Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words. [Job 2:13 (NLT)]
When his life turned from riches to rags and all he loved and possessed (along with his health) was taken from him, Job’s friends came and silently sat with him on the ground for seven days. While this seems odd to us, it was perfectly normal in Job’s day. Seven days was the traditional mourning period and tradition held that those visiting a mourner weren’t to speak until the mourner spoke first. As it turned out, his friends’ compassionate silence was the kindest thing they did for Job. Things rapidly went downhill as soon as the three men opened their mouths!
Reflecting a sort of retribution theology—that good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people—Job’s friends were sure that his troubles were divine retribution for his sins. Ignoring their knowledge of Job, a man Scripture described as “the finest man on earth…blameless…a man of integrity” who “fears God and stays away from evil,” they wanted him to repent of his unnamed sins so that God would stop punishing him. While Job’s friends were quick to accuse him of being an unrepentant sinner, there is no mention of them praying for or with him. In fact, in the end, it is Job who prays for them.
If Job were a friend of mine, his name would be on my prayer list; he’d fit right in with the rest of the names on it. There are people with depression, addictions, cancer, MS, Parkinson’s, heart disease, and dementia. There are caregivers, sick babies, parents of troubled children and children with troubled parents. Some are mourning the loss of loved ones while others are in recovery, hospice, or dire financial straits. There are people who have no faith and others who are struggling to keep their faith. Unlike Job’s friends, however, I don’t blame them for their troubles but, like Job’s friends, I do want their lives to improve. I want every one of them to be happy, healed, and whole. I want their issues resolved, their problems solved, their health restored, and their goals achieved.
Unfortunately, it is not my will that will be done—if it were, there would be “happily ever after” endings to all their stories. In the end, it is God’s plan that will prevail, not mine. Just as I don’t know the cause of my friends’ problems, I don’t know the solutions to their difficulties. Nevertheless, I do know the One who has the solutions to their trials and the answers to their questions. As believers, rather than trying to figure out what God should do, we must trust Him in the suffering, tragedies, and uncertainties of this life. God alone is the source of all wisdom. As we offer our intercessions, let us take comfort in Paul’s words that the Holy Spirit knows for what we should pray. While we may be at a loss for the right words, the Holy Spirit never is.
Heavenly Father, give us compassionate and understanding hearts for our hurting friends. Let us know when supportive silence is better than anything we could ever say to them. Help us focus our prayers on your will rather than our desires. Reassure those for whom we pray of your loving-kindness and strengthen their weary spirits. May they have peace in their circumstances, discover joy in their troubles, hear your voice clearly, follow your directions willingly, and be filled with hope for the future.
Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what he can do. [Andrew Murray]
In a book about evangelism, the author wrote of bringing a new believer into his office and the two of them saying the “Sinner’s Prayer.” After the new believer repeated the Pastor’s words, he was pronounced saved. While there is no official version of this “sinner’s” prayer, it probably goes something like this: “God, I know that I am a sinner and that I deserve to go to hell. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I do now receive Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord, for saving me and forgiving me! Amen.” Many evangelical Christians speak of saying some sort of prayer like this at the moment of conversion. Is a special “Sinner’s Prayer” a requirement for salvation?
While there are no hard and fast rules about prayer except to believe in it and do it, some people use acronyms to help organize their prayers. The PRAY method stands for Praise, Repent, Ask, and Yield while the ACTS method formats prayer into Admiration (praise), Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (asking God for what is needed). A TACOS prayer structure is Thanks, Adoration (or Applause), Confession, Others, and Self. Rather than an acronym, I was taught “The Hand of Prayer” as a girl. Beginning with the thumb, the order was Praise, Thanksgiving, Confession, Intercession (prayer for others), and Petition (prayer for oneself).
While touring an historic house, the elaborately set dinner table reminded me of the large formal dinner parties we had in our younger (and more energetic) days. I’d start preparing the table in advance by adding extra leaves to the table, gathering the extra chairs, and ironing out the creases in the damask tablecloth. From the cupboard in the basement, I’d haul up the crystal salad plates, my mother’s Lenox china, and the hand-painted Bavarian service plates and Czechoslovakian dessert plates that were my grandmother’s. I’d spend hours polishing the silverware and serving pieces. The service plates were set out, the silverware laid, the crystal wine and water goblets carefully placed at each setting, and the napkins artfully folded. I’d set out the silver candlesticks, put in fresh candles, get flowers from the florist, and create what I hoped would be the perfect Martha Stewart-worthy table setting. There was plenty more work to do in the kitchen. I’d spend days perusing recipes, planning the menu, making lists, purchasing food, and preparing it all. I loved doing it because I loved the people for whom I did it. Nevertheless, as nice as my guests were and as much as they enjoyed themselves, I’m not sure they truly appreciated how much effort went into everything that on that table.
Every evening, a man went to the local pub and ordered three beers. When asked why three, he explained that he ordered the two extra beers in honor of his two dear brothers who lived far away. One evening, when the man ordered only two beers, the bartender assumed the worst and extended sympathy for the loss of a brother. Correcting the bartender, the man said his brothers were both fit as fiddles and the beers were for them. “It’s me that’s not drinking tonight,” he explained. “You see, I’ve given up beer for Lent!”
Whenever I asked about her boys, my sister would give a vague answer like, “They’re fine…just doing their own thing” It was several years before I learned “their own thing” meant they were breaking her mama’s heart with their mental illness, addictions, and run-ins with the law. Because she kept her pain concealed, she carried the weight of that burden alone for many years.
Devotions of the Heart 