Have You Come to “After” Yet?
When we stop trying to clear the glass, the image becomes visible—just like grace unveils Christ’s finished work when we stop striving.
Devotional Credit: My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Oswald Chambers invites us into the quiet unveiling of a truth many miss: we often pray with the tone of a bargain rather than the posture of belief. Like Job before his restoration, our prayers can center around ourselves—our pain, our longing, our lack—rather than God’s sufficiency. But there comes a holy after. “After Job had prayed for his friends…” Only then did the Lord restore his fortunes.
This devotional confronts the inner resistance we may have to the completeness of Christ’s atonement. So often we subtly operate under the assumption that if we pray hard enough, repent deeply enough, or fix ourselves just right, God will respond. But this is rebellion dressed in piety. Christ’s finished work isn’t lacking. Our part is not to plead for what’s already been given, but to believe and receive—and from that rest, to lift others before the throne of grace.
The great pivot in Job’s life came not when he fixed himself, but when he stopped trying to. Not when he obsessed over his own need, but when he interceded for others. That’s the mark of a soul awakened by grace. True prayer—new covenant prayer—is no longer self-centered striving. It is the overflow of one who knows they are already made whole in Christ, and now longs for others to discover the same.
✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
You are already mine. You are not pleading to belong—you do. You are not begging for grace—it abounds toward you. The cross was not partial. The resurrection was not conditional. I have done it all, and I dwell in you not because you earned Me but because I gave Myself freely.
So why do you still come to Me like a servant desperate to be noticed? Why do you act as though My love depends on your spiritual performance? You are not on probation in My kingdom. You are My beloved child, seated with Me, complete in Christ.
When Job turned his heart from self-pity to intercession, he stepped into the flow of My restoration. I have designed it this way—not as reward for goodness but as alignment with grace. When you pray for others, you are operating from My heart. When you remember that I have already redeemed you, you pray with confidence instead of desperation.
Leave the striving. Release the self-fixing. Your most beautiful prayers are those birthed from rest—when you forget yourself in the joy of seeing My life extended to others.
Scriptures referenced: Job 42:10; Ephesians 1:7–8; Romans 5:1; Colossians 2:9–10; Hebrews 7:25; Philippians 2:13
🪞Real-Life Analogy
It’s like staring into a fogged-up mirror after a hot shower. You wipe and wipe, trying to see clearly, but your effort only smears the surface more. Then suddenly, the steam lifts—not by your work, but as the room naturally clears. Only then do you see your reflection. That’s what it’s like when you stop striving to be right with God and simply receive the clarity He’s already given you in Christ.
🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that the work is finished and the gift is mine. I am not trying to earn Your favor or fix what You’ve already restored. I rest in the atonement of Christ, perfect and complete. Thank You for removing me from the center of my own prayers and drawing me into Your heart for others. You have placed me here not to strive but to intercede. I rejoice that I can now pray from fullness, not lack—and from rest, not anxiety—because Jesus is enough.