Happy New Year, 1nebody! Welcome to 2025 in the name of the Lord! I pray this new year is set apart for the Lord’s manifest presence in your life and those of your family in Jesus name, Amen. Welcome to the Year of the Lord.

I was reading through the book of Job last week and I was challenged by Job 2:11-13 NIV.

“When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.”

The irony of this account is that his friends went to comfort him, yet, they spoke no words of comfort to him for 7 good days. Not a word of prayer, not a charge to boost his faith and keep him strong. However, they were quick to tear their robe, cry out, and even sit with him in pain. This made me question myself. Is this what I do to my friends in and out of difficult times? What role do I play in my friends’ lives when they are in their most vulnerable states? Am I fortifying them with the living word of God, praying the scripture out loud over them or am I just mourning with them in silence?

Proverbs 18:24 NIV says “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” I believe the arguments that follow in the remaining chapters of Job are the repercussions of those 7 days they left open for the enemy to sew a seed of discord. I truly believe if they had been more spiritually alert and prayerfully come together in agreement in those 7 days, their conversations would have been different.

If you don’t know God personally, how then can you stand in the place of prayer for your friends and loved ones or strengthen them in the word of God? The bible says to comfort and edify one another as children of God but you must surrender yourself to God first and He alone can teach you how to be a reliable friend. Please say the prayer below if this is you.

Dear Jesus, I accept you today as my Lord and personal saviour. I confess that I have sinned, please forgive me. By your blood, cleanse me from every unrighteousness. Thank you for the new life you have given me, help me to serve you all the days of my life. Ultimately, please help me make it to eternity with you, in Jesus name.

Congratulations, heaven rejoices over you! If you said this prayer and would like additional information/guidance, please send an email to 1nebodyblog@gmail.com.

God bless,

Dasola