Four years ago, in the height of Covid, masks and social distancing, my son left for college. We weren’t sure what the next four years would hold. He wasn’t sure either.

Would he make friends? Good friends? I mean the right kind of friends? And in a world where everyone is either staring down at their phone and/or wearing a mask (and you can’t tell if they’re smiling or scowling), would it be even possible to make new friends?

For the first few weeks of school, every time we spoke on the phone, I’d ask the same set of questions.

Did you sleep okay? Did you eat?
What did you eat? Was it good?
Did you make any new friends today?

Thankfully, my son was eating and sleeping just fine, and he was meeting nice people almost every day.

But about 3 weeks into the school year, after I asked my usual set of questions, he had a specific request. “Mama, I am making friends but could you pray that I make like minded Christian friends.”

In 1 Chronicles 4, we read about a man who also prayed a very specific prayer. His name was Jabez.

Right in the middle of the begats (between Helah giving birth to Zerath & Kelub fathering Mehir), the writer of 1 Chronicles takes a break from the genealogies to tell us about a man named Jabez.

“There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. HE WAS THE ONE WHO PRAYED to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request.” (1 Chronicles 4:9,10)

There is so much that has been gleaned and dissected from these two very dense verses. Jabez’s actual prayer is usually the focus…but what caught my attention is the description of Jabez, just before the prayer begins. He was honorable, and…

“He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me…”

Friends, God hears every word we pray.

I can come to Him, not as an entitled child, but as His child, asking my loving Father for help in anything, and trusting that he hears me! And in His great wisdom and in His great love for me, He will do what is best.

So going back to my son’s specific prayer request.

The very next time I spoke to him, I could hardly believe his answer to my “Did you make any new friends today?” question.

“I actually did!” He then proceeded to tell me about a couple of “like minded, good, Godly guys” he met down the hall of his dorm!

The following year, one of those guys became one of his roommates and as iron sharpens iron, it was just a drop in the bucket of what God would do in and through Josh’s life throughout the next four years.

A few months ago, as we celebrated my son’s graduation, I looked at him, I looked over at the huge crowd of guys who came to celebrate him and I looked up to God- the One who heard this mama’s prayer.

As we send our kids back to school, remember, God hears our prayers! So keep praying!!! Who knows, maybe it’ll be recorded somewhere in heaven..

“She was the one who prayed, “Oh, that you would give my child like minded friends who love You…and God granted her request.”

~Binu