What an awesome ending of grace and mercy. Job repents and receives renewed life! He is blessed even more now, than before.
Job's friends too, are forgiven, after Job prays for them. The LORD tells them that Job will pray for them and God will forgive them. Job does and the LORD does. Isn't that interesting? Is this, "pray for his friends," a command to Job? Or... does God know, in advance, that Job will do this for them? It does bring about some questions regarding prayer. Actually, a question I was given the answer to many years ago.
About 10 years ago, I took a sabbatical to practice the discipline of prayer. I kayaked from the mouth of the Huron River to Ontonagon, MI. The purpose was to study the life of Bishop Frederick Baraga, the first Bishop to the Marquette Diocese and missionary to the Native Americans. He was an ardent prayer, rising early, much as Martin Luther and many other evangelists that left huge footprints on the earth in regards to mission work. Waking up early to spend large amounts of time in disciplined prayer didn't work so well. At least, not in the way I had hoped for. I had hoped to be able to discipline myself for prayer at specific hours with specific purposes. What I found instead was that I would pray for the people whose homes I paddles by. I would talk to God spontaneously; not with requests, but just random conversations, and out of boredom with myself, I prayed the catechism over and over. But, the main thing I learned about prayer, for myself, out on the water was: But, for the grace of God, I cannot pray.
Just as somehow, God inspires or commands or whatever He has done that has Job praying for those friends who persecuted him, the Holy Spirit inspires us to pray. The Holy Spirit prays through us. It is not our work. It is a work, it is a gift of God. But, for the grace of God, we cannot even pray.
May the LORD, teach us to pray.
God's Peace - Pr. J
Job's friends too, are forgiven, after Job prays for them. The LORD tells them that Job will pray for them and God will forgive them. Job does and the LORD does. Isn't that interesting? Is this, "pray for his friends," a command to Job? Or... does God know, in advance, that Job will do this for them? It does bring about some questions regarding prayer. Actually, a question I was given the answer to many years ago.
About 10 years ago, I took a sabbatical to practice the discipline of prayer. I kayaked from the mouth of the Huron River to Ontonagon, MI. The purpose was to study the life of Bishop Frederick Baraga, the first Bishop to the Marquette Diocese and missionary to the Native Americans. He was an ardent prayer, rising early, much as Martin Luther and many other evangelists that left huge footprints on the earth in regards to mission work. Waking up early to spend large amounts of time in disciplined prayer didn't work so well. At least, not in the way I had hoped for. I had hoped to be able to discipline myself for prayer at specific hours with specific purposes. What I found instead was that I would pray for the people whose homes I paddles by. I would talk to God spontaneously; not with requests, but just random conversations, and out of boredom with myself, I prayed the catechism over and over. But, the main thing I learned about prayer, for myself, out on the water was: But, for the grace of God, I cannot pray.
Just as somehow, God inspires or commands or whatever He has done that has Job praying for those friends who persecuted him, the Holy Spirit inspires us to pray. The Holy Spirit prays through us. It is not our work. It is a work, it is a gift of God. But, for the grace of God, we cannot even pray.
May the LORD, teach us to pray.
God's Peace - Pr. J
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