November 4, 2025 • 16 mins
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Hannah and Jabez represent opposite ends of our spiritual journey. Hannah prayed from rock bottom—barren, misunderstood, and in deep anguish. Her story teaches us that God can handle our most wrecked emotions and shows us what surrender truly looks like.
The Prayer of Jabez is a bold prayer that has inspired believers for millennia. Jabez approached God with holy audacity. And scripture simply states: "God granted his request." This mic-drop moment confirms Heaven moves in response to our prayers.
What makes these prayers so powerful is their complementary nature—together they give us a complete blueprint for approaching God in every season. Whether you're in a Hannah season or a Jabez season, this episode will equip you with biblical language for your deepest needs.
Discover how these ancient prayers can become your own, and watch how God transforms both your mindset and your circumstances. What would happen if you dared to pray like Hannah and Jabez today?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Desireé Melfi Bozzo (00:06):
Ciao and welcome to Life Out Loud.
I am your host, desireeMelfi-Bozzo.
We are going to use this spaceto share experiences and help
you find lasting, unshakable,unwavering, unmessable.
With joy and gratitude, we'regoing to be throwing around
encouragement a little bit likeconfetti, and giving you support
(00:27):
to live your very best life.
Ciao, friends, welcome toepisode five of season four of
the Life Out Loud podcast.
I'm the creator of this podcastand your host, desiree Melfi
Bozzo.
This season, you might know,we're focusing on prayers in
scripture that have shaped theworld.
(00:47):
In this episode, we're going totalk about two prayers that I
think you must know to get youthrough life.
Hopefully, at the end of ityou'll think you must know them
too the prayers of Hannah andthe prayer of Jabez.
So Hannah's prayers wereheartfelt and Jabez's prayer was
about as bold as they come.
(01:08):
All right, they're bothimportant in their own right to
have a place in our prayer life.
I like to think of this episodeas going from rock bottom to
overflowing Both positions.
We will 100% find ourselves inlife a time or few right.
So let's start off with ourgirl, hannah.
Her prayer we can find in 1Samuel 1 and 2, hannah was
(01:34):
barren, which means she couldn'thave children and in the day
and age in which Hannah lived,this was hugely problematic.
Which Hannah lived, this washugely problematic.
Living in that time there was avalue that was tied to the
ability for a woman to havechildren.
Hannah was taunted and Hannahwas misunderstood.
(01:55):
Her soul was in deep anguish inthis time.
I love Hannah's story because AI relate to the infertility
journey, which sucks.
But also I love Hannah's storybecause she didn't fake the
(02:15):
composure for the gram right,the gram of the ancient world.
She didn't pretend to have itall together in a perfectly
crafted reel.
She didn't pretend thateverything was great.
She wept and prayed and she wasreal.
There was a raw authenticityabout Hannah that I completely
(02:38):
admire.
I don't know about you, but Ido this weird thing where I
imagine what heaven might belike and like having coffee with
all the greats, like I can'twait to sit down and enjoy a
cafe latte with my girl Hannahup in heaven and just talk to
her about her journey and whatit must have been like.
(03:01):
Hannah poured out her soul toGod in 1 Samuel, in verse 11, we
see her make this vow in herprayer and she tells God if you
give me a son, I will give himback to you, and I think it's
really important to point outhere.
Hannah wasn't bargaining, shewas completely surrendering all
(03:25):
of it.
She knew if God blessed herwith a child, it wasn't hers to
keep.
It was God from the verybeginning right, it was his,
much like everything on thisside of heaven is.
In verse 17 and 18, we see ashift in Hannah because of her
(03:46):
prayer.
In verse 17, it reads Eli thepriest answered Go in peace and
may the God of Israel grant youwhat you have asked of him.
Verse 18, she said May yourservant find favor in your eyes.
Then she went on her way andate something and her face was
no longer downcast my loves.
(04:08):
Prayer changes everything.
