Power of Prayer: Amos 7:1-6
In our prayers, God knows our heart. This can be true in collective prayer, but it is especially true in our individual prayer. When we lift our eyes to heaven and bear our soul to Him, our heart is on display. In those moments, not only does God know our heart but it is laid bare for us, too. In prayer, we learn about ourselves.
God shows Amos two visions in this passage. In the first vision, God is forming a swarm of locust to come to Israel and devour everything. In the second vision, God is sending fire to destroy Israel. In both visions, Amos sees the vision and is horrified. He knows the people will not survive.
In the vision of the locusts, Amos tells us that the locusts were coming after the king’s harvest. In other words, the king – or the elite – had already come and taken their share of the crops. The landowners had gotten what belonged to them, the second harvest was for the people who worked the land. The common people would suffer while the elite would be safe.
Out of his horror, Amos prays. He knows the people of Israel. They may seem strong, but Amos knows the truth. Since their strength is built on the comfort they have in life, their strength is shallow. They are strong because their life has been nothing but good. They don’t have what it takes to endure hardship. Therefore, Amos prays.
Amos has spent much time railing against the people in Israel. He knows they are not righteous. He knows they do not deserve forgiveness. He knows they are walking away from God’s ways and doing so joyfully. Yet, he still prays. Amos does not let his personal feelings about reality affect his prayer life.
Amos prays out of the ideal, not the real. Amos prays because he wants all people to live. He prays because he wants all people to understand God and have relationship with Him. Amos prays because he wants everyone to know God’s blessing rather than God’s wrath. He knows the people and he knows what they deserve, yet he still prays.
God relents. We cannot know if God always planned to relent and this was merely a vision for Amos or if God relented because Amos prayed and changed God’s plan. Either way, consider what could have happened without Amos’ prayer. It is possible the locust or the fire could have come. It is possible the lives of the Hebrew people could have turned considerably worse for a season in their life without Amos’ prayer.
God’s people should never doubt the power of their prayer. God listens, even if only one person prays. We don’t need a horde of people praying. Like Amos, we can pray out of the ideal rather than reality. God desires our communication with Him. In our prayers, God knows our heart.
