"Then Job replied to the LORD: . . .

"Then Job replied to the LORD: . . .

'I take back everything I said,

And I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.'

After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite:

'I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.'

So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before!"

 

God restored (and even doubled) Job's fortunes only after Job prayed for his friends. Perhaps that was the one thing Job needed to do to be fully healed and restored. He got right with God, but also needed to get over the bitterness toward his friends who failed him in his hour of need. Could it be that God will not prosper us until we're right in all our relationships? And could it be that when we pray for others and seek their good, it results in our own blessing?