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TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 7:1-8

TO CHEW ON: "When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise,
And the night be ended?'
For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn." Job 7:4

Why is night always the worst time when we're sick? Maybe it's because we expect to sleep and are disappointed. Maybe because in the still and dark there is nothing to distract from the pain, discomfort, and worry? May it's merely that the prone position causes gravity to augment the pull on our sore cells. Whatever it is, it's interesting to note that it was the same for the ancients.

There's not much encouraging or uplifting here. In this section of his first speech to his friends, Job is entirely negative, speaking of the futility of his life and work, complaining that he can't sleep, describing his loathsome disease, and referring to the fact that his life will soon be over.

My Bible's commenter makes this observation:

"Job's criticisms of God that appear in Job 6 and 7 as well as his other responses to his friends, can best be understood as man's feeble attempts to make sense of a scenario for which he is missing an essential piece of information, namely that there is something happening between God and Satan—that there are spiritual purposes overriding earthly circumstances. Because he is unaware of this dimension of the spiritual realm, his understanding is severely impaired" - Charles E. Blair, commentary on Job, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 652 (emphasis added).

Could that be the case in our lives as well—that our trials, whatever they are, are connected to spiritual skirmishes unseen and unknown to us? Imaginative writers have riffed on that thought in books like The Screwtape Letters (C. S. Lewis), This Present Darkness (Frank Peretti), and The Ishbane Conspiracy (Angela, Karina and Randy Alcorn).

The Bible certainly supports such a thing:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" - Ephesians 6:12

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses" - 1 Timothy 6:12.

PRAYER: Dear God, when troubles, sickness, and death impact me, help me remember that I am in a battle You have won. Please give me courage and hope through bad days and nights. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Night prayers

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 5:33-6:16

TO CHEW ON: "Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day He called His disciples to Himself and from them He chose twelve whom He also called Apostles." Luke 6:12-13

As I grow older, one of the changes I've noticed in myself is that I don't sleep as well. What I try to remember to do during the minutes and hours of wakefulness, is pray.

I find I am in good company. As I study Bible characters who did the same thing, I discover that they spent time at night praying instead of sleeping for a variety of reasons.

1. Jacob spent all night wrestling with an angel of God the night before he had arranged to meet his brother Esau, from whom he had been estranged for years because he had tricked him out of his birthright.

2. Samuel, grieved and angry, "cried out to the Lord all night" after God told him that He regretted choosing Saul as king.

3. David woke at midnight with his heart so full of joy at God's "righteous judgements" that he got up to give thanks.

4. Jesus prayed all night before He chose His twelve apostles (our focus verse today).

5. Paul and Silas were still praying and singing hymns  at midnight after they had been arrested, beaten and locked up in a Philippian prison.

Watching these people pray during a time when folks normally sleep shows us:
- they were confident that God never sleeps.
- they believed praying would make a difference.
- they were eager to include God in every part of their day.

So, whether you're awake at night because tomorrow is a big day, your emotions are riled-up, or you're in too much physical pain and discomfort to sleep, take it as an invitation to join the crowd of night praye-ers. In fact, your night prayers are probably way more important to the situation than the sleep you're missing is to your next day.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that You never sleep. Remind me to use the times at night when I can't sleep to commune with You. Amen.

MORE: Thoughts on prayer

"As a camel kneels before his master to have him remove his burden at the end of the day, so kneel each night and let the Master take your burden." — Corrie Ten Boom

"It's so easy to promise to pray for people, or just plan to pray for people, and forget. So many afflictions, so many tragedies or desperate hopes that cry out for intercession. Only an instant of my time, only a few words, a thought — and who knows? It may be the only word of prayer that person will get." — Marjorie Holmes

"Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening." — Matthew Henry

"Prayer is not something we do at a specific time, but something we do all the time." Richard Owen Roberts

My friend Jan Cox has begun writing a blog about prayer. Under the Cover of Prayer is full of encouragement to pray as well as prayer stories from Jan and others. Go visit. You'll be blessed!

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.