The Substitute

 

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (NIV)

Jesus said this in His Sermon on the Mount. He pointed out that the people the Israelites looked up to as righteous were not righteous enough to be with God in His kingdom. This must have concerned them. The hearers of Jesus that day must have wondered how they could be with God in eternity. I am sure Jesus realized what was in the hearts and minds of the people listening to Him that day. He already had the plan in place. God has had the plan in place since time began of how sinful people, people He loves, can be with Him. He knows holiness cannot exist together with sin. That is not a choice, but a fact. Where sin is, no holiness exists, just like where holiness is, no sin can exist. Other writers and speakers give this example. When one enters a completely sealed and dark room, no light exists, but as soon as a person strikes a match, darkness is shattered, and the light pushes it away.

With that idea, we should consider what Jesus offers so people could be with God. The people on the mountain that day realized He had been speaking about God and eternal life with Him. Jesus taught them the Beatitudes, about what is more important than gathering things for yourself in this life. He explained that what is in a person causes the sin and offered His listeners a glimpse at the new covenant. Jesus explained He fulfilled the Law and brought the new covenant based on God’s mercy and grace. Nothing people can do can earn it for them. The first covenant required the Israelites to obey the Ten Commandments, which the religious leaders expanded to 622 regulations. Jesus said He fulfilled those laws in the Sermon on the Mount. With His life and death, Jesus provided what was necessary for redemption from sins forever and for each believer to have eternal life.

This idea that one must be righteous is not new to the New Testament. From God’s laws, the Israelites knew He required twice daily sin sacrifices to atone for their sins, their wrongdoings. These animal sacrifices were never enough for the complete and permanent cleansing of the sins they committed. Nothing a person could do would make the stains from sins and the condemnation because of sins go away permanently. Yet, God declared righteous some people in the Old Testament. If we are familiar with the Old Testament, we remember of a few people from memory, like Elijah, Moses, David, and Abraham. There were others, too, who God stated were righteous. Consider Ezekiel 14:12-23. Four times, in His condemnation of Jerusalem, God compared Noah, Daniel, and Job as having a righteousness that exceeds any person in Jerusalem. He stated explicitly in verses 14, 16, 18, & 20, “Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, their righteousness would save no one but themselves, says the Sovereign LORD.” God declared Noah, Daniel, and Job righteous because of their faith. (Hebrews 11:7, Job 1:1. In the book of Daniel, Daniel told the king the interpretation from God of the dreams God had given the king. By doing this, he was a prophet of God. God called His prophets righteous in Hebrew 11:32, & 39-40) God, with the first covenant with the Israelites agreed upon at Mount Sinai, declared the Israelites His people, His nation. This first covenant was to lead them to Him and let other nations know they are His people, whom He will protect. It provided for their faithlessness to their covenant with Him by explaining what He would do to discipline/punish them. This first covenant to the Israelites, the Mosaic covenant, provided no means of eternal salvation by works or by offering animal, grain, and oil sacrifices. Some of the Israelites intentionally sought and believed God deeply. They changed their lives to follow how He led them. Each of these Israelites allowed God to be the Sovereign LORD of their lives, just as God stated in Ezekiel 14.

God declared several Old Testament people righteous because of their belief in Him that led them to revere, love, and follow Him with their lives. Understand, He did not love just a few people. God loves all people. He seeks to have a personal relationship with each person. God understood the first covenant was not one giving redemption. That’s why He planned from creation to give a second covenant. That second covenant occurred when Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified on the cross and buried, three days after which He rose from death. Jesus conquered sin and death with this Messianic covenant. No other sacrifice does a person need to offer for his or her sins. Belief in Jesus, with the individual’s profession of faith in Him, and a confession and repentance of his or her sins brings the person into a saving, cleansing, eternal relationship with God. Nothing else. No one’s faith can provide salvation for anyone else.

God told Ezekiel to tell the people of Jerusalem that having God-fearing and righteous people in their city would not keep them from God’s righteous judgment and wrath. His wrath came because of their repeated sins against Him, each other, and other nations. They could not rest on the righteousness of others-not priest, prophet, grandparent, parent, or siblings, etc. No one is righteous except through God declaring them so.

When a person believes in Jesus Christ and He washes the sins of that person from his or her record, then God declares the person clean and righteous, just like He declared Noah, Daniel, Job, Abraham, Moses, and others of the Bible righteous. God provided a way for each person to be declared clean and righteous with the sacrificial death of His sinless Son in substitution for each of us. We do not have to die an eternal death of separation from God. By our belief and because of His grace, God will declare a person righteous. Paul said this in Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

None of us knows where another person truly stands in his or her relationship with God, but we each realize where we ourselves stand. Do you have a saving faith in Jesus? Do you believe Jesus is God’s Son, who died the death you deserve because of your sins against God? God will apply the death of Jesus against your sin judgment. He will apply His resurrection from the dead to you so that you will live eternally with Him in His kingdom. Now is your chance to confess your sins to God and repent of them asking Him to give you the direction and strength to avoid temptation and live a righteous life? What keeps you from believing in Him and receiving His grace?

As it is written:

There is no one righteous, not even one;

there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away, they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good, not even one.

Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practice deceit.

The poison of vipers is on their lips.

Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood;

ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

(Romans 3:10-18 & 23 [NIV])

Wolves, Roses, and Joy

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again-my Savior and my God! (Psalm 43:5 [NLT])

Many people believe Christians do not face hard times. They have this idea that once a person becomes Jesus’ follower, life will be a bed of roses and no wolves will batter the door of his or her life. Those of us who have been Christians for a while know the truth. We know life has hard times in store for everyone because we live in a sinful world. At times, life is harder for Christians because we believe in Jesus and follow Him. How could life be harder for Christians than non-Christians? Because Satan constantly wages war against Christians attempting to discredit them and Christ. Satan is the incessant wolf at the door. For people who are not followers of Jesus, they might question why Satan would fight more with Christians? Let’s consider a few role models of the faith and their lives.

David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 & Acts 13:22), though chosen by God to be the king over His people, the Israelites, battled against his enemies. He was a man who had blood on his hands. The Philistines, Saul and his army, Absalom’s army, and many others fought against David because of jealousy, anger, or a desire for his land, people, and resources. Even though God chose David, David still had difficult times. Some of those difficulties came because of his own decisions, like when he lay with another man’s wife. Wolves, temptations and persecutions from Satan battered his door. Yet, during his difficult times, David still praised God and looked up to Him as his strength, protection, joy, and hope. In Psalm 43, he pleaded with God to rescue him from unjust people. David wrote many lamentations and included in them stanzas expressing his hope in God who was his strength, refuge, fortress, and joy. David’s life was not a bed of roses. If anything, David lived like a shepherd, outdoors on rock and dirt much of the time, as he fought against his adversaries. As king you’d expect him to have lived a luxurious life. David’s enemies, the wolves, did not give him time to rest and live that kind of life. Yet, he still had the joy of God. David chose to seek God in the midst of his trials.

