Amos 7 to 9, “Never Underestimate the Power of One Praying Person”

God asks the sheepherder Amos: Can two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? It is a rhetorical question, of course.  Later, as Amos walked the halls of King Amaziah’s palace, he “saw” God making locusts that would devour the crops, followed by fire to consume the fields as a consequence of unfaithfulness. Amos’ heart broke for the nation.  As we look about us and see the sin of our nation, is our heart broken? Do we plead with God as Amos did? 

Amos prayed that the Sovereign Lord forgive Israel for they were weak. It must have knocked Amos off his feet to hear God say that He had decided it would not happen—more than once!  Yet God did and does bring consequences to unrepentant people. The people would experience not just a physical famine but a spiritual famine to get their attention.   He said they would wander about looking for a message from the Lord, but He would be silent. That is the consequence for an unrepentant people.

What does this mean to us today? It means you can be like an Elijah or an Amos. God is listening to your petitions, and He will respond—sometimes He may even change his plan, but sometimes He executes His plans because He sees no repentance.   Remember our Savior who told a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. [Luke 18:1]

Our job is to pray and leave the results to God.