Scripture Reading (God says to me): “Surely the Lord will do nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).
To some God may seem secretive and reluctant to disclose His purposes. But those who really know God find Him most communicative and One who takes great pleasure in sharing with them what He is about to do. The above portion of Scripture confirms that.
God just does not like to do things alone. He likes to explain to us what he is about to do, and then do it with us. Why? Because He wants you and me to become one with God’s purposes!
The quote from Amos 3:7 states that God does nothing unless he finds someone to whom he can tell what He is about to do. In the following verses you can see what happens when God finds a compatible person to whom He can reveal His secrets. Observe carefully!
“Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD. Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.” (Amos 7:1-6).
Do you see now? God’s eyes searched all over the earth to find one in whom He could confide, one who would pray in accord with God’s heart. He found such a one in Amos. So God revealed to him in a vision that He was about to send locusts to destroy the Israeli crops. Immediately Amos began to intercede for Israel. That is exactly what God wanted to hear. So God canceled that judgment, saying, “I won’t do it.”
Again God revealed to Amos in a vision that He was about to send a great forest fire to devastate the entire land. Once more, this spurred Amos to pray for Israel. Then the Lord turned from this plan too, and said, “I won’t do that either.”
The fact that this happened twice is very significant. Whenever our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to emphasize something of tremendous importance, He would preface what He was going to say with, “Verily, verily I say unto you,” repeating the “verily” a second time.
Here our Lord wants us to learn a crucial lesson; God is seeking your partnership in intercession! He longs for your prayers! If you would only be willing to pray, to intercede for others, He would be thrilled to reveal to you what He is about to do. Then, as you pray, God will cause amazing things to happen in answer to your prayers!
Revelation, spiritual data, secret information from God, all of this and much more He gladly shares with those who will pray and intercede concerning those very matters. Will you volunteer? You will? Great! Read the verses at the beginning of this chapter again and pray over them! Your prayer might sound something like this:
Prayer (I say to God): “Dearest Father, surely You will do nothing unless You first reveal Your secret counsel to Your servants! Father, I long to be granted Your confidence! Please share with me what You are about to do! I don’t want to continue living with my head stuck in the sand, going around in a cloud of fog. I long to pray for whatever You want me to pray for, to intercede for those You want me to intercede for. Count me in, Lord! Remember You have begotten me by a new birth. As one of Your children I want to be about my Heavenly Father’s business. Rather than making my own endless prayer list, I would rather wait on You until You cause me to sense for whom to pray, when to pray, and what to pray. Like with Amos, the course of history might be changed because of what You will cause me to pray. It is possible that through my intercession, my country also could be spared from Your judgment! Father, bless my country. Give my country repentance and a heart to turn to You in faith and love.”
From Talking with God – Chapter 7