Job was a very righteous man, he revered God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). He had seven sons and three daughters. Job owned 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. People considered him the greatest man in the East. (Job 1:2-3) One day Satan entered the heavenly court and God asked him, “Where have you come from?” During their conversation, Satan said to the Lord,

Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse You to your face.

“All right, you may test him,” the LORD said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” (Job 1:9-12 [NLT])

Satan threw everything at Job except for his own death. Even his three friends turned on him and told him to plead for God’s forgiveness. Surely, they thought, he had sinned against God and the horrible things happening to him were because of that sin. Job lost his ten children, servants, wife, herds, grain, produce, and buildings. Satan took everything he owned away. Yet, Job did not turn away from following and obeying the LORD (Yahweh, the eternal One). Instead, during the trials Satan threw at him, Job said, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand upon the earth at the last.” (Job 19:25 [NLT]) Job, though a righteous man, lived a life that was not a bed of roses. Yes, God blessed him, and those blessings were very good, but he faced trials. The wolves battered his door. To prove the faith of Job, God allowed Satan to test him. Satan’s test failed. Job’s life demonstrates Satan trying God’s children. It shows this child of God’s life was not always fragrant and pleasant. After the season of trails by Satan, God blessed Job more than He had in the first part of his life. He doubled the number of his animals and gave him seven more sons and three more daughters. Besides this, Job included his daughters in his will along with their brothers to receive an inheritance. Doing this was very unusual because only men could inherit in their patriarchal society. Job remained firm in his faith in God during his trials. He grew stronger because of them. During his time of trials, Job chose to seek God and draw on His joy to get him through his difficult times.

Consider any of the disciples of Christ. They each faced persecution. People killed several of them. Many of the disciples faced imprisonment. Even today, Jesus’ followers face persecution, torture, and martyrdom because of their faith. Christians’ lives are not always a bed of roses. Yes, God blesses them, but they, too, face hard times–illnesses, lack of money, hunger, taunting, persecution, mocking, and death at the hands of other people. People who are not Christians consider the persecutions and wonder why a person would risk living like that and then they, themselves, turn away or they become the persecutors. Another group of people consider today’s Christians and the history of Christians and wonder what would make a person so strong in his or her faith to continue following Jesus when he or she knows persecution will come. Consider what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 10:16-18, 21-23, 28, & 34-39,

¹⁶ Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about Me.
²¹ A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are My followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.
²⁸ Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
³⁴ Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
³⁵ I have come to set a “man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ Your enemies will be right in your own household!”
³⁷ If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, you are not worthy of being Mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it. [NLT]

Jesus told His disciples that Christians’ lives will not always be a bed of roses. Their lives showed this to be true. Expect trials, persecutions, and even death. Students and slaves should expect no less that what happened to their teachers and masters. Wolves will batter the door of your homes if you are a Christian. Satan wants to discredit you and your testimony about Jesus. Notice, Jesus’ disciples chose to go through the trials, but they didn’t do it alone. They drew on the strength God gives. They counted it all joy. A joy they received from the source of joy, God, the Father.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 [ESV])

Christians should expect and will live through hard times. Jesus said it and believers lived out this truth in the Old and New Testaments, and in every generation since then. Satan is the incessant wolf at the door. He constantly tries to defeat the testimony of Christians about Christ. Yet, we need not fear. We can have joy even in difficult times. Why? Because God is our Redeemer. He is our refugee and strength. From Him we can have joy and hope. How can we have joy even while suffering? David explained and proclaimed it in Psalm 43:4. “There I will go to the altar of God, to God-the source of all my joy. I will praise You with my harp, O God, my God!” [NLT] Because God is the source of joy, we can have joy since we are Christians. Because Jesus defeated death and sin, we have hope beyond what we are facing and beyond this mortal life. Go to the altar of God. Rejoice because God is your joy. Your source never dries up like the land, water, and human bodies. It never rusts or corrodes.

Our Source of Joy is Eternal.

God is our Source of Joy!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12 [NIV])

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9 [NIV])

Lord, You are the fountain of all blessings. From You flows hope, joy, love, truth, righteousness, and all good things. Forgive me for losing hope and grasping only the joy of the moment instead of seeking You, the fount of blessings and the God of my soul. Lord, help me recall You and Your promises and blessings when I walk through dark times. Help me stand strong in Your strength remembering the hope You have given me through the death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. Help me have joy even when facing trials because You are my strength and shield. Because of You, I have hope. Lord, help me not to shrink away from difficulties, but to walk courageously through them with You so I may grow closer to You and become more like You. Because of Your grace, I not only can prevail in these situations, but I have eternal life with You. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Prohibited Prophet and Condemned Priest

Introduction

In the last Bible study, which covered Amos 7:1-9, we learned God showed three visions to Amos about His judgment of Israel. The first vision showed God allowing locusts to consume everything above the ground. It would affect the food supply for the Israelites. Amos intervened for Israel and asked God to pardon them. He recognized their sin and interceded for God’s mercy. The second vision showed God sending a fire that consumed everything above ground and below such as underground water sources and the roots of the plants. Again, Amos interceded for Israel asking for God’s mercy upon Israel because they were too small to withstand such devastation.

The third vision the LORD showed Amos was of a plumb line and a bulging wall. GOD would stand upon the wall-Israel-and let His plumb line fall beside it. The bulge in the wall that showed when the plumb line lay against it revealed the wall was not up to standards, was not “true”. God would destroy the wall down to below the bulge and rebuild it. He and His righteous laws are the standard and Israel did not meet those standards. They rejected the LORD. With this vision, God showed even the leaders of Israel were not straight and Jeroboam’s house would fall by the sword because of it. In this vision, too, the LORD said He would bring judgment on even Israel’s high places, the places of idol worship. With this vision, Amos realized the LORD’s judgment was just, and he did not intercede for the Israelites this time.

With the rest of this chapter, verses ten through seventeen, Amaziah, the high priest of Bethel, reacted to Amos’ prophetic statement of God’s revealed visions to him. In these final eight verses, Amaziah reported to King Jeroboam about Amos. Next, he forbade Amos to prophesy in Israel. Amaziah tried to persuade him to leave Israel. In the end, Amos spoke a prophecy against Amaziah and the priesthood of Israel.

Amaziah’s Report to Jeroboam

After hearing of the third vision God gave to Amos, Amaziah, the chief priest at Bethel, realized God threatened the king and himself. Out of fear, he had to do something to save himself and his means of income. Remember, God did not appoint the priests of Israel and provide for them through His laws. The kings appointed priests and paid them from their treasury. These priests worked for their living instead of serving the LORD. Amaziah owed his allegiance to the king since he appointed him. Earlier prophets’ words in Israel and surrounding nations brought conspiracy against rulers and helped destroy dynasties while starting new dynasties. Because the king of Israel controlled the religion, Amos’ words threatened Amaziah’s income. Amaziah sought to protect the king’s reign. He did two things: 1. Report to the king and 2. Persuade Amos to leave Israel.

