JOB 42:10 And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

In my office in Lincoln, Nebraska, I have on my desk two boomerangs from Australia. One is the genuine article, the other is a tourist version, but they both do what boomerangs are suppose to do. If you hold them the right way and throw them with that special flick of the wrist, they will fly out from your hand, circle back around and return to you. With a boomerang, what you send out also comes back.

Job experienced the same thing with the prayer. Job’s three friends found themselves in deep trouble with God. 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” (Job 42:7). Having been on the receiving end of these misguided barbs, Job might have been tempted to rejoice that God was setting these men straight. But instead, at God’s request, he prayed for them. And as he prayed for their forgiveness and restoration, God turned these prayers for blessing back onto Job and restored twice as much as Job had before.

When people have hurt and offended us, we often pray that God will help them see the error of their ways. And should God choose to extract a bit of vengeance, we wouldn’t be opposed to that either. But the real joy comes if we can put our pains behind us and pray for God’s blessing on them. Jesus says, “Do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt 5:44). We are to pray for their good, not for their harm.

If you have been the object of someone’s misunderstanding, pray for that person. Ask God to richly bless them. You will be surprised to find that blessings may boomerang back to you as well.

PRAYING FOR OTHERS IS THE BEST THING WE CAN DO FOR OURSELVES.

Woodrow Kroll
www.backtothebible.in