Prepare the Soil
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. Hosea 10:12
The weather here has finally warmed enough for the farmers to get in their fields to plant. Tractors are running, dust is flying, seed is being sown. It seems like the landscape has changed almost overnight.
But not every farmer has been able to get their planting done. Some are still getting fields ready, some are still discing, some are still spraying. You see, there are many steps that need to come BEFORE the planting can take place. Just because the weather is warm, doesn’t mean the soil is ready.
My son-in-law is a farmer and he was telling me about a term they use for hard soil – compaction. This results from tractors or trucks or other machinery going over dry ground repeatedly. The longer the time, the heavier the machinery, the more compaction occurs. The more compaction of the soil, the more difficult it is to plant and the less the yield.
Hard soil – a problem for farmers and a problem for some people. Soil doesn’t usually start out hard. It becomes hard through seasons and circumstances. It can be that way with the hearts of people. A heart that starts out soft and open, seeking the good in others, believing that there is always hope, can become “compacted†through a long season of neglect or a heavy load of circumstances. The enemy can sneak in and tell lies, confusing and deceiving, until that heart can no longer tell right from wrong, can no longer see the good in a situation, can no longer hear the truth.
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.†Ezekiel 36:25-27
What do the farmers do to break up this compaction? They till and they till again. All that tilling, turning the soil over and over again, helps break up the hard parts and allows air and light back into the soil.
Do you know someone who has a “compacted†heart? A heart that has become so hard because of circumstances or time? A heart so closed to the things of God that it can no longer seek the truth?
What can we do with this compacted heart? How can it be made soft again? How can it be plowed so that it becomes fertile and pliant, ready to be planted with words of truth? We can pray – and pray again.
Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:15-16 (NLT)
A hard heart can be a tough heart, but nothing is impossible for God. When you pray for your loved one, the Lord hears and goes to work, breaking up that compacted ground so that the seed of truth can be sown there. Our prayers are like that tiller, turning the soil of the compacted heart, letting the light of God shine through once again. It can take many tillings and may take some time, but if are persistent in prayer, that heart can be made ready to receive all the blessings God wants to bestow on it. It may not happen all at once. And you may not see anything happening at all. But that doesn’t mean that God isn’t working.
Just as not all soil requires the same kind of treatment or the same length of time to make it ready for planting, each compacted heart is different depending on the length of time, the circumstances that caused the compaction, the faithfulness of those who pray for it. It’s not up to us to decide how or when the planting takes place. It’s just up to us to pray.
Getting the soil ready is one of the most important steps in farming. Without the proper soil conditions, the seed that’s been planted will not grow. God is ready to plant that seed of truth in the compacted heart of the one you pray for. He needs your help, your prayers, to get the soil ready. Will you step up and do that for your beloved? Will you be the prayer warrior they need to plow up the hard ground of their hearts? Will you help prepare the soil so you can harvest a restored and resurrected family? Your prayers DO matter!
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
Still tilling in Nebraska,
