Job 1:4-5 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Job 1:13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job was a man of great faith. He was a man that believed in the power of prayer, he would sacrifice burnt offerings unto the Lord for his sons, the implication is that prayer accompanies sacrifice. He would pray for his sons when they would get together on their day. The reason for the prayers was that his sons may have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. This was a father that was concerned about the welfare of his children and would go to God in hopes of keeping them in right relationship with the Lord.
The Bible doesn’t give us the reason, but after Job receives the news that he had lost his livestock, many of his servants and then his children, he “…arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped.” The Bible tells us that his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in there eldest brother’s house. Job’s habit was to sacrifice and pray for his children when they got together, could it be that Job was praying for his children at the very time he received word of their death? I know this is an assumption on my part, however I believe it could be the case.
My point is, that those of us that believe in the power of prayer must admit that we have had our prayers go unanswered, had them answered in a way we would never have expected, or have the exact opposite of what we were praying for happen. These times can be frustrating for us and test our faith. I was speaking with a mother who’s son was murdered and she said, “Why bother praying? I always prayed for God to watch over and protect my son, then this happened.” I had to swallow hard and say a quick prayer myself before answering her.
I pointed out to her that God hears all of our prayers and it is not an exercise in futility, we can’t always know what the will of God is in every situation. I used the example of Job to try to make a point to her. Job’s children’s story ended the day that they died, but Job’s story continued on. As a matter of fact, his story is still encouraging people today, thousands of years later. We can’t always see life from God’s perspective, we won’t get all our answers immediately.
The Bible tells us that Job arose, but then he fell down and worshipped. He trusted that God knew what He was doing, even though Job had no idea what the Lord was up to. He surrendered his will to the will of God. Even though his heart was breaking and he was suffering unimaginable heartache, he sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
When our prayers go unanswered or the things we pray don’t turn out the way we ask, we need to trust God with the results. We must continue to pray for other situations and believe we will see them answered. I have seen many prayers not answered the way that I wanted them to. However, I have also seen God move in some miraculous ways in answer to prayer, ways that can only be explained by saying, “That’s God.”
Don’t stop praying, don’t stop believing, don’t stop trusting. GOD LOVES YOU!