Praying For Your Friends

And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ” My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord commanded them; for the Lord had accepted Job. And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave twice as much as he had before. Job 42:7-10

What’s that statement?  ” With friends like this, who needs enemies! ” The story of Job is intriguing enough, with celestial false accustations from Satan to God about the character of Job, but here in our text, his three would-be comforters failed miserably in their efforts to ease Job’s pain. Instead of bringing sympathy, they delivered accusations that only compounded his anguish. Now let it be known that God doesn’t like it very much of anyone going around saying falsely things about Him. He doesn’t like to be misquoted, or having someone speak things for Him that He has not said. God here directly vindicates Job by saying that Job had spoken right about God in rejecting the error of his friends counsel. Which they are then rebuked for those misrepresentations of insensitivity and presumptious arrogance. Yet, inspite of all this, Job was able to emerge from his circumstances of pain and losses triumphantly, a significant step forward in that victory, was his willingness to trust in God and pray for his friends. Think about it. The story of Job is indeed about his longsuffering and endurance of losses that even his own wife would give him the counsel: Then his wife said to him, ” Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die! “(Job 2:9) meaning death under these circumstances would be better than living. She added temptation to his affliction because she advised him to sin. Yet, the Bible says in all these things Job did not sin with his lips (v.10). To pray for someone who has hurt you, is only possible if you have God’s viewpoint instead of your own. Job indeed prayed for these friends who had falsely critcized and accused them, the result being that God honored his prayers. And Job had the delight of seeing his three friends turning to God and seeking His forgiveness. Paul wrote in Romans: ” If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head” Do not be overc0me by evil, but overcome evil with good.(Romans 12:20-21)  Jesus says something similar in the Sermon on the mount, ” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who spitefully use you and persecute you,”(Matthew 5:44). And we know that when we pray for others, God brings them blessings.

Jesus also prayed for His friends (John 17:6-19), despite their frequent failings. Even with the agony of the cross approaching, Jesus prayed for Peter even though He knew Peter would deny Him three times: And the Lord said, ” Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”(Luke 22:31-34) How awesome is that! Jesus personally assured Peter of His prayers and of Peter’s ultimate victory, you can’t get any higher authority over man, than Jesus’ praying for you, even encouraging Peter to be an encourager to others! No doubt by him praying for others after he was restored, writing the epistles to the church, leaving us a godly example of what restored means.

Beloved friend, Jesus Christ has prayed for you and me too! You can read of His prayer to His Father in John 17:20-26, His work of prayer which began before His death and resurrection continues even to this day. Even though at times we act more like His enemies that His friends, Jesus Christ is in His Father’s presence interceding for us: Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them(Hebrews 7:25). Following Christ’s example, shouldn’t we pray for our friends and acquaintances too? Even if they have hurt us in the past. Job’s earthly losses were restored two-fold, and he died in prosperity. We should know as Christians, that our inheritance is awaiting us, a glorious kingdom in the presence of God, we are storing away treasures to be rewarded to us at that time, through our prayers for others and deeds done in serving Christ. For the Christian, inspite of times of suffering in this life, the best is yet to come!

May the Lord bless your walk with Him today!

Author: rontrujillo

Married 37 years We have six children. All of whom are adult. Three are married one of them blessed us with three beautiful grandchildren. Retired Firefighter @ Boeing Aircraft 37 years (Formally McDonnell Douglas) Born Again Summer of 1981 View all posts by rontrujillo