Prayer, Belief, and Obedience
Today’s reading shows us two very import messages. The first one that we read about is the power of prayer. We are told that God showed a simple herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees an amazing vision. He showed this ordinary man a warning of destruction like Amos had never experienced. The visions were so terrifying to the man that he cried out for God to change His mind. The prayed in earnest for God to not destroy his people. Because of his heartfelt prayer, we are told, “The Lord repented concerning this; ‘It shall not be,’ said the Lord.”
Sometimes prayer feels like a passive exercise. Often people whisper a prayer and then immediately begin to formulate their own plans as if the words cried out to God bounced off the walls unheard. Too often prayer is treated as a last resort, but here, in the book of Amos, we see the power of prayer. Amos prayed. God listened. What an amazing promise prayer is to us. To have the ear of the Master of the Universe is an indescribable power. We do not stand alone. Even if all the world fights against us, we have God holding our hands. Even if all our friends abandon us, we have God listening and paying attention to our cries. There simply are not words to describe the beauty of the gift of prayer.
The second message we read about concerned the reaction of others. God gave Amos a message. Even though he was not qualified in his own eyes, he dutifully relayed that message to his countrymen. It was not a message of ease and comfort, prosperity and victory. It was a message of judgment, and it was not well received. People don’t like to hear that the sins they hold dear are about to be judged. Messages that do not fit into the narrative of society are not welcomed. We cannot speak or hold silent at the whim of the world though. Like Amos, we must speak when God tells us to speak. We must stay silent when He tells us to hold our tongue. Amos obeyed God and earned the ire of the king. I love how Amos responded to Amaziah, the priest sent by King Jeroboam. He did not back down. He did not change his message. He spoke what God gave him to speak without changing one word to please the powers that be.
My prayer for you is that you would never doubt the reality of the connection you have with your God. Only when we live in rebellion to the Lord does He turn his ears from our prayers. If we are seeking God, He will be found. He will listen. He will respond too. It may not be the answer we want. I am sure Amos didn’t want to hear of the destruction of his country. He did not want to hear of the judgment of his neighbors and friends, but he obeyed. He believed, and he spoke the words God told him to speak. I pray that for you and me as well.
The people around us may not understand. They may even become angry at us when we stand for what we believe, but we cannot bend. We cannot alter our message to make them feel at ease because God will not change simply because we ignore Him. I pray that we all grow stronger in our understanding of how much God longs to hear from even the simplest one among us. As we surround ourselves with the sights and sounds of Christmas, let us remember that God sent His Son, the King of the World, not to a palace but to a stable. His earthly parents were not kings or statesmen. They were a carpenter – a hardworking tradesman without land of his own – and a young teenager with a heart that obeyed God. The Lord doesn’t do things according to the way we think they should be done. He calls a shepherd and makes him a prophet. He asks a poor man to raise His son. He tells an unwilling man to preach repentance to his enemies. He turns a murderer of Christians into one of the greatest leaders of the Christian church. Let us stop trying to figure God out and simply obey.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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