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To put it another way, in Jabez, Wilkinson is long on the individual's existential meaning and on exploiting the chance, short-term encounter for God, but short on the meaning of perseverance and ordinary suffering. Such themes play a larger role in his sequel, The Secrets of the Vine, his effort to teach readers how to cooperate with God in his bringing about the results promised in the prayer of Jabez. Secrets also retains a spiritual optimism and pragmatism that, frankly, is inspiring at times.

But if exaggerations in Jabez can be chalked up to hyperbole, overstatements in Secrets of the Vine often can lead to serious misunderstandings. For example, Wilkinson implies that if there is major sin in our lives, we won't bear fruit for God. But many recent pastoral sex scandals are shocking precisely because the offending minister was, in fact, bearing a great deal of fruit in ministry.

It is easy to critique a book for what it lacks—and in these two brief tracts, naturally a lot is missing. Still a qualifying adjective here, a cautionary sentence there, would have alerted the reader to the more complex and challenging nature of the Christian life. But perhaps this is too much to ask of a writer and speaker who obviously enjoys his role as a motivator.

Nevertheless, Wilkinson has accomplished much, especially in Jabez, for which we can be thankful. He's managed to get millions of Christians to realize afresh their divine significance, reminding them of the ministries God has for them, encouraging them to think big when it comes to helping others. It's not the whole counsel of God, but neither is it a bad start for those who had forgotten, or never knew, that the living God is as near as a prayer.

Mark Galli is managing editor of CT.

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The New York Times called Wilkinson's book a new view of prosperity gospel, but in an Associated Press article, the author responded to criticism that the book preaches materialism.

Time examined reasons why the book is a best seller.

The book has achieved unbelievable success for "an overtly preachy book," according to The Washington Post. Likewise, The New York Times Book Review attributes the success to the Wilkinson's resurrection of "the once ubiquitous and now mostly forgotten genre of the published Sunday sermon."

Sample chapters, testimonials and Bruce Wilkinson's bio can be found at The Prayer of Jabez Web site.

Epions.com gathers readers' thoughts and reviews on The Prayer of Jabez.

Multnomah Publishers has information on The Prayer of Jabez and Secrets of the Vine, including reader reviews.

In addition to being a chart-topper book, The Washington Post reported The Prayer of Jabez also claims high ranking on MP3.com's Christian Easy Listening chart as a song by Brian Hanson.

In Christianity Today's sister publication, Christian Reader, two missionaries recite Jabez's prayer before stopping a madman on their plane.

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June 11 2001, Vol. 45, No. 8