A Pure Prayer
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have laid my strength in the dust. My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness, although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
Job 16:15-17
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A Pure Prayer
A picture of defeat. This is what Job describes here. Rough sackcloth coves the painful sore of his body, and he lays face down in the dirt. Tears stain his face, and he is without words. Job is a broken man. Broken by his circumstances, broken by the suffering and pain, broken by the “help” from his friends. Yet in the midst of this all, Job still has confidence that his prayer is pure. Though he did not know why the suffering and pain had come to him, he did know it was not payback for some violence in his hand. The devil ultimately wanted to inflict upon Job all these troubles not to destroy his life, but to destroy his faith. Yet he does not succeed. Job continues to trust in God, even through all of these calamities. He does not “curse God and die” as was suggested earlier. Instead, he seeks refuge in God and turn to Him in prayer. Likewise, we too, when overwhelmed with the attacks of the devil, turn to God in prayer. For Christ hears the prayers of the faithful and answers them. He carries the burdens we cannot. As we are reminded in our hymn,
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer. (LSB 770)
Job 16:15-17
+
A Pure Prayer
A picture of defeat. This is what Job describes here. Rough sackcloth coves the painful sore of his body, and he lays face down in the dirt. Tears stain his face, and he is without words. Job is a broken man. Broken by his circumstances, broken by the suffering and pain, broken by the “help” from his friends. Yet in the midst of this all, Job still has confidence that his prayer is pure. Though he did not know why the suffering and pain had come to him, he did know it was not payback for some violence in his hand. The devil ultimately wanted to inflict upon Job all these troubles not to destroy his life, but to destroy his faith. Yet he does not succeed. Job continues to trust in God, even through all of these calamities. He does not “curse God and die” as was suggested earlier. Instead, he seeks refuge in God and turn to Him in prayer. Likewise, we too, when overwhelmed with the attacks of the devil, turn to God in prayer. For Christ hears the prayers of the faithful and answers them. He carries the burdens we cannot. As we are reminded in our hymn,
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer. (LSB 770)
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