Nothing changed in Hannah'scircumstance.
Like you have to know that thecircumstance didn't change.
Hannah was still not pregnant,hannah still hadn't bore a child
, but Her prayer changed hermindset.
(04:29):
It didn't change thecircumstance right away and
maybe it changed it never forsome of us but it changes the
mindset and the countenance ofourselves in an instant.
This is powerful.
Prayer is powerful.
In verse 20, we see that Hannahdid become pregnant and she
gave birth to a son.
She dedicated him to the Lord,just as she had said.
(04:52):
She lived out obedience Inverses 24 to 28,.
She fulfilled her vow that shemade to God.
In 1 Samuel 2, verses 1 through10, we see another prayer of
Hannah, a prayer of thanks andpraise to God, and in this she
(05:13):
declares the greatness of God,she exalts him and eloquently
proclaims that he is the sourceof everything.
I love Hannah's story becauseit shows us the anguish that
this life can hold, anguish thatsometimes we forget exists when
(05:34):
we look at the highlight reelsof everyone's lives.
It shows us how our God showsup to hold the anguish so we
don't have to Friends.
God designed us, which means hecan handle the raw and wrecked
emotions of humanity.
(05:54):
His shoulders are big enough tocarry it.
I wonder if Hannah everimagined that her pain,
thousands of years later, wouldbecome the blueprint for someone
else's prayer.
Our girl Hannah shows us how tobe authentic, how to surrender,
(06:17):
what faith in action looks like.
She was a model of holytransformation, god changing her
from the inside out, having herspirit encouraged before her
circumstances ever changed, andin scripture she gave us a
beautiful prayer of worship forGod.
(06:39):
Hannah shows us God is faithful.
He's faithful today just as hewas over 3000 years ago.
Sweet listeners, I hope herstory and her prayers that you
can learn to pour out your heartto God, to trust him and to
praise him like Hannah did.
(07:01):
Next time your heart's heavy,next time grief or rock bottom
hit my loves, remember Hannah,be encouraged and for God's
sakes literally for God's sakespray.
So we've seen the heartache ofHannah, we've seen the prayers
(07:24):
of heartache and grief and rockbottom.
I want to make a 180 degreepivot to the other side of life,
a life of overflowing with abold and unapologetic ask the
prayer of a little known mannamed Jabez.
I love this prayer.
(07:45):
I've said it since I was alittle girl.
It was written on my heart,probably at the ages I'm doing
the math, I would say about 8 to10.
I learned the prayer and Imemorized it, and I have recited
it countless times over theyears, countless times over the
(08:08):
years.
It is beautiful.
We find it nestled in 1Chronicles 4-10.
It's just one tiny little verse.
It changes everything though.
So 1 Chronicles 4, verse 10says Jebus cried out to the God
of Israel oh, that you wouldbless me, indeed, and enlarge my
territory, that you would blessme, indeed, and enlarge my
territory.
Let your hand be with me andkeep me from harm, so that I
(08:29):
will be free from pain.
And God granted his request.
Jabez came to the Lord full offaith, believing.
Believing God wanted to blesshim.
I think this is important topoint out, because how many
(08:50):
times have we stayed away fromthe throne of grace because we
felt unworthy of God's bestblessing?
Asking for a friend here, I'mthe friend, it's me right.
How many times have we notprayed because we're like oh, I
don't deserve that.
What Are you crazy?
Are you kidding me?
(09:10):
That's crazy talk.
The next thing Jabez does is heasks for an enlarged territory.
This isn't about physical land,okay.
This is about leadership,influence, opportunities and
reach.
How many times have we believedin our humanity that we needed
(09:33):
to pray for?
I don't know?
Just enough.
Just enough to get by.
Just a little bit, right?
I don't want to bug God.
Just give me just a little bitGod.
What if we began infusing thisidea of broad impact in our
prayers, loves?