Verses ten and eleven contain Amaziah’s report to King Jeroboam. In these verses, Amos said,

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. For thus Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’” [NASB]

Interestingly, Amaziah’s name means “Jehovah is mighty,” yet his life and service refuse to recognize Jehovah. To understand this passage, we must remember Amaziah was the chief priest of the priesthood in Israel, whom the king appoints and pays. This rule of the king over the nation’s religion began with Jeroboam I and the founding the northern kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 12:31-32 and 1 Kings 13:33). Jeroboam II charged Amaziah with obeying his rules of religion and leading the other priests and citizens to obey him as the sovereign ruler of the land. Amaziah’s devotion should be to the king first. From this understanding, we can recognize his reactions to Amos’ visions as being self-serving and kingdom-keeping.

In verse ten, Amos recorded Amaziah sent word to Jeroboam about him. What did Amaziah tell the king? He told him Amos conspired against him in their own borders. The word “conspired” comes from the Hebrew word qashar and means to bind together or be in league together with others. Amaziah told Jeroboam Amos conspired to remove his family’s reign from Israel and install new rulers. He tried alarming the king so he would come and put an end to Amos and his prophesying. Amaziah accused Amos of treason against Israel. He sought to bring alarm and fear in Jeroboam’s heart to excite him into action.

Should that statement of Amos conspiring against Jeroboam not excite the king, Amaziah added more. In verse eleven, he said Amos said Jeroboam would die by the sword and Israel would go into exile. We must recognize what Amaziah told Jeroboam was a lie. In verse nine, Amos said, “Then I [God] will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” In the Bible and other writings when a person spoke of rising against a house with the sword, it meant an army or a person would kill another person and his family. Still, Amos did not say explicitly that Jeroboam would die by the sword as Amaziah reported. When Amaziah told the king that Amos said Israel would go into exile, he reported correctly. He said they would go into exile from their specific plot of land given to them by their tribal leader from the Promised Land Yehovah gave the Israelites. Amaziah exaggerated so it would incite the king to act against Amos who threatened the king, Israel, and himself.

·         Have you ever exaggerated to get someone to sympathize with you and join you in your anger or vengeance? Maybe your boss reprimanded you then you spoke to your coworkers to get them to agree the boss wrongly charged you. From that, people would talk about the boss and disrespect him.

·         Have you ever spoken against someone so you could steal their friends or position in the community or in an organization?

·         Have you ever told someone something bad about your sibling or parents to get people to side with you and agree you were right when you chose not to talk to that person?

Amaziah’s Persuasion of Amos

In verses twelve and thirteen, Amos recorded Amaziah’s attempt to persuade him to stop prophesying against Israel, the king, and him. In verses twelve and thirteen, Amos said,

Then Amaziah said to Amos, 

“Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.” [NASB]

When giving a persuasive speech, the speaker speaks to logic and emotion. In these two verses, Amaziah touched on both. He called Amos a seer. This comes from the Hebrew word chozeh. This word was not the most commonly used word for prophet, but when the message of the chozeh was spiritual, the people recognized this person as a prophet. Typically, chozeh denoted someone who saw or perceived and then advised like a king’s paid counselors or advisors.

In verse twelve, Amaziah alluded to both interpretations of chozeh. Firstly, Amaziah recognized Amos’ message was a spiritual message, one that affected the spiritual part of a person. He wanted Amos to leave so as not to persuade Israelites to follow Yehovah instead of Jeroboam’s instituted gods. As to persuading because of logic and emotion, Amaziah appealed to his logic and said Amos would not receive payment in Israel for his services as a prophet because no one followed His God. He would starve to death in Israel. Amaziah appealed to Amos’ emotion and told him to return to his own country where people accept him and want to hear of their God. He feigned concern for Amos’ income and sustenance. Food/income and acceptance are big inducers for jobs. They were Amaziah’s own concerns in being a priest. In this verse, we recognize a dichotomy and a misunderstanding by Amaziah. Amaziah assumed Amos prophesied for payment. He erred in this understanding because in Israel prophets and priests received payment for their services. This understanding showed the dichotomy of the offices of priests and prophets in the two kingdoms. Amos did not prophesy for Yehovah because of promised payment. He prophesied because the LORD called him to do it.

With verse thirteen, Amaziah gave the real reason he wanted Amos out of Israel. He prohibited Amos from prophesying in Israel. Amaziah tried to prevent him speaking for Yehovah not recognizing the greater purpose for the prophecy-repentance, forgiveness, and mercy. Just like the Israelites caused the Nazirites to drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy in Amos 2:12, Amaziah commanded Amos not to prophesy. Had Amaziah not heard Amos earlier? Did it only then and not earlier in Amos 2:12 affect his understanding of his sin and cause him to forbid Amos to speak? Possibly. Still, Amaziah’s reason for prohibiting Amos to prophesy testifies to his lack of understanding. He told Amos Bethel was a sanctuary for the king so do not prophesy there. To Amaziah, Bethel was the high holy place of Israel and the place where their king worshiped. Amaziah’s reason for prohibiting Amos to prophesy at Bethel was political. It was the king’s sanctuary, sacred because of the king, not because of Yehovah’s residence there.

 Amaziah tried persuasion to get Amos to flee Israel. Whether he cared about Amos’ welfare or not, he wanted Amos out of his country. Amaziah thought Amos’ removal would solve his problems. He did not consider his and his peoples’ sins as the real problem, just Amos’ meddling. His solution to Amos’ prophecy against the high places of Isaac as stated in Amos 7:9 was to forbid his prophesying in Bethel. Amaziah’s futile attempt to stifle the LORD’s called prophet and His own judgment against the religious and political powers of Israel would not occur by banishing Amos.

·         Have you ever dealt with a problem and thought, it would go away if you don’t think about it? Did your problem go away?

·         Did anyone ever confront you about your character and you jump and lash out at him for “attacking” you? Was what the person said accurate? Did you grow from the way you reacted to the person’s positive critique?

·         Have you ever noted a message a teacher wrote on your paper and changed your style or content for a subsequent paper then noticed your grade improved? This shows growth and respect for the experienced teacher or leader.

