[HarleyD]

It's not quite that simple. Just remember that Jabez was righteous before God in knowing the law and living by it:

1Ch 4:9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain."

Translation:

The Targum adds,"and wiser in the law than his brethren;''or he might be a man of great wealth and riches, or of great strength and courage, all which make a man honourable; or he may be so called, because a praying man, as follows, a man of devotion and religion, a man of God,

I doubt that I'll ever achieve the status of a Abraham, Moses, or Jabez.

[hope_dies_last]

doubt that I'll ever achieve the status of a Abraham, Moses, or Jabez.

I definitely understand where your coming from on this and admire your respect for these patriarchs of old.

The Bible does not tell us the humanly faults of Jabez, although the prayer itself hints to a moment of need in the life of Jabez. Very seldom do we come to God in this way when things are going well. Typically, when we are right before God, we pray many more intercessary type prayers on behalf of others in need around us, when we know God has our back and the Spirit points us in the way of being prayer warriors in the spiritual battle and we partner with God in breaking strongholds.

However, we do know Moses and Abraham had their not so modest humanly faults as well. Moses had comitted murder, and was prone to rage that ultimately lead Moses to basicaly fowl up an important messianic typology God had intended at Horeb by striking the rock more than once and by not merely speaking to it.

We know Abraham succombed to doubting God's promise and it is well documented that he also lied, became drunk and had improper relations, all of which the details are not important to this discussion.

The point of all this is that although we can agree the work God acheived through these men was monumental, we should not put them on a pedestal and believe that God could not do equally great things, in and through us. No one is worthy. Only God makes one worthy in His calling for His purposes and although the canon of scripture is closed, the Book of Acts in the New Testament does not end like the other books of scripture, but rather remains as an open register or work in progress of the "acts" of Christ's disciples. All of these good works in the advancement of Christ's Kingdom are however faithfully being registered in God's Book of Remembrance according to Malachai 3:16-20.

The beauty of God's story of redemption, as registered in the Bible, is that God wrought this work by partnering with frail human elements such as us. This is the mystery of redemption when God has called that which isn't, as if it were. God justifies the unjust through faith and God has mercy on whom He will have Mercy irrespective of persons. God is an awesome God and you and I are his most prized piece of work.