The objections to books like The Prayer of Jabez center on two main points. One is theological, and the other is moral.
If there is a prayer for the believer to pattern his life around... is it the one found in an obscure text of Old Testament never again quoted? It would seem to me that the Lord's Prayer has much more to recommend itself than Jabez. It's in both Matthew and Luke, and was given expressly as a pattern, unlike Jabez. When the disciples asked Christ to teach them to pray, He did not say, "You know this man Jabez? This is how you should pray." Not at all. He said, "When you pray, say: 'Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven....'" (Luke 11:2) and so on and so forth.
The Prayer of Jabez is sorely lacking in much that the Lord's prayer communicates. The Lord's Prayer begins with worship ("Hallowed be thy name") and a proper understanding of God as Sovreign, and by extension, our relationship to Him as dependent servants ("thy kingdom come, thy will be done...."). Only then does the Lord's prayer make a request for even the basic necessities of life (daily bread), but not without acknowleging our unworthiness and asking for forgiveness.
I challange you to find anywhere near that amount in the Prayer of Jabez. The best anyone has come up with was that he prayed for an enlarged ministry, which is dubious to me, at best. All I can see is that the man prayed for more land, and that he wouldn't "cause pain."
And as for the reciting it every day bit... that seems to me "vain reptition," which is derided in the Sermon the Mount.
Then there's the question of all the merchandising going on in the name of Jabez... tshirts... cd's... keychains... bumper stickers... coffee cups. What's next? Jabez:the Lunchbox? Jabez: The Breakfast Cereal?
We would be better off saying a prayer of deep repentance and death to self each and every day.