Amos’ Reply to Amaziah

Amaziah spoke to the king and to Amos in verses ten through thirteen of chapter seven. With verses fourteen through seventeen, Amos replied to Amaziah’s misunderstanding of his “job” and the LORD’s unequivocal judgment of Amaziah. Amos 7:14-17 says,  

Then Amos replied, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet, for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock and the LORD said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’ Now hear the word of the LORD: you are saying, ‘You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore, thus says the LORD, ‘Your wife will become a harlot in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line, and you yourself will die upon unclean soil. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.” [NASB]

God’s Calling of Amos

In verses fourteen and fifteen, Amos told Amaziah who he was, what his job was, and by whose will he prophesied. Forthrightly in verse fourteen, Amos said he was not a prophet. The Hebrew word used here in nabiy and means a spokesman or prophet, one who “bubbles up” with declarations from God. It is the most common Hebrew word used to speak of a prophet in the Old Testament. Notice Amos did not use the word chozeh like Amaziah did. He differentiated between a paid advisor and a true prophet of God who bubbles forth with the words of the LORD. Still, Amos said he was not a prophet. Amos meant he was not of the tribe of Levi and thus a priest/prophet in that way, nor was he a prophet called by God to prophesy exclusively during his life like Isaiah or Elijah. Amos explained this further for Amaziah. He said he was not the son of a prophet and did not go to a prophet school to learn how to be a prophet. Amos received no payment to be a prophet like the students in the school of prophets written about in 1 Samuel 19:18-24, 2 Kings 2, and 2 Kings 4:38-34. His title at that point came not from an inherited position from his own father. Instead, Amos explained his job in Judah before God called him to go to Israel and speak for Him. He was a herdsman of sheep, goats, and small cattle, and a grower and tender of sycamore figs. Amos’ job was not as a paid prophet upon which he lived, but instead as a manual laborer.

Through verse fifteen, Amos explained how he came to speak as a prophet for God to Israel. Even though he was a manual laborer, God chose him. Amos recognized his calling came from Yehovah, the existing One-I AM. He said GOD took him from tending the flock and fig trees. The word “took” comes from the same Hebrew word, laqach, that Bible writers used when GOD took Elijah and Enoch to heaven in Genesis 5:24 and 2 Kings 2:11. Amos did nothing purposely to get God’s attention and get the job as prophet. GOD saw him and took him; He chose him. Amos came from a similar background as David, a shepherd, and became the man GOD called to speak to and lead His people (2 Samuel 7:8). David recognized his calling by GOD, too, in Psalm 78:71. Amos’ authority as a prophet came from God, not from a school. He had a divine call, and this verse is the only place Amos references his call. He told Amaziah, “The LORD said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’” The word “said” comes from the Hebrew word ‘amar and means commanded. The LORD commanded Amos to go prophesy to His people Israel. Amos could do nothing but go. GOD’s calling was like a fire burning in his bones, as Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 20:9. The LORD’s calling on Amos’ life compelled him to go. GOD commanded him to go.

One final word. Notice GOD did not tell Amos to go to Israel. He said to go to My people Israel. God still loved Israel and called them His own. He would do much to save them and keep them as His own. The Lord today does the same for us. He keeps calling to His children who have strayed. As a last recourse, the Lord allows hardships to occur in hopes the person will turn back to Him, repent, and seek to follow Him again. God sent many prophets to call Israel to turn back to Him. He loved His people and wanted them to return to a right relationship with Him. God, as loving and righteous, would allow the enemies of Israel to come against and conquer them to punish them and get their attention so they would turn to Him seeking help, confessing their sins, and renewing their relationship with Him.

Amos and the Prophecy Against Amaziah

In verses sixteen and seventeen, Amos spoke to Amaziah. The LORD did not direct this statement of judgment against others, but directly at the high priest of Israel. With verse sixteen, Amos gave the reason for the judgment. Verse seventeen relates GOD’s judgment against Amaziah.

Just as Amos began the other prophecies he spoke in the first six chapters of this book, he began this prophecy against Amaziah. He wanted the high priest of golden calves to realize this prophecy came from Yehovah, the I AM of whom he learned and would recognize. The prophecy stated this way should have made the priest tremble because he would have known about Yehovah and His history with the people of Israel. Besides this, with Amos’ statements above, he should have known Amos was truly a called prophet of the LORD, not an educated, self-chosen prophet for money.

Of what then did GOD charge Amaziah? God said Amaziah told Amos and His other prophets not to prophesy or speak against the house of Isaac. In Amos 2:12, GOD charged the Israelites with commanding His prophets they could not prophesy in Israel. They forbade them to speak GOD’s words-His charges and judgments. Besides this, GOD charged Amaziah with saying Amos “shall not speak against the house of Isaac.” This judgment of God specifically affected Amaziah. The word “speak” comes from the Hebrew word nataph and means to drip or flow. Often Bible writers used it to speak of preaching or prophesying. By using this word, God said Amaziah told Amos he shall not drip/drop words like a refreshing rain or like a bomb against the people, which they would not want to hear. Amaziah censored Amos. He kept his people from hearing the truth and ruffling their feathers so they would not question the worship of idols in Israel, which he led.

For this serious sin of prohibiting God’s called prophet to speak to the Israelites, GOD judged Amaziah harshly. He said through Amos in verse seventeen that Amaziah’s family would experience His judgment of him. Amos relayed God’s words and said, “Your wife will become a harlot in the city.” This spoke of the time of their future capture. It could have meant Amaziah’s family would become so destitute during and after the siege of Israel that to have money to feed her family, his wife would prostitute herself. The other meaning is that Israel’s captors would make Amaziah watch his wife’s dishonor as they forced her to be their sexual toy. He would be unable to prevent her dishonor. Either occurrence showed the depths to which Amaziah, the chief priest of Israel, would fall because of GOD’s judgment of his sins. His family would be poor and dishonored. This judgment is like what Hosea said in Hosea 4:13-14.

Amos continued to relay GOD’s judgment about the devastation upon Amaziah’s family in verse seventeen. He said, “Your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.” His children would die violently by the hands of their enemies. The people Amaziah loved most would die a horrific death. His future would not exist because the enemy killed his children. Amaziah’s line would end. For what use then was he teaching false religion and earning money if he would not have descendants? God’s judgment affected his wife and his children in terrible ways.

Next GOD spoke judgment regarding Amaziah’s land. He said, “Your land will be parceled up by a measuring line.” The word used for land here is the Hebrew word adamah. It means a specific plot of land, not a nation or territory, or earth in general. The verb “parceled up” means to divide, plunder, or assign by a conqueror. The enemies would take the land Amaziah’s family received from their tribe leader when the Israelites entered the Promised Land. God’s judgment would take their inheritance of His promise with Abraham away from his family line. This spoke to GOD removing His promise and His hand of protection from them. The Israelites took for granted God’s covenant with them. They considered He would protect them without faithfully keeping their covenant with Him as their ancestors promised in Deuteronomy 28. God’s judgments now horrendously affected Amaziah’s wife, children, and land. His present, and future blessings became curses because of his sins against GOD.

