habits and traits. Let the light I offer serve as a reminder for us in the living to acknowledge and learn not to make the same mistakes as the ones who lived before us.
In every way, I forgive those ancestors who need it most so that their souls will embrace in positive gratification a new and improved way of living in the spirit realm and that those souls will elevate in peace and awaken to eternal life as God promised.
In the name of God and through his mercy and blessings, let today be the beginning of a continual healing process for all my ancestral guides and release of all blocked and negative genetic energy patterns within the generational line steadily healing each family member including myself day-by-day. As you, the Ancestors heal on the other side, we ask that you forgive us as you have been forgiven and help us to heal with free flowing positive and progressive energy for the better well-being of all concerned.
In God’s name we pray and may the Light, Power, and Peace of God be with us always. And so it was spoken and so it will be!
THE ANCESTORS
Bible VersionsNCVJeremiahJeremiah 34Jeremiah 34:3-13
Jeremiah 34:3-13
THE ANCESTORS
What is an ancestor or who can be considered an ancestor? Depending on the culture, the definition of ancestor has many meanings. In some cultures you cannot be considered an ancestor unless you have lived a good standing, morally correct life. In other cultures, women are not considered ancestors at all. However and generally speaking for most, “ancestor veneration” or “ancestor worship” (meaning to maintain an ongoing relationship with those who have departed) is not only a tradition shared amongst our Afrikan ancestors, but the concept has existed through almost every known culture including various parts of Afrika, the Pacific, South American, Indonesia, certain parts of India and Indochina, even among those who have converted to Islam or Christianity. Even Jewish people have been known to light candles and say special prayers honoring their family member’s anniversary of death. And in celebration of All Soul’s Day, many honor the dead by putting gifts, flowers and food on the graves of their family members for it is believed that once death occurs, the physical body is left to decay and the soul transits into the realm of spirit where such spirit continues to live as an ancestor or a spirit guide. And in many instances, the living will leave money, cloths, animals, and messages at gravesites of their deceased relatives in hopes that the deceased might use these things on their journey. In addition, many cultures will honor the dead with festivals, drumming, singing, dancing, and drinking for it is believed that to honor our ancestors is to honor our lineage and our roots and is the first step to reclaiming our spiritual heritage. Therefore, the ancestors are consulted for guidance, prayed to, venerated with rituals and are given offerings for their continued influence on the living by helping them to resolve their day-to-day problems.
Because so many cultures, primarily outside of the United States, believe that the invisible world plays such an enormous part in every day life, it is custom and is extremely important to pay a great deal of attention to the dead and the ancestral family. I think we all can agree that death is a universal fact and is the inevitable end of all human life. However, in many cultures, life does not just end there. The soul continues on, just, in another form (spirit) and in another world. It is also believed by many that the dead are reborn into family members so that they can finish whatever business they were not able to finish while on earth and for these reasons a great deal of concern, care, time, and money is spent on proper burial rites. From the preparation of the body all the way through to the prayers, ceremonies, and sacrifices given to help ensure that the deceased is satisfied and appeased for an easy transition from the land of the living to the land of the dead. For it is believed that if proper funeral rites are not performed for the deceased, the spirit of the dead person will become a ghost to roam the world without peace, lost and confused with the abilities to harm and haunt people and relatives until it gains attention and proper acknowledgment of the proper burial rights, prayers, offerings, or ceremonies that will bring contentment to its soul.
Traditionally in Afrika, “ancestors” were called “egungun” and were viewed as departed family members: parents, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Egungun is a society of people who believed in the continued existence of the ancestors in the life of the living. They believed that there is a the link between the dead and the living and that the egungun represented ancestral spirits that would return from heaven to visit and periodically commune with the living during a 7-day festival where honor is given and sacrifices are offered at shrines specifically set for the ancestor spirits.
How important is ancestor reverence? Lets see, try to put yourself in the shoes of your ancestors. If you were an ancestor and your family members and friends were to just forget about you, how would you feel?nbsp; If you were alone, lost, and confused in the spirit realm and there was no one person praying for you or giving you light so that you could find your way, what would you do? If you wanted to save someone or help them to better their life and they just ignored your messages, would you give up? If you wanted forgiveness or just wanted know that you were still loved, and there was no one to show you some attention and your efforts were ignored, wouldn’t you feel alone and abandoned? And God forbid, but, if you were ill and approaching death or you died suddenly, how important would it be to you that someone, even if one person, were to remember you?
