Sincere Prayer for Job’s Comforters

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

“After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has’” (Job 42:7, NIV).

These words come across to me as majestic. I love how the book of Job describes God’s voice, “The Lord spoke… out of the storm” (Job 38:1). This rebuke of Eliphaz and his two cohorts came with lightning and thunder. God could not have been more passionate about what He was saying to them. Isn’t it an amazing thought, that with this kind of energy, the Lord of the universe was defending Job?

He will do the same for you. You can leave it up to Him to stick up for you any time others speak wrongly about you. You can depend on Him to vindicate you on any occasion that people in your life attempt to condemn you. He will do this in a way that absolutely no one can deny. It will be “as clear as day.” His defense of you will be as brilliant as “the noonday sun” (Ps. 37:4, NIV).

A few things about this, though. This dramatic acting on your behalf may not be as quick as you would greatly prefer. For thirty-four noticeably prolonged chapters, God allowed these three men to go on and on and on, spouting their opinions to and about Job. I can imagine Him sitting on His throne, listening closely to every word, growing increasingly indignant. This was His kid! The one person on earth who loved Him the very most!

And yet He waited. Endurance must finish its work, that we might be mature and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:4, CEB). He waited until exactly the right moment, and then He burst through on the scene with this very personal display of the immensity of His power. He redressed every wrong and set everything right. He left no injustice unconfronted.

Yet, in the midst of it all, He also put His mercy on display. After making their error exceedingly clear to them, He gave them the opportunity to repent and be forgiven. What is even more striking is that He brought Job into the story of their restoration. Job was the one He chose to pray for their forgiveness.

It’s a good thing Job was willing. “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10, NIV). We can’t miss this. His own restoration came after he partnered with God for the release of mercy to the ones who had mistreated him. After and not before.

When you and I are willing to pray for those that have mistreated us, it releases double for our trouble. It unlocks restoration for all of us people that God so loves. What a breathtaking privilege it is, to partner with Him in this way that so closely resembles the heart posture of our Savior! We get to breathe out Jesus’ own words: “Father, forgive them, for the do not know what they do.”

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Do you have any experiences to share of praying for an individual who maligned you? If so, what do you remember about that time? How did it impact you?

10 thoughts on “Sincere Prayer for Job’s Comforters”

  1. Amen!🙏🏼 Ugh. Last year I went through an awful custody dispute over my youngest son. His father passed away, and my son’s grandmother was not someone I trusted. She lashed out at me and I backed away. So then she filed for partial custody of my son.😱 At the start, she sought every other weekend, Friday evening to Sunday evening, the same as what some parents get. After spending thousands of dollars and now being in debt, after enduring horrible treatment from her (although I, at times, did respond in ways I am not proud of), and after PRAYING for God to work some sort of miracle and praying for this person’s heart to be softened, God did a miracle…he changed me. I believe He changed this other person as well, but through softening MY heart and giving me the ability to endure, to tolerate, and to not respond in kind, he totally flipped the situation on its head. She gets my son twice monthly, from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, which is much more manageable, and I am at peace with it. The two of us also communicate now, as one might expect a normal parent-grandparent relationship to be. She has interaction with my other two children (who have a different father). God works miracles for sure! When we get out of the way and are obedient! Amen!❤️

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    1. Melissa, I am deeply touched by what you have shared here. I immediately recognize that the experience you have described was incredibly important in your journey in Jesus. I am so, so proud of you! I can just about hear Him cheering for you in my spirit. I get a picture of Him jumping up and down with excitement and joy, for your willingness to allow Him to work His beauty in you in such a profound and costly way. I am celebrating you with HIm!

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  3. Thank you for this Jennifer, I had somehow totally missed that Job departed from focusing on his own misery and instead ministered to the needs of his critical friends.

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  4. I once had a coworker several of us didn’t get along with very well. A member of the 12 Step group I was attending suggested I pray for her instead of badmouthing her. I was beginning to suspect that part of the problem was she didn’t like her job too well. So I began to pray that she would get an irresistible job offer … from somewhere else. Within a short time she actually did get an offer for a job with a fancy title and much more money than she was currently making. She was ecstatic and so was I, because I no longer had to work with her. I’d say that was win-win.

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