“And the L-RD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the L-RD gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

What did Job pray to G-D about his friends? “G-D get them” or perhaps, “Do to them what has been done to me” or maybe, “Give them what they deserve.” May I suggest to you it was none of these. I believe the prayer was more like “Forgive them, don’t hold their words and deeds in this matter against them.”

Job 42:10 is not so much about the L-RD giving Job twice as much as he had before, although He did, but rather “when” the L-RD blessed Job. Job’s friends did not have a lot of nice things to say as Job went through the refining fires of G-D. There were no words of encouragement or even an “I’m sorry for what you are going through” or a “How can I help you.” The only Job heard from his friends was, “You must have done wrong”.

In light of the situation in Job’s life, in light of the situations in my life or yours, it was not until he prayed for his accusers, in this case his friends that G-D blessed and restored Job. “And the L-RD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.”
Whether it’s a family member or a friend, forgiving them opens the door for the gates of heaven to be opened for you.

Before I moved to Israel, one of the last jobs I did hit a snag when the second to last payment was to be made. Everything that my customer loved about the job I had done for her changed overnight and now nothing was good and everything was wrong. She stopped paying and I stopped working. The issue was not resolved before my flight was due to leave California.

Once in Israel, I received a message telling me that they had good news for me… “So and so has lost her house in foreclosure, she got what she deserved.” But this was not good news to me; in fact it made me sad for her. I had prayed for her and I had forgiven her.

I think of my life as a pipe from G-D. If I allow unforgiveness to build up in this pipe it restricts the flow. Have you ever has a bathroom sink that drained slowly because it was full of hair… it’s the same picture. This is true of anyone in your life whether friend or foe.

Pray and forgive those who have done you wrong. Clean out your pipes as the case might be and let the L-RD, like He did for Job, restore your losses when you, when I pray for our friends.