1 Chronicles 4:9-10 – The prayer of Jabez, by Rev. Ralph Adams.

I’m sure that many of us listening this morning remember a country & western singer— the late, great, Johnny Cash. Among his many recordings on the charts at one time or another, was one particular song, “A boy named Sue.” It was a song about a boy whose father gave him a girl’s name.

We don’t know whether to laugh — or to cry — at the cruel experiences ‘Sue’ had to endure — all because his father gave him this ludicrous name. The last words in the song were from ‘Sue,’ vowing, if ever he had a son, to name the boy “Bill or George or ANYTHING but Sue!” Of course, the point of the song is that the boy’s ridiculous name ended up shaping his entire life.

Now, let me introduce you to someone in the Bible with a rather similar story to tell.