Finally, if these three judgments against Amaziah did not cause him to repent and return to GOD, the last one should have. GOD told him, “You yourself will die upon unclean soil.” The word “unclean” means religious or ritual uncleanness. A priest would make sure to always be “clean.” He would perform each of the rituals to become clean so he could go before his god. With this part of his judgment, Amaziah would live in an unclean, heathen nation. He could not get ritually cleaned. His ministry would remain tainted in his exile. In 2 Kings 17:6, the writer noted Assyria captured Samaria and took the leaders of Samaria into captivity. Ezekiel 4:13 notes the sons of Israel would eat their bread unclean among the nations where God banished them. God’s judgment of Amaziah affected his family, his honor, his inheritance, his descendants, and his income. God would take away each of His blessings to Amaziah. The removal of His blessings and His presence would cause curses in Amaziah’s life.

The words of Amos were not just the words of a man. They were GOD’s words and should have caused Amaziah to turn toward GOD repenting. Amaziah did not examine himself and his nation regarding covenant blessings, faithfulness, and responsibility. He, like the rich people of Israel, felt secure behind the walls of Samaria and behind the rituals of his king-instituted religion. Amaziah remained blinded by these human achievements-fortresses and religiosity.

·         On what do you count to show your rightness when defending yourself against charges from people? Would these acts of rightness stand up to God’s standards or would God consider you unrighteous?

·         When someone brings an error of yours to your attention, do you go on the defensive or justify yourself? Have you considered the possibility the person is trying to help you grow beyond yourself?

·         On what part of your life has God been speaking to you to change? Have you listened to Him, sought His will, and grown? Have you justified yourself and kept walking in your own way? If the latter, you are like Amaziah and many people.

·         We each sin and try to justify our thoughts, words, and actions. God is the standard. Can our thoughts, words, and actions meet His standards? Not in our own they can’t. We cannot justify ourselves before God.

Consider this passage from Romans 5:1-3. 

Recap

Amos spent much time prophesying to the people of Israel and explaining about their sins of which God charged and judged them. With Amos 7, God gave him three visions of His judgment on His people Israel. He withheld His judgment by locust and fire because of Amos interceding for Israel. The final vision of the plumb line would occur. Amos saw the depth of the Israelites' sins and did not intercede for them after the third vision.

After the third vision and its message that God, through Israel’s enemies, would destroy their sanctuaries and rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword, Amaziah the high priest sent a report to King Jeroboam II telling him about Amos and that he conspired against the king. Next Amaziah tried to persuade Amos to leave Israel feigning concern for his income and his ability to buy bread. He compelled Amos not to prophesy in Bethel. Amaziah stated Amos was a prophet for hire and did not recognize GOD called him to the position for that time.

Amos refuted Amaziah explaining his calling by GOD to go to Israel and speak His prophecies of judgment against them. He told him his job was as a tender of flock and fig trees. Amos said he did not inherit the position of prophet, nor did he attend a prophet’s school. He then prophesied the total destruction and dishonor of Amaziah, his family, and his land. Because of his misdirection, the man to whom a nation looked for spiritual direction would receive a critical, dramatic judgment from the LORD.

Conclusion and Relevance

God calls to each of us to be in a relationship with Him. He speaks to every person to follow Him and grow more like Christ each day. God pricks each person’s conscience when he or she faces temptations to sin against Him and other people. He sends people into our lives to teach or preach His Word so we grow and become strong enough to overcome any temptation we meet. These people come into our lives as God’s voice to teach us so we feel pricks from God to our consciences, feel God’s sadness at our disobedience, and turn back to Him repenting. At times, we are the people growing, being tempted, overcoming temptation, or sinning. Occasionally, we are the people God uses to speak His Word so others may grow and conquer temptation, or repent from sin and return to the Lord.

For his time, Amos was that man of God to Israel.

For our time, we know of people like Billy Graham, Charles Spurgeon, and Charles Swindoll.

For our time, God may also use any of us to speak to people-to teach and testify about Him.

For all time –

Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

is the teacher and Savior from God.

He not only came to teach, but to be the final sacrifice needed for our sins to redeem us from slavery to sin and defeat the penalty of death our sinning causes us to deserve. Because of God’s love for us, His mercy and lovingkindness, He provided a way for each of us to be in His presence, to experience eternal hope and joy, and to live eternally with Him. Jesus justifies us to God through His death on the cross.

A passage in the Gospel of John speaks about this. John 3:16-18 

For God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the word, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [NASB]

Jesus was not just a teacher to tell us about God; He showed God to us here on earth through His life, love, death, and resurrection. Jesus died so we can have eternal life.

His life was a testimony to us about how to live and overcome temptation.

His death and resurrection were an act of God’s love and mercy to us to save us.

We each must decide if we will believe in Jesus Christ and accept His love and forgiveness.

Will you heed the words of Amos, the testimony of Jesus’ life, and receive the love, forgiveness, and eternal life Jesus’ death and resurrection give from God?

It’s your choice.

PRAYER (part 3): When, What, and Expectations

Introduction

This Bible study series began as an earnest endeavor to understand what exactly the Bible says concerning praying and the pray-er. This study, using the New American Standard translation of the Bible, found one hundred thirty-two Scripture passages that spoke on the pray-er, and praying, calling out, petitioning, supplicating, asking, and requesting from God.

Ø  The first lesson of this Bible study series covered three areas.

·                     What is prayer?

·                     What do we do when we pray?

·                     How do we/are we supposed to pray?

Ø  The second lesson of the series covered what the Bible teaches on the person who prays. What the Bible tells is expected of the pray-er.

·                     Righteousness

·                     Belief

·                     Prayer in Solitude

·                     Watchfulness and Alertness

·                     Ceaseless Prayer

·                     Fervency and Enthusiasm

·                     Approaching God

·                     Self-Control

·                     Love of People

·                     Acknowledge and Love Jesus

·                     Praying in Agreement

Through this series on prayer, we have learned something greater occurs in prayer than just giving God a wish list - a “gimme” list – or asking for His help. Prayer is a way of growing to know God better by being in a continual close relationship with Him. You may have prayed as a rote discipline when you first learned of it. Over time and with deeper devotion, prayer becomes an everyday desire or irresistible urge to be with the Lord. Through it Christians mature in their relationship with God and grow more Christlike.

In this third lesson of this series, we will try to understand three teachings from the Bible. The first addresses when we should pray – morning, night, any time, and/or ceaselessly. The second addresses our expectations for God answer our prayers. Is it too much to ask God to listen to and answer our small human prayers when He is so great and busy keeping the created universe in order? Is God imminent and transcendent? The final part of this study shows us what the Bible says happens when we pray? We have each heard of God providing a person his or her necessities, but more than physical help occurs when God enters a situation with a person. Remember, prayer affects the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual part of a person if a genuine relationship/communion with God exists. A person is changed in these areas when God is part of a person’s life. Let us begin our study now.

When Should We Pray

Night and Day.

