This is part of my year-long series exploring human-centered alternatives to the spiritual promises in Oswald Chambers’ classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest. Today’s entry, “Have You Come to ‘After’ Yet?”, promises that believers who stop self-centered pleading and shift to intercessory prayer for others will experience Job-like restoration of their fortunes, with God responding to selfless intercession by restoring circumstances.
Here’s what happened when someone actually tried this:
“Stop the self-centered pleading,” her pastor insisted. “Job’s fortunes were restored after he prayed for his friends. That’s God’s pattern—when we stop trying to get right with him and start interceding for others, he restores our circumstances.”
Jennifer’s small business had collapsed during the pandemic. Foreclosure loomed. Her family was drowning financially. But instead of begging God for rescue, she would follow Job’s example and pray for everyone else.
She made lists. Neighbors, former employees, distant relatives, old college friends. Hours each day in intercessory prayer, believing this selfless shift would trigger the promised restoration. After all, the pattern was biblical—Job prayed for his friends, and God restored his fortunes.
Months crawled by. Jennifer faithfully interceded for others while her world crumbled. Foreclosure proceedings advanced. Her husband’s job search stalled. She kept waiting for the divine restoration that was supposed to follow her generous intercession.
Where was God’s response to her selfless prayers?
The house was lost. Her family squeezed into a cramped rental. Credit destroyed. The biblical pattern had apparently skipped her case entirely, despite months of faithful prayer for everyone except herself.
Her neighbor Carlos faced identical devastation when his restaurant failed. But Carlos didn’t wait for divine restoration after adjusting his prayer strategy. He immediately enrolled in a coding bootcamp, networked relentlessly in tech circles, applied for dozens of entry-level positions.
While Jennifer spent hours praying for other people’s breakthroughs, Carlos updated his LinkedIn profile. While she interceded for distant acquaintances, he reached out to former customers in different industries. While she waited for God to restore her fortunes, Carlos took a delivery job to cover expenses during retraining.
The “restoration” that came to Carlos wasn’t divine response to intercessory prayer. It was predictable result of aggressive networking and skill development. Eight months later: junior developer position with benefits and growth potential.
Jennifer watched this practical success with dawning clarity. She’d been waiting for heaven to reward her selfless prayers while Carlos had been creating opportunities through human effort and strategic planning.
Her breakthrough came when she stopped waiting for divine restoration and started copying Carlos. Digital marketing course. Business consulting based on her experience. Systematic professional networking. Persistent effort.
Her financial recovery had zero connection to accepting Christ’s atonement or shifting to intercessory prayer. It came through education, networking, determination—strategies that work regardless of prayer life or spiritual condition.
The silence where God’s restoration was supposed to be delivered the most valuable lesson: waiting for divine intervention while others solve problems through human agency is just another form of self-centered pleading.
The only pattern that actually worked was the one Carlos followed from day one: when life knocks you down, get up and build something new.
Reflection Question: When has taking practical action been more effective than waiting for divine restoration after changing your prayer focus?
This story is part of my upcoming book “The Undevoted: Daily Departures from Divine Dependence,” which offers 365 human-centered alternatives to the spiritual certainties in Chambers’ devotional. Each day explores how reason, community, and human resilience can address life’s challenges without requiring divine intervention.
God or Delusion? 