Job 42:10
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Whew! I finished the book of Job again! No matter how many times I read it, it is a difficult read because of all of his suffering and I always want to reach out and slap a knot on his “friends” heads! They were so mean to him, the poor guy is suffering on every level, seeing no possible end to his own pain and they were condemning and just straight up hateful all the way through it! Satan sure did his best to get Job to sin! After all of that, God told Job’s friends that they needed Job to pray for them, why do you think that was?

Prayer does more to change the person praying than it does the people they are praying for!

After all Job had been through, God knew that Job’s heart would heal faster if he didn’t hold on to any resentment he might have felt toward those men after all the terrible things they said to him during his time of suffering! Prayer is a wonderful thing and it is one more thing that God does that we don’t totally understand, there’s so much more there than we recognize. Our prayer life will tell a lot about our relationship with God!

Praying not only draws you closer to God, it is like medicine for your soul! So often we see prayer as a way to ask God for the things we need and want and there is that aspect, but it is a time to increase our faith, a time to heal, a time to forgive and be forgiven and a time to feel His presence! Satan works very hard to keep you from reading the Word of God and certainly from communicating with Him! Praying reveals to us that God cares enough about us individually to listen and communicate with us. By having Job pray for His friends, it gave Job the opportunity to forgive them and to get his heart right with God at the same time, it was a time to heal. Because of his obedience, God blessed Job more than he had been blessed before!

Has someone hurt you deeply? Matthew 5:44, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,” When you can bring yourself to the point where you can pray for that person, it will heal your heart as well as change those you are praying for. God will not force those other people to change, but by praying and opening yourself up to Him, it gives Him the opportunity to do amazing things in your heart and life!

God loves you, He would like to hear from you! Open your heart up to praying for whatever He brings to your mind and heart to pray for even if it seems overwhelming and uncomfortable to do. If your marriage is suffering and you are on the verge of throwing in the towel, pray, pray for him or her with a heart for their benefit, not yours. Don’t pray for God to discipline them, let him make that call, pray for God to bless them and work in their hearts and reveal truth! Is your boss straight up wicked some days? Pray for him/her, don’t look for revenge! Whatever it is that God is speaking to your heart about to pray about, just do it! Trust Him! The best is yet to come!

Quote:
The answer pushed the boy to another question, “What if neither my heart nor mind can help me find the way?” And Jacob answered, “Prayer is a path where there is none.” Noah benShea, “Jacob the Baker