We serve a God of more thanenough, abundance and
(09:56):
overflowing.
We can show up boldly with boldprayers and bold requests to
him.
Jabez asks for God's hand to bewith him because he knew he
needed God's presence, guidanceand strength to carry forth the
(10:16):
blessing.
God's blessing without God inthe picture is going to crush us
.
Just in case you didn't knowthat, I believe that is by
design.
I don't know about you but if Ican be honest, I don't want to
carry any blessing he gives mewithout him in the center.
I don't want to be in mymarriage without God.
(10:39):
I don't want to raise our sonwithout God.
I don't want to walk in aclassroom and teach without God.
I don't want to work withclients without God.
I want and need his hand inevery area of my life.
I don't know about you, but forme the risk of doing life
without God in the center isentirely too risky.
(11:03):
In the center is entirely toorisky.
Jabez asks God to keep him fromharm so that he will be free
from pain.
This is a deeply personal partof Jabez's prayer and I think it
has to do with breaking thegenerational things in life.
So Jabez's very name actuallymeans pain.
(11:27):
He didn't choose this label andchances are you're sitting
there in a life with labels thatyou didn't choose either.
This part of the prayer isabout breaking free from a
painful, oppressing,trauma-filled identity.
(11:47):
Jabez is telling God I want tobreak the cycle and not pass on
what I was born into.
Friends, we can pray our wayinto new storylines.
Nothing is too big for God thatI can promise you, that I can
bet my life on, and I don't bet.
(12:09):
The last five words of verse 10are basically heaven dropping
the mic.
And God granted his requestBoom, mic drop.
All the angels cheered.
These words confirmed thatheaven moved in response to one
(12:30):
man's prayer Out of all ofscripture, one little verse, one
little prayer heaven moved.
These words confirm that ourGod hears, our god responds and
our god has the power to writenew endings.
(12:53):
My loves I'm, if you'relistening today.
My question for you is will youdare to believe that your past
doesn't have to equal yourfuture?
And and with that one I guess Ihave a follow-up question Will
you dare to ask, like Jabez did?
(13:14):
And both of those questions aretruly dares because they take
so much courage and you will beblown away in the best way
possible by what you find on theother side of those questions.
So those are the stories of twoprayers, of Hannah and Tebez
(13:35):
two very different people withtwo very different cries to
heaven one in anguish and one inboldness.
God heard both of them and Godanswered both of them.
And God answered both of them.
My loves, I want you to hear mewhen I say that God is not
limited by our past, he's notlimited by our pain, and he
(14:00):
surely is not limited by our ask.
We can bring it all to himtoday.
He's got you.
I want to end this episodepraying over you, a prayer that
was inspired by Hannah and Jabez.
I pray these words meet youwhere you need them the most,
(14:31):
them the most Sovereign.
God, we come before you todaywith our hearts wide open, some
like Hannah's and some likeJabez's, and some somewhere in
between, for the sweet soul whoshowed up here in sorrow or
grief, with a heavy heart, withworries on their mind.
Remind them that you hear allprayers For the sweet soul who
(14:53):
showed up here unsure, stuck,afraid.
Help them to borrow Jebez'scourage.
Bless us indeed, father, notwith just enough for our needs,
but for more than enough tobless others.
Enlarge our territory on thisside of heaven, and not just in
(15:13):
a physical sense, butemotionally and spiritually too.
God, help us live in ways thatare bigger than us.
Let your hand be on us everystep, every mile, every journey,
keep us from harm, help us tobreak every limitation and chain
(15:34):
that binds us.
And Jesus is so good, soamazing, never-ending name.
We pray all of this Amen, myloves.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
You know to come back next timewe're going to throw more
(15:57):
encouragement and more scripturearound like confetti.
Be careful if you get too close, you are totally going to get
it all over you and rememberthere's always something to be
grateful for.
Ciao.
Thank you for joining me,desiree Melfi Bozzo, for this
episode of Life Out Loud.
