Prayer And Fear Go Hand in Hand

“Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.” (Job 15:4 AV)

Even a fool can utter a statement of truth now and again.  Eliphaz has made the statement that Job is teetering on the brink of sinning with his lips.  He is asserting that Job has abandoned his fear of God by questioning God’s wisdom or right to allow to happen to him what had happened.  Job’s intent is not as nefarious as Eliphaz is asserting.  Job is merely trying to figure God out.  Job is not putting God on trial.  His fear of God has not changed.  He still fears God.  But Eliphaz’s statement shows a possibility.  If prayer is restrained, or not practiced, then the fear of God is often the loss.  Praying people fear the God to whom they pray.  Those who do not pray do not fear.

Years ago, when I was in grade school, I had a teacher who got on us boys for making paper footballs.  Those triangle folded notebook paper footballs that we used to play desktop football with during recess or in between classes.  Our teacher absolutely hated those.  And for good reason.  When football matches erupted, paper footballs would fly through the air.  On one particular day, she had gotten on to us pretty hard.  Then she was summoned to the office and left her class unattended.  The boys got to work and over the next twenty or thirty minutes, made as many as we could.  Before she arrived back, we had covered her desk with hundreds of them.  When she was away, we had no fear.  But when she was near, we feared her like God Himself.  The difference?  Her presence.  As long as there was communication, they there was fear.

So, too, is it with the saint.  The more we fear the LORD, the more we pray.  The more we pray, the more we fear.  Fear, being sacred respect for who and what God is, is a good thing.  Fear which is cast out be perfect love is not the fear of healthy respect.  Rather, it is fear of an unjust and tyrannical God.  That is not good fear.  Awesome respect for a God who creates and controls all things is the fear which results in growth, faith, and holy living.  This fear is always nurtured by prayer!