Old Testament 

First, we should consider the occurrences in the Bible that speak specifically on prayer and when it should occur. The first time the New American Standard translation of the Bible records prayer at a specific time of day is in Nehemiah. Nehemiah 1:6 states, “Let Your (God’s) ear be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer Your servant is praying before You day and night for Your servants, the people of Israel.” Notice here Nehemiah stated he prayed day and night to God. David, in Psalm 5:3, declared the LORD listened to his prayers in the morning when he prayed to Him. Other places in the Old Testament we note people praying at different times of day. Hannah went to the temple during the day and cried out to the LORD for a child. Jacob communed with God through a dream at night. Daniel prayed to the LORD God in the mornings to stand strong and not eat the food from the king’s table and got down on his knees three times a day to pray and give thanks before God before being thrown in the lion’s den. Abraham arose early and went to the place where he met with the LORD before (Genesis 19:27). Moses approached God and stayed in His presence on Mount Sinai forty days. He communed with God day and night. Do these people contradict what teachers taught us in the past – to rise early and begin our days with devotion, Bible study, and prayer? They do not.

New Testament 

Consider the New Testament teachings of Jesus and Paul. Jesus modeled prayer at  different times of day. He rose early and went to the garden to pray (Mark 1:35-38, Luke 4:42-43). Jesus prayed at night, too. After he fed the 5000 people on the hillside, Matthew recorded Jesus went to a mountainside to pray by Himself (Matthew 14:23). The next verse records this happened at night. Even Paul prayed at night. When he was in Athens, but could not get away to Thessalonika, he sent Timothy to encourage and teach the people. When Timothy returned and gave a report to Paul, 1 Thessalonians 3:10 records Paul saying, “Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.” For Paul, prayer was not only a morning or only a night time occurrence. Prayer was a natural outflow of his faith in God. Because of that, it occurred any time of the day or night. Remember, we learned in the first part of this series, prayer is more than a “gimme” list. It is praising, rejoicing, adoring and exalting God, thanking Him, confessing and repenting, and petitioning God for help. Many times in Paul’s writing, we read of his imprisonment, but yet he rejoiced and sang praises to God. His circumstances did not dictate when he prayed or what he prayed. He prayed because of His close relationship with God, just as Jesus modeled for the disciples. Prayer is part of building and being in a relationship with God.

Ceaselessly. 

Several Scripture passages in the Bible speak on praying ceaselessly. We touched on these in the second lesson of this prayer series. Luke 18:1 records Jesus instructed the people to pray always and not give up hope. God hears the prayers of His children who cry out ceaselessly day and night. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:18 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Christians are to pray at all times, without ceasing. Paul added to this by modeling unceasing and faithful prayer in Colossians 1:9.

Dedicate a Time for Prayer.

The Bible teaches two other things regarding prayer and when it should happen. First, it says, through Luke’s writing in Acts 10:9, we are intentionally to dedicate a time for prayer. People become so busy with their lives, schedules, work, sports, and hobbies they often forget to schedule time with God into their lives. Because of this, many Bible teachers teach people to begin their days with prayer and Bible reading. By doing this, making God the first part of each day, it becomes hard to forget your personal quiet time with God. He is the first priority of a person’s day. This teaching is a great way to begin your Christian discipline of prayer. We notice as we grow in Christlikeness, our prayer life grows. It becomes a continual, ceaseless stream of communion with the Lord throughout the day as Jesus, Paul, and James taught (Matthew 14:23, 1 Thessalonians 3:10, Ephesians 6:18, and James 5:13).

Pray before Service. 

The second thing we must note as we finish this section on prayer is before going out to serve the Lord, we must pray. Luke records this occurring in Acts 13:1-3. The disciples laid their hands upon Barnabas and Saul setting them apart for the service of the Lord, asking God’s blessing and anointing on them for the power of the Holy Spirit to work through them while keeping them safe, too. Before Jesus sent His disciples out to minister, He taught them, prayed over them, and empowered them to do His work. Jesus empowered them with His authority (Mark 6:7 and Luke 10:1). Praying before going out appears like an obvious thing to do, but people leave their homes each morning to face the world in their jobs and daily life without praying for God to use them and fill them with His Spirit so they can be an effective witness for Him to the people with whom they come in contact. Yes, every Christian is a witness and minister for the Lord. Jesus did not tell a few disciples – Christians – to go into all the world proclaiming the Gospel and making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). He commanded every Christian do this. That means every Christian, each morning before he/she begins his/her day, should pray for God to guide his/her steps, make him/her aware of where He is working, and empower him/her to speak a positive witness for Him into the situations he/she faces that day.

From these examples and Bible verses, we learn prayer can and should occur during good times and difficult times. Prayer is not limited to either morning or night, but should and can occur ceaselessly. To be equipped in full by the Lord for the day, prayer should begin the day. Prayer comes from being in a close, personal relationship with God. The Bible teaches people should persevere in prayer.  This perseverance in prayer is ceaseless praying which comes from and builds a greater relationship with God and grows the pray-er into greater Christlikeness.

Should We Expect Answered Prayer

Along with continual prayer and perseverance in prayer, God’s Word teaches He will listen to and answer prayer. Yet we each have known of a person whose prayer went unanswered and questions arose of God’s faithfulness or the rightness of the pray-er. Should we expect God to answer prayer? The answer is yes. Should we expect Him to answer everything we call prayer? No. The Bible teaches God hears the prayers of a righteous person, but of the unrighteous and abominable to God He condemns, turns His face away, and does not answer (Proverbs 28:9, Jeremiah 7:16, Jeremiah 11:14, Lamentations 3:8, Matthew 23:14, and 1 Peter 3:12). Why is that? From the Bible, we read, too, of people who are righteous requesting God’s help and He comes in time, according to human standards. 

In Psalm 5:3, David expected God to answer His prayer because God earlier answered him. In Exodus 32:1-14, the Israelites made a golden calf while Moses communed with God. When Moses descended from the mountain, he saw the abomination of the Israelites worshipping a manmade god while at the base of God’s mountain where His presence rested. He understood God could not allow the people to go unpunished and went before Him pleading for the lives of the Israelites. By doing this, Moses showed he expected God to listen to and answer him. He did not assume to perceive what God’s answer would be, but he believed God would answer. Another example of a person expecting God to answer was Hannah. She went before the LORD in 1 Samuel 1 crying out to Him because she had no children. God attended her cry and recognized her heart for Him. He promised her a child before she returned to the temple for the festival the following year.

Each of these people had a relationship with God. They each trusted Him to be faithful to them and to His character of faithfulness and love. Each person had a heart for God and sought Him and His will. This showed God their righteousness, their choosing His way over their own way, and, by that, not sinning against Him. Because of their understanding of God and their relationship with Him, they expected He would answer their prayers. They did not realize in what way God would answer, but they believed He would. We each can expect God to answer our prayers if we are in a right relationship with Him. The way God answer prayers may not be the way we think it ought to be answered, but God, in His sovereignty, always knows what is best for us. Because of this, He may answer our prayers with a “No.”

