Faith in Action
A Living Faith in God
A Prayer for an Obedient Faith
Joel 1:13-20 The Message
Nothing’s Going On in the Place of Worship
13-14 And also you priests,put on your robes and join the outcry.
You who lead people in worship,
lead them in lament.
Spend the night dressed in gunnysacks,
you servants of my God.
Nothing’s going on in the place of worship,
no offerings, no prayers—nothing.
Declare a holy fast, call a special meeting,
get the leaders together,
Round up everyone in the country.
Get them into God’s Sanctuary for serious prayer to God.
15-18 What a day! Doomsday!
God’s Judgment Day has come.
The Strong God has arrived.
This is serious business!
Food is just a memory at our tables,
as are joy and singing from God’s Sanctuary.
The seeds in the field are dead,
barns deserted,
Grain silos abandoned.
Who needs them? The crops have failed!
The farm animals groan—oh, how they groan!
The cattle mill around.
There’s nothing for them to eat.
Not even the sheep find anything.
19-20 God! I pray, I cry out to you!
The fields are burning up,
The country is a dust bowl,
forest and prairie fires rage unchecked.
Wild animals, dying of thirst,
look to you for a drink.
Springs and streams are dried up.
The whole country is burning up.
For Reflection
To the ministers of the Word, Joel exhorts them to be prepared for national humiliation. The preachers have no sacrifices to offer on behalf of the followers of God. The only thing left for them to do is lead the faithful in lament and repentance. The Priests cannot save anyone. Only the faithful can appeal to God in sincere confession and acts of contrition.Hmmm.
Pray
Pray prayers of confession about the ways you have acted as though you were separated from your relationship with God. Pray so that your promises of repentance are sincerely given and obediently pursued. Pray in the knowledge that God has forgiven you and by the blood of Christ, wiped the slate clean.Forward to a friend
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