I would love to hear from you.
(16:19):
Leave me a comment, tell mewhat topics you want to talk
about and how you take yourcoffee.
If you enjoyed what you heard,text a friend the link, share it
on social media.
Or if you're interested inbecoming a supporter, beep up
over to my webpage,lifeoutloudme, and sponsor a cup
(16:40):
of coffee that keeps thispodcast fueled.
Until next time, sweetlisteners.
Ciao and welcome to Life Out Loud.
I am your host, desireeMelfi-Bozzo.
We are going to use this spaceto share experiences and help
you find lasting, unshakable,unwavering, unmessable.
With joy and gratitude, we'regoing to be throwing around
encouragement a little bit likeconfetti, and giving you support
(00:27):
to live your very best life.
Ciao, friends, welcome toepisode five of season four of
the Life Out Loud podcast.
I'm the creator of this podcastand your host, desiree Melfi
Bozzo.
This season, you might know,we're focusing on prayers in
scripture that have shaped theworld.
(00:47):
In this episode, we're going totalk about two prayers that I
think you must know to get youthrough life.
Hopefully, at the end of ityou'll think you must know them
too the prayers of Hannah andthe prayer of Jabez.
So Hannah's prayers wereheartfelt and Jabez's prayer was
about as bold as they come.
(01:08):
All right, they're bothimportant in their own right to
have a place in our prayer life.
I like to think of this episodeas going from rock bottom to
overflowing Both positions.
We will 100% find ourselves inlife a time or few right.
So let's start off with ourgirl, hannah.
Her prayer we can find in 1Samuel 1 and 2, hannah was
(01:34):
barren, which means she couldn'thave children and in the day
and age in which Hannah lived,this was hugely problematic.
Which Hannah lived, this washugely problematic.
Living in that time there was avalue that was tied to the
ability for a woman to havechildren.
Hannah was taunted and Hannahwas misunderstood.
(01:55):
Her soul was in deep anguish inthis time.
I love Hannah's story because AI relate to the infertility
journey, which sucks.
But also I love Hannah's storybecause she didn't fake the
(02:15):
composure for the gram right,the gram of the ancient world.
She didn't pretend to have itall together in a perfectly
crafted reel.
She didn't pretend thateverything was great.
She wept and prayed and she wasreal.
There was a raw authenticityabout Hannah that I completely
(02:38):
admire.
I don't know about you, but Ido this weird thing where I
imagine what heaven might belike and like having coffee with
all the greats, like I can'twait to sit down and enjoy a
cafe latte with my girl Hannahup in heaven and just talk to
her about her journey and whatit must have been like.
(03:01):
Hannah poured out her soul toGod in 1 Samuel, in verse 11, we
see her make this vow in herprayer and she tells God if you
give me a son, I will give himback to you, and I think it's
really important to point outhere.
Hannah wasn't bargaining, shewas completely surrendering all
(03:25):
of it.
She knew if God blessed herwith a child, it wasn't hers to
keep.
It was God from the verybeginning right, it was his,
much like everything on thisside of heaven is.
In verse 17 and 18, we see ashift in Hannah because of her
(03:46):
prayer.
In verse 17, it reads Eli thepriest answered Go in peace and
may the God of Israel grant youwhat you have asked of him.
Verse 18, she said May yourservant find favor in your eyes.
Then she went on her way andate something and her face was
no longer downcast my loves.
(04:08):
Prayer changes everything.
Nothing changed in Hannah'scircumstance.
Like you have to know that thecircumstance didn't change.
Hannah was still not pregnant,hannah still hadn't bore a child
, but Her prayer changed hermindset.
(04:29):
It didn't change thecircumstance right away and
maybe it changed it never forsome of us but it changes the
mindset and the countenance ofourselves in an instant.
This is powerful.
Prayer is powerful.
In verse 20, we see that Hannahdid become pregnant and she
gave birth to a son.