Still, we each have heard of at least one person for whom God did not answer his or her prayers though he or she was righteous before Him. How can that be? Pastors, ministers, and teachers of the Bible speak of instances like these. When God does not answer a prayer, they say, we must understand our timing is not God’s timing. He knows when best to answer prayer. Job’s time of trial by Satan speaks of this. Job was a devout and faithful man of God. Satan challenged God and said Job was only faithful because God blessed him (Job 1:9-10). He asked God for permission to put him to the test. Satan began the trials by killing his cattle, children, and wife. Before her death, Job's wife advised Job to curse God and die (Job 2:9). Next Satan destroyed Job's crops and his wealth. When it appeared Job had nothing left to lose, his friends advised him God was punishing him and that he must repent and ask forgiveness. Job explained he was innocent and had done nothing wrong against God or His Law. He explained to his friends he misunderstood the reason God tested him, but he refused to speak against Him. Job said, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless, I will argue my ways before Him” (Job 13:15). Job chose to continue his relationship with God. He did not give up on God; he was faithful to Him. If the trials he was going through were not his own fault because of sin, then he implied they were God’s fault. This thinking meant Job judged God and His power and the rightness of His actions though he did not mean to imply that. God chastised Job on this in Job 40:8. Job realized his error in judging God in Job 42:1-6. He admitted aloud God is almighty and nothing and no one can thwart Him. Job understood better. He had a deeper relationship with and appreciation of God after that season of trial. The purpose of God allowing Job to be tried was to bring him into a closer relationship with Him. Job knew how he wanted God to answer His prayers, but God knew best. He knew Job needed to grow more. Later God restored Job and gave him more children with a new wife, more cattle, more grain, and more wealth than he had before the time of trial. God not answering your prayers now may be His driving you to deepen your relationship with Him. God is still God – almighty, faithful, and loving. He will provide your needs. At the time He does not answer your prayer, your greater need may be for spiritual growth – growth in your relationship with Him. Stay faithful to Him and grow from your situation. God will always be faithful to you.

It could be, too, that God’s answer is negative. When you do not receive a different word from God, you continue doing what He last told you. Though a person prays and thinks he or she needs God to answer in a particular way, God knows best and may not answer the prayer or may answer it in a way completely different than the pray-er thought or requested. We need to realize God knows best and when He does not answer that non-answer is the best way for the need of which we spoke to Him in prayer to be met.

Yet that is not always the lesson when God initially says no or does not answer. Jesus taught the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. In this parable a man was taking advantage of a widow. Widows in the first century had no rights, but God told the Israelites from the beginning of Him calling them His nation they were to take care of the widows, orphans, and foreigners. In this parable, the judge refused to listen to her case and rule in her favor. The widow persistently sought the judge’s intervention in her case. Finally, in exasperation, the judge attended to the widow and ruled in her favor because, as he said, “Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out” (Luke 18:4b-5). In this parable, Jesus taught people persistence, earnestness, and faith in prayer. He assured the people God will be gracious to them. Keep the faith. God is just, unlike that judge. He loves His people and will avenge the unjust person while giving what is needed. While the person, the widow in this case, is waiting for God’s answer and action, this waiting causes the person to persevere and grow in faith, too, while growing in his or her prayer life and relationship with God. God’s seeming delayed answer is not necessarily a “No.”

If a person is not a believer, but sincerely seeks the Lord, God said that seeker will find Him. God wants every person to come to know Him through the redemption He provided through His Son, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:4-6). In Jeremiah 29:13, when God spoke to the Israelites, He told them if they turned from their wicked ways and sought Him with their whole heart, He would be found by them. God wants all people to come to Him and become His child. He will draw near to the person and listen to him or her. If what that saved person seeks does not come from selfish motives (James 3), but seeks to help someone or themselves in genuine need, and God knows in the person’s heart He will receive the glory, God will answer the prayer. Seeking God and His will is a primary reason God will answer prayer.

Besides righteousness, persistence, fervency, and faith, the Bible teaches what is expected and required of the person who prays. We learned these things in part two of this prayer study series. The attributes, actions, and attitudes of a pray-er whom God will heed and answer includes the eleven attributes listed in the introduction of this Bible study. What God seeks in a person is a genuine relationship with Him that shows itself in faithfulness, righteousness, love, and obedience. Jesus summed it up with the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:36-40. Should we expect God to answer our prayers? Yes. Can we expect Him to answer them? That depends on your relationship with Him and your genuineness to be with Him and His divine will. It depends, too, on His purpose for the pray-er. Will a “no” answer or a delayed answer to prayer grow the pray-er stronger in his or her faith and relationship with the Lord? If so, then that may be the answer to a prayer. In answer to prayer God can say yes, provide what is requested, say no, say wait, or delay and answer. This leads to what happens when a person prays.

What Happens When We Pray

What then happens when people pray? This carries over from our last topic. Yes, we can expect answers to prayers. The Bible, in forty-eight verses, repeatedly tells people God hears, and answers or helps people because of their prayers.

Growth of Relationship with God. 

Foremost, when people pray to God, as stated in the first part of this series on prayer, the pray-er grows in his or her relationship with God and grows more Christlike. Prayer begins as a discipline a believer is taught to do. Over time that discipline becomes a desire to be in God’s presence and know Him better. Prayer is one way to do that. To prayer, add Bible study, meditation/reflection on the Word, and listening to biblical teaching. These each add to our relationship and communion with the Lord. These help us know God better and grow more like Jesus Christ. From this growth in relationship and Christlikeness, we bear spiritual fruit that gives testimony and glory to God. Relationship growth with God and personal spiritual growth are the most important results from praying.

God’s Intervention. 

As a secondary result, prayer brings God’s intervention in a person’s or a group of people’s lives. This occurs when the people have a relationship with God. Because the people of the Bible had a relationship with God, they expected to experience God answer their prayers. David begged God to listen to his cry and prayer in 1 Kings 8:28. He prayed for Jerusalem in Psalm 122:6. David would not have expected it nor pleaded for it from God if He did not believe God heeded and answered prayer. He believed the LORD is near to everyone who calls upon Him in truth (Psalm 145:18). David had a close relationship with God.

Daniel believed God cared for His people and prayed to Him for the sin of the Israelites (Daniel 9:20). He prayed for the people to be released from bondage to their captors and to sin. Daniel’s relationship with God was a growing and genuine relationship with Him.

