Praying for Those Who Hurt You

Scripture:

Job 42:10 "When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes.  In fact the Lord gave him twice as much as before".

Observation:

Jobs friends had said a lot of bad things about him during the time of his trial.  They were looking for why he was being punished by God and in the process, they said many hurtful things to him about his life, his integrity, etc.  When God was ready to bless Job again, he asked Job to pray for his friends.  As he obeyed God in this area, everything he ever had was restored double.

Application:

Jesus told us to pray for our enemies and bless those who persecute you and say all manner of evil against us falsely.  Job is an example of someone who was falsely accused and persecuted by his friends.  When he prayed for them, his fortunes were restored double.  The best thing I can do when ministry or life hurts is to pray for those who did the hurting.  As I pray for them, God opens the floodgates of heaven my direction.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, I want to be a person who doesn't fight back when falsely accused, persecuted or simply lied about.  I want to be a person who prays for those who hurt me.  I want to remain under the hand of Your blessing.  Help me to respond well when things don't go as I planned.  Teach me to follow the voice of Your Spirit throughout my life.

Yours,
Jeff