Thought for Friday, 21 October

 Psalm 122:8

 For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, ‘Peace be within you

David is praying for peace and security in Jerusalem, for the sake of his family and friends

and for prosperity for the sake of the house of God.

Friendship is almost the equal of family. A true friend is like a brother or sister but knows you almost better than either. For some people a friend is the one who knows all their secrets and whose secrets they know in return. Of course listening must be a two-way street between friends, we need to be willing to listen to each other’s joys and woes.

Thank goodness not many of us have ‘friends’ like Job, who blamed him for bringing his misfortune on himself. Although they knew what type of man Job was, they imagined all kinds of wrongs he must be guilty of to incur such an outcome. Job was vindicated in the end then he had to pray for the so-called friends so that the Lord ‘would not deal with them according to their folly’. Friends who turn against us are worse than enemies because those friends know best where our weaknesses are.

We should be careful how we deal with the worries of friends, to us they may seem like small things but to them they probably appear insurmountable. If we can reassure them of our support and offer our help where possible, this may be all that is needed for them to relax.

 The golden rule of friendship is to listen to others as you want them listen to you. Friendship can improve contentment and lessen despair, by sharing our joy as well as our grief. A guy called Daniel Harman says, "Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don’t say." “Many people will walk in and out of your life; but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart."  I would just add that some not only leave footprints but take up residence.

Our duty to friendship is to not only pray for friends but also to pray for their families and circumstances

Prayer

Heavenly Father, You as the omniscient Triune God are the greatest friend any of us have, we thank You that we never need to fear the loss of Your closeness because Your love is constant. Help us to be mindful of our friends, to always treat them fairly and never use them as false friends sometimes do. Our hearts are fragile things and may be destroyed by the unkind words of those we thought were friends. Let us be true friends to those who need us. In Jesus name, amen.