Even though Jabez had a primitive, self-serving understanding of God, he found the courage to refuse to despair. If we are lenient in our biblical exegesis, expansive in our exposition and fair in setting it into the circumstances of his life, we can see great wisdom in the prayer of Jabez and we begin to see why the Chronicler stops his listing to bring up a few comments about Jabez. What a burden to carry through your life. Names, particularly in the Bible, were an expression of your personhood. This kid realized early on he had a problem.
Names are important.
Alexander Campbell was the founder of our denomination. He had several children with his first wife, married again and had several more children. Alexander Campbell had so many children he ran out of names and started numbering them. As he grew into his adult life, he outgrew his weight problem, but he never outgrew his nickname. All the nephews and nieces called him 'Uncle Fat.