Praying At The CrossroadsMuestra

The Prayer of Joel

The prophet Joel, writing in the eighth or ninth century BC, relayed to a rebellious people God’s deadline for His judgment on sin and His call for restoration. In Joel 1 Joel described the onslaught and devastation that a plague of locusts had brought on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Despite the locusts, God’s people continued in their sin. In Joel 2:1-11 Joel announced that an invading army from the north was approaching as God’s discipline intensified. As before with the locusts, the devastation would be overwhelming and far-reaching. 

God was drawing a line in the sand before His people. What should they do? How should they respond? Amid the physical and spiritual famine God invited His people to return to Him. Genuine biblical repentance was required (see vv. 12-13). Repentance included both brokenness over sin (“Tear your hearts,” v. 13) and a wholehearted return to the Lord. Turning back to God was possible because the Lord is “gracious and compassionate” (v. 13). Contentment with His presence and restoration through relationship were the end goal, not His deliverance. His people must desire and trust Him above all (see v. 14).

Verses 15-16 demonstrate that the call to repentance wasn’t just personal but also corporate. This was a very urgent, serious invitation to gather and seek the Lord (“Announce a sacred fast,” v. 15). Because God’s people were up against His judgment, everyone was required to attend a sacred assembly. It was now or never. The congregation had to be sanctified (see v. 16) if the people were to experience the Lord’s renewed presence, deliverance, and restoration.

This call to congregational purity was also a call for spiritual leaders to step up and lead God’s people back to Him. Their role involved both personal and public brokenness over the nation’s spiritual famine. The leaders were therefore to “weep between the portico and the altar” (v. 17), to humble themselves and lead God’s people in desperate, united prayer for His mercy and intervention. God was their only hope as the surrounding nations mocked His people and asked, “Where is their God?” (v. 17).

Joel 2:18-32 describes what can take place when God pours out His mercy on His people as they repent, return, and seek Him through humble, passionate, and desperate prayer. God heard their cries and returned to His people. As God’s people pray and experience His restoration in the present, their hope and assurance in His future work of redemption and restoration are constantly being rekindled.