She dedicated him to the Lord,just as she had said.
(04:52):
She lived out obedience Inverses 24 to 28,.
She fulfilled her vow that shemade to God.
In 1 Samuel 2, verses 1 through10, we see another prayer of
Hannah, a prayer of thanks andpraise to God, and in this she
(05:13):
declares the greatness of God,she exalts him and eloquently
proclaims that he is the sourceof everything.
I love Hannah's story becauseit shows us the anguish that
this life can hold, anguish thatsometimes we forget exists when
(05:34):
we look at the highlight reelsof everyone's lives.
It shows us how our God showsup to hold the anguish so we
don't have to Friends.
God designed us, which means hecan handle the raw and wrecked
emotions of humanity.
(05:54):
His shoulders are big enough tocarry it.
I wonder if Hannah everimagined that her pain,
thousands of years later, wouldbecome the blueprint for someone
else's prayer.
Our girl Hannah shows us how tobe authentic, how to surrender,
(06:17):
what faith in action looks like.
She was a model of holytransformation, god changing her
from the inside out, having herspirit encouraged before her
circumstances ever changed, andin scripture she gave us a
beautiful prayer of worship forGod.
(06:39):
Hannah shows us God is faithful.
He's faithful today just as hewas over 3000 years ago.
Sweet listeners, I hope herstory and her prayers that you
can learn to pour out your heartto God, to trust him and to
praise him like Hannah did.
(07:01):
Next time your heart's heavy,next time grief or rock bottom
hit my loves, remember Hannah,be encouraged and for God's
sakes literally for God's sakespray.
So we've seen the heartache ofHannah, we've seen the prayers
(07:24):
of heartache and grief and rockbottom.
I want to make a 180 degreepivot to the other side of life,
a life of overflowing with abold and unapologetic ask the
prayer of a little known mannamed Jabez.
I love this prayer.
(07:45):
I've said it since I was alittle girl.
It was written on my heart,probably at the ages I'm doing
the math, I would say about 8 to10.
I learned the prayer and Imemorized it, and I have recited
it countless times over theyears, countless times over the
(08:08):
years.
It is beautiful.
We find it nestled in 1Chronicles 4-10.
It's just one tiny little verse.
It changes everything though.
So 1 Chronicles 4, verse 10says Jebus cried out to the God
of Israel oh, that you wouldbless me, indeed, and enlarge my
territory, that you would blessme, indeed, and enlarge my
territory.
Let your hand be with me andkeep me from harm, so that I
(08:29):
will be free from pain.
And God granted his request.
Jabez came to the Lord full offaith, believing.
Believing God wanted to blesshim.
I think this is important topoint out, because how many
(08:50):
times have we stayed away fromthe throne of grace because we
felt unworthy of God's bestblessing?
Asking for a friend here, I'mthe friend, it's me right.
How many times have we notprayed because we're like oh, I
don't deserve that.
What Are you crazy?
Are you kidding me?
(09:10):
That's crazy talk.
The next thing Jabez does is heasks for an enlarged territory.
This isn't about physical land,okay.
This is about leadership,influence, opportunities and
reach.
How many times have we believedin our humanity that we needed
(09:33):
to pray for?
I don't know?
Just enough.
Just enough to get by.
Just a little bit, right?
I don't want to bug God.
Just give me just a little bitGod.
What if we began infusing thisidea of broad impact in our
prayers, loves?
We serve a God of more thanenough, abundance and
(09:56):
overflowing.
We can show up boldly with boldprayers and bold requests to
him.
Jabez asks for God's hand to bewith him because he knew he
needed God's presence, guidanceand strength to carry forth the
(10:16):
blessing.
God's blessing without God inthe picture is going to crush us
.
Just in case you didn't knowthat, I believe that is by
design.
I don't know about you but if Ican be honest, I don't want to
carry any blessing he gives mewithout him in the center.
