Amo 7:3 | KingComments | STEP | In His sovereignty the LORD listens to the prayer of His servant and gives it a place in the progress of His work. He does not forgive – forgiveness is only possible after confession – but does not carry out this punishment. He ‘changes His mind about this’ or He ‘repents’ (Darby Translation). He is not the unrelenting God, the God of stone. Not that He changes His plans, but He changes the way He carries them out. God’s repentance has never to do with a wrong decision He would have made, but with a change in the way He works out His right and irrevocable decision. What a blessing are intercessors for the people, possibly even without the people being aware of it. What an encouragement to intercede. Love for God and His people manifests itself especially in intercessory prayer. Intercession is not done by people who believe that everything is fixed and that God cannot change His mind after all. Real intercession is also not done by people who believe that you can manipulate God through prayer. Then we would get the impression that we, humans, know better than God. God knows everything in advance. There are no surprises for Him. In His plans He takes into account the intercession of His people. God expects from His children the greatest possible involvement in what He is planning. That is why He has informed them extensively about this. All His information can be found in His Word. That is why reading and studying His Word is an absolute condition to become an intercessor.

‏ Amos 7:3

Effect of Intercession

In His sovereignty the LORD listens to the prayer of His servant and gives it a place in the progress of His work. He does not forgive – forgiveness is only possible after confession – but does not carry out this punishment. He ‘changes His mind about this’ or He ‘repents’ (Darby Translation). He is not the unrelenting God, the God of stone. Not that He changes His plans, but He changes the way He carries them out. God’s repentance has never to do with a wrong decision He would have made, but with a change in the way He works out His right and irrevocable decision.

What a blessing are intercessors for the people, possibly even without the people being aware of it. What an encouragement to intercede. Love for God and His people manifests itself especially in intercessory prayer. Intercession is not done by people who believe that everything is fixed and that God cannot change His mind after all. Real intercession is also not done by people who believe that you can manipulate God through prayer. Then we would get the impression that we, humans, know better than God.

God knows everything in advance. There are no surprises for Him. In His plans He takes into account the intercession of His people. God expects from His children the greatest possible involvement in what He is planning. That is why He has informed them extensively about this. All His information can be found in His Word. That is why reading and studying His Word is an absolute condition to become an intercessor.