For the past three days I have been hearing the Holy Spirit say, “And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10)

When we are in a battle, financially, relationally, physically, or mentally the default position is to think about only ourselves. We tend to hunker down, pull in the belt, isolate ourselves and make it all about us. I am not sure if that is our fear of showing weakness; our belief we need to work this out on our own; or a result of our individualistic cultural mindset. No matter the reason, the answer is not found in going through it alone, thinking only about ourselves, the answer is in praying for our friends.

The kingdom of God has the most creative unconventional solutions to our problems. We may consider them foolish, so we ignore them, but the Holy Spirit keeps nudging me with this verse in Job 42:10 “And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

If you have friends you know what they are going through. Friends share with each other what they are struggling with. Some people take that information and make it gossip, others take that information and make it prayer. The difference between gossip and prayer is about who you are sharing the information with. When we pray for our friends, God boomerangs our prayers and sends us help in our situation.

When I hear of a friend in financial trouble, I pray for them and then God blesses my finances. When I hear of a friend who is grieving the death of a loved one, I pray for them and God comforts me in my grief of a lost relationship. When I know of a family or marriage struggle, I pray for them and then I hear of God working behind the scenes in my family and marriage. Friends, our job is not to pray for and worry about our own issues, we are being invited to pray for our friends and in doing so, God will take care of what we are struggling with and He will restore double. Just ask Job.