After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.

It’s not that I want to be prosperous or have twice as much as I had before, but I do think there is a longing inside of me to feel God’s hand of blessing in some fashion as if He is saying, “Here, Tammy, you have been faithful through the storm now let me show You how much I loved you through it all.”

And it’s really not that I feel deprived, ignored, neglected, or abandoned by God; although there are times when it is difficult to not look around and say, “Why did they get a miracle?” or “Why does their life look so easy?”

No.

Neither one of those thought processes are the ones that struck me this morning in my quiet time when I read the verse above.

It was the part where the Bible says,

“After Job had prayed for his friends,”

Wow.

There’s the next level for me.

See Job had some great friends who gave him some not-so-great advice.
God even scolded them for their babbling and made them bring sacrifices to Job so he could pray for them.

Don’t we all have friends who from time to time, whether they know it or not, just say or do things that hurt our already hurting hearts?

Friends who seem to have all the answers when there really aren’t any.

Friends who are so close one minute and then seem to disappear the next.

Friends who somehow seem to have figured out “why” things happen when in reality we’ll never know “why” while we’re on this planet.

Friends who appear to have God’s line of reasoning figured out when tragedy strikes, as if there is a formula and somehow they have solved it……….thus protecting them from ever being in our shoes.

That’s the kind of friends Job had surrounding him as he sat in sackcloth and ashes.

Poor Job.

But then again, I’ve been one of those kinds of friends many times myself.

And I probably will be again without even knowing it.

So, as I read that verse this morning, I knew God was asking me to go to the next level in my prayer life so that I can honestly, wholeheartedly, and unconditionally PRAY for my friends. All of them. Not just the ones I feel safe around. Not just the ones who bring me true comfort. Not just the ones who make me feel good.

No.

God is calling me to a deeper prayer life, and that means letting go of some deep-rooted hurt.

Shew.

2010.

The year to “release.”

I just didn’t know I had so much inside me to let go of.

Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me through Your Word.

Help me release any tucked away hurt, resentment, anger, or pain. And place a guard over my mouth when words are not necessary so that I can become the kind of friend you want me to be.

But most of all, Lord, help me become a prayer warrior who doesn’t play favorites.

Longing to go to the next level,