I don't want to be in mymarriage without God.
(10:39):
I don't want to raise our sonwithout God.
I don't want to walk in aclassroom and teach without God.
I don't want to work withclients without God.
I want and need his hand inevery area of my life.
I don't know about you, but forme the risk of doing life
without God in the center isentirely too risky.
(11:03):
In the center is entirely toorisky.
Jabez asks God to keep him fromharm so that he will be free
from pain.
This is a deeply personal partof Jabez's prayer and I think it
has to do with breaking thegenerational things in life.
So Jabez's very name actuallymeans pain.
(11:27):
He didn't choose this label andchances are you're sitting
there in a life with labels thatyou didn't choose either.
This part of the prayer isabout breaking free from a
painful, oppressing,trauma-filled identity.
(11:47):
Jabez is telling God I want tobreak the cycle and not pass on
what I was born into.
Friends, we can pray our wayinto new storylines.
Nothing is too big for God thatI can promise you, that I can
bet my life on, and I don't bet.
(12:09):
The last five words of verse 10are basically heaven dropping
the mic.
And God granted his requestBoom, mic drop.
All the angels cheered.
These words confirmed thatheaven moved in response to one
(12:30):
man's prayer Out of all ofscripture, one little verse, one
little prayer heaven moved.
These words confirm that ourGod hears, our god responds and
our god has the power to writenew endings.
(12:53):
My loves I'm, if you'relistening today.
My question for you is will youdare to believe that your past
doesn't have to equal yourfuture?
And and with that one I guess Ihave a follow-up question Will
you dare to ask, like Jabez did?
(13:14):
And both of those questions aretruly dares because they take
so much courage and you will beblown away in the best way
possible by what you find on theother side of those questions.
So those are the stories of twoprayers, of Hannah and Tebez
(13:35):
two very different people withtwo very different cries to
heaven one in anguish and one inboldness.
God heard both of them and Godanswered both of them.
And God answered both of them.
My loves, I want you to hear mewhen I say that God is not
limited by our past, he's notlimited by our pain, and he
(14:00):
surely is not limited by our ask.
We can bring it all to himtoday.
He's got you.
I want to end this episodepraying over you, a prayer that
was inspired by Hannah and Jabez.
I pray these words meet youwhere you need them the most,
(14:31):
them the most Sovereign.
God, we come before you todaywith our hearts wide open, some
like Hannah's and some likeJabez's, and some somewhere in
between, for the sweet soul whoshowed up here in sorrow or
grief, with a heavy heart, withworries on their mind.
Remind them that you hear allprayers For the sweet soul who
(14:53):
showed up here unsure, stuck,afraid.
Help them to borrow Jebez'scourage.
Bless us indeed, father, notwith just enough for our needs,
but for more than enough tobless others.
Enlarge our territory on thisside of heaven, and not just in
(15:13):
a physical sense, butemotionally and spiritually too.
God, help us live in ways thatare bigger than us.
Let your hand be on us everystep, every mile, every journey,
keep us from harm, help us tobreak every limitation and chain
(15:34):
that binds us.
And Jesus is so good, soamazing, never-ending name.
We pray all of this Amen, myloves.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
You know to come back next timewe're going to throw more
(15:57):
encouragement and more scripturearound like confetti.
Be careful if you get too close, you are totally going to get
it all over you and rememberthere's always something to be
grateful for.
Ciao.
Thank you for joining me,desiree Melfi Bozzo, for this
episode of Life Out Loud.
I would love to hear from you.
(16:19):
Leave me a comment, tell mewhat topics you want to talk
about and how you take yourcoffee.
If you enjoyed what you heard,text a friend the link, share it
on social media.
Or if you're interested inbecoming a supporter, beep up
over to my webpage,lifeoutloudme, and sponsor a cup
(16:40):
of coffee that keeps thispodcast fueled.
Until next time, sweetlisteners.
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