Prophet needing a couple of seconds (4)

I believe the answer is:

amos

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'prophet' is the definition.
(biblical prophet)

'a couple of seconds' is the wordplay.
'a couple' becomes 'am' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'of' becomes 'o''.
'seconds' becomes 's'.
'am'+'o'+'s'='AMOS'

'needing' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for amos that I've seen before include "Prophet in the Bible" , "30th OT book" , "Part of bible" , "Biblical prophet and OT book" , "man" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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