If your children have sinned against Him, He has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
– Job 8:4
There’s a lot we could talk about based on this verse, and this is Bildad giving really unhelpful counsel to Job, much like many other times we see Job’s friends giving him unhelpful counsel. And specifically here, Bildad is saying, “Well, your children have lost their lives because of sin they committed that caused that,” and we know from Job 1, that’s not true.
Job 8:4 encourages us to pray for the children in our lives.
At the same time, my mind goes in a couple different directions here. One, my mind goes back to when Job in Job 1 would pray over his kids that God would keep them from sin in their lives, and I just love the picture of Job interceding for his children in Job 1.
So I want to lead us to pray along those lines, and then second, yes, it is true biblically that God does sometimes deliver people over into the hands of their transgression. This is Romans 1. God gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done. And so it is good and right for us to pray that God would save people from their transgression, from their sin, and even to pray that over our children, that God would not deliver them over to their sinfulness, but that God by His mercy would save them.
Job 8:4 encourages us to ask for mercy on behalf of children around us.
And so let’s pray this specifically. I just want you to think about children, either in your family, like in your home, or children you know, or if you’re a child, think about your friends, and let’s pray. Let’s intercede specifically for the children who come to our minds right now.
God, we lift up these children. We want to take our place right now, like Job did in Job 1, and pray and intercede for their good. We want to pray for their salvation from their sin and from themselves. God, we pray for your mercy over the kids who are on our minds right now. Lord, we pray that you would draw them to yourself, God, that you would protect them from the adversary, protect them from their sin and themselves, that you would help them to see their need for you and to turn to you and trust in you.
God, we pray for your deliverance from sin in the children’s lives we’re thinking about right now. Lord, we pray ultimately for their salvation in Jesus and for their hope in Jesus and their joy in Jesus, and their protection from evil and the effects of sin and temptations to sin in each of their lives.
Prayer for the Tajik People
God, as we pray for unreached people around the world, we pray for kids. We pray for kids who are growing up without even the knowledge of Jesus. God, we pray that that would change, that the gospel would spread to all the children of the world. We intercede for them right now, specifically for Tajik children and their moms and dads. God, we pray for the spread of Your grace and Your salvation to Tajik children in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and other places where they are spread out.
God, please cause the gospel to be made known among them. Cause your church to take the gospel to them… That kids there might hear about your salvation. God, help us to be mouthpieces for the gospel and the children we’ve been praying for. We pray that you would draw them to salvation, especially those who don’t know you. We pray all of this according to your Word that we see in all of Job and Job 8:4.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
