Helpless? Never!

"My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly."
Job 42:8

     Do you ever feel helpless when a friend comes to you with a mountainous problem?

     God held Job in high esteem. In the beginning of the book of Job, God boasts to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him, he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." (Job 1:8) Imagine God, thumbs under his suspenders, rocking back on his heels, mouth upturned at one corner, bragging. Would he say such about me? As memory of my sins loom before me, I doubtfully scoff.

     However, if, by the graceful redemption of Jesus, I stand against evil, in fear of the Lord, perhaps then God could boast? Like the apostle Paul, I say, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14) Then, with the power of the cross infusing my soul, I'd pray for my friends and God would accept my prayer on their behalf and not "deal with them according to their folly."

     Two people I know and love have come to mind as I write this. Both have been shocked and rocked by tragedies. Both need prayer desperately. They have both come to me, pouring out their hearts' lament and, although I cannot remedy their situation, I can pray! There is power in prayer.

     Lord God, my fervent prayer for my friends is this: carry them to pastures green, make them lie down beside still waters and restore their souls. By the power of the cross, accept my prayer. Amen.