Prayer Guide: Day 17

One of the heroes of the Old Testament is Job. You may remember his story. He lost his wealth, he lost his family, he lost his friends, he even lost the confidence of his wife, and eventually, he lost his health. What makes Job heroic isn’t that he made it through. It’s how he made it through. We can learn a great deal from his journey with God, which makes his story so valuable to us.

When we fast-forward to the end of the book of Job, we find a tremendous blessing in Jobs’ words concerning his own experience. We find it in Job 42, verses 5 and 6. “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” These two short verses show the culmination of Jobs’ trouble and how his experience changed his relationship with God. You see, Job realizes that before his tremendous trials, he believed he knew God. If asked if he knew God, his answer would have been a resounding “yes”! But he reveals here that rather than knowing God, he only knew of God or, in his words, “I had only heard about You before.” It’s an astounding revelation!  

But what changed for Job? What changed Job from a man who only seemed to know of God to one who saw God and himself differently? The storm. All of it. The tremendous trials Job experienced revealed who God was and, in addition, who he was. With every loss, Job began to know the true sustaining power of God’s grace and provision. It was a transformation so intense for Job that it led him to repent of all he thought God was before. Job had gone from second-hand knowledge to first-hand experience. And it changed his life. In his devotional, New Morning Mercies, Paul Tripp says, “In love, God lets the pieces of the creation die in your hands so increasingly we are freed up from asking earth to give us what only He can give.”

What trial are you facing today? What burden are you bearing that seems too much? Know, child of God, that the Father is in the midst of all of it, teaching and reminding you who He is and, ultimately, your strength and contentment come from Him. 

Personal Prayer Focus 
As you pray today, ask the Lord to use the trials you are walking through to bring you closer to him. Ask him to reveal himself to you that you may know him intimately and surrender to his Lordship in every area of your life.

West Ridge Prayer Focus 
We believe that the church is the hope of the world. As the Body of Christ, we carry the mission to share the love and hope of Jesus to the lost and lonely. This is why we are so committed to church planting around the globe. Today let’s pray for all our church planters and for our Engage Churches staff (Kevin Dunlap and Renea Davis) as they seek to equip and serve the church planters in our care.