Jesus taught that the Father who is in heaven will give good gifts (Matthew 7:11, Luke 11:13); so expect to have God answer prayers. He expressed this again in Mark 11:24 when He said, “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.” Jesus taught His disciples to ask from the Father in His name and He would do what they ask so the Father would be glorified through the Son (John 14:13). He even said because He chose you to be His disciples, whatever you ask of the Father in His name He would give to you (John 15:16, 16:26). When a person asks for something of God in Jesus’ name, it shows the faith and relationship of the pray-er and Jesus. Their relationship shows a growing trust and understanding that leads to greater love of God and other people, and obedience to God. Jesus taught a believer who genuinely seeks God and His will can expect God to hear and answer his or her prayers.

James said a prayer offered in faith (by a person who trusts in Jesus) can restore a sick person (James 5:15-16) so do not doubt, but believe and pray to God for the sick person. Added to these verses, the person from whom prayers for healing are made must seek forgiveness for sins, too.  He added the person who prays to God must ask in faith without doubting for the doubting person should expect to receive nothing from God (James 1:5-7). In addition, James taught a person who prays should do so with fervency and enthusiasm for the Lord and His will, and God will answer – that for which the person prays will happen (James 5:17).

Each of these people expressed God hears the prayers of the pray-er. Besides these, other people throughout the Bible in a multitude of Scripture passages expressed God hears prayers. Consider these verses –

·         Job 22:25-27

·         Psalm 18:6, 65:2, 66:20, 102:17, 118:5

·         Proverbs 15:29

·         Jeremiah 29:12

·         Luke 3:21

·         Acts 10:31

·         2 Corinthians 1:11

·         1 Peter 3:7, 12

·         1 John 5:14-15

God’s Love. 

Believing God hears our prayers shows great faith and trust in Him, and depth of relationship with Him. God does more than hear prayers; He answers them. If that were not so, the people who prayed would not expect it so readily. Their relationship with the Father had grown to such maturity they knew, because of God’s love for them, He would intervene.

God’s intervention is part of relationship. In a relationship of two people, helping, being with, guiding/teaching, and encouraging is part of a growing relationship. That is community and care. The relationship people have with God and He with them is no different. The relationship of one person to another is based on the perfect relationship God offers people. God wants to help people because He loves them. That explains how the people could have such faith in God that He would answer their prayers (a part of communing with Him). God helps people because of His love for them and because of their relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. He helps/answers because of our prayers to Him and because they are in alignment with His will. Consider the following eighteen verses –

·         Job 22:25-27

·         Psalm 66:20, 118:5

·         Daniel 2:23, 9:20

·         Matthew 7:11, 21:22

·         Mark 11:24

·         Luke 11:13

·         John 14:13, 15:16, 16:26

·         Acts 10:31

·         2 Corinthians 1:11

·         James 1:5-7, James 5:16-17

·         1 Peter 3:12

·         1 John 5:14-15

What God Does. 

How or in what way does God answer prayer? There are a myriad of ways we ask for prayer to be answered and God often answers and helps us in ways we could not conceive of ourselves. First Timothy 4:5 tells us God sanctifies every created thing by His Word and prayer. He heals people, too, as James 5:15 states. God makes life occur in Genesis 20:7. He forgives because of prayer (James 5:15). God provided a king for the Israelites because of their petitioning Him. He gave children to Sarah and Hannah because of their prayers. A host of instances exist throughout the Bible that tell how God answered the prayers of the righteous who called out to Him.

These are just a few examples of what happens when we pray. The important thing to remember is God seeks to be in a close love relationship with each person. He created each person because He wants to share His love with them. Because of His love, God provided a way for sinful people to return to a right relationship with Him. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live as a man and be tempted, though not sin. God allowed Jesus to be persecuted and crucified as the payment/substitution for our sin death penalty due. He did not stop with Jesus’ crucifixion. God resurrected Jesus to life again because as part of the Godhead, death has no power over Jesus. By rising from the dead, Jesus defeated death. By dying on the cross an innocent man, He paid the price for the sins of all humankind. God calls to each person his or her whole life hoping he or she will accept His gift of grace to have his/her sins washed clean and be given eternal life in His kingdom. God does not stop calling people because He wants no one to be lost permanently. This love of God, this desire to love us so deeply, is why we pray. We pray to be in a growing and close relationship with the God of love, mercy, and grace. We pray to commune with – be in the presence – of God.

Recap 

Prayer is an active part of intentionally seeking God and growing closer to Him. Through it we come into the presence of God. When we come to Him in prayer we recognize –

Ø  God is to be revered

Ø  God’s mercy

Ø  God exists

Ø  God’s power

Ø  God’s faithfulness

Ø  God is almighty

Ø  God deserves all the glory and praise

Added to these, prayer involves every facet of relationship we expect with one other – adoration (reserved exclusively for God). We can remember these things by using the acronym,  A.C.T.S. (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication). When we petition, we request God’s help for ourselves and other people, including the people who persecute us.

The Bible teaches people who pray have expectations God will listen to their prayers. The primary requirement is the person will be righteous – be in a right relationship with God - which comes by continual confession and repentance of sin, being cleansed from sins daily and fulfilling the Greatest Commandment as taught by Jesus to His disciples. The other ten attributes, actions, and attitudes of a person whose prayers God listens to include –

·                     Belief

·                     Prayer in Solitude

·                     Watchfulness and Alertness

·                     Ceaseless Prayer

·                     Fervency and Enthusiasm

·                     Approaching God

·                     Self-Control

·                     Love of People

·                     Acknowledge and Love Jesus

·                     Praying in Agreement

Prayer, to be a conduit to a growing relationship with God, should occur regularly each day, ceaselessly as Jesus and Paul stated. It can occur during the day or night. Prayer can be voiced by one’s self or in conjunction with other people. The main point of prayer though is communion with God, not seeking self-importance and showmanship, like the Pharisees.

As in any loving relationship between people, we can expect that God wants to answer our hearts’ cries. If we are in a true and sincere relationship with God, then our will is aligned with His will. We will pray for that which God already knows and agrees with us. Therefore, He desires to answer the prayer requested, or the need voiced. When God answers prayer healing happens, salvation and sanctification occurs, forgiveness is given, life is given, and love is shared from Him to the people who call to His heart.

Relevance and Conclusion

            Each person on earth must decide for him or herself if he or she will accept God’s love gift - grace and mercy given through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. When a person accepts Jesus Christ, prayer is a conduit available to connect God’s heart to each person’s, so that person grows in his or her love relationship with Him. The person’s dedication to God shows in the fruits of the person’s actions, attitudes, and attributes. We each must stop and determine the depth of our relationship with God if we have one. We must assess whether we are in a genuine and growing relationship with God and are becoming more Christlike. If the result of our assessments shows we are not Christians or have not grown beyond infancy in Christ, earnest and fervent prayer to God can bring salvation and growth so we become united with the Father and He can lavish His love upon us as we live to love and obey Him.

It comes down to love:

            Will you accept His?

            Will you give Him yours?

Prove it. Pray.