Thursday 10th September
Read Jeremiah 7:16-20
“‘So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
20 ‘“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place – on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land – and it will burn and not be quenched.” (NIVUK)
Shocking words. The instinct of all those who love God’s people is to intercede for them. Moses, David, Ezra, Daniel all prayed for forgiveness and restoration of God’s people. Jeremiah was forbidden. Imagine being filled with the word of God, knowing what was coming, and being forbidden to intercede!
Why did God forbid prayer? Because the people’s sin was so deeply embedded in their family life there was no easy way to extricate it (v18). Only through the fire could God’s purposes for His people be fulfilled (v20). If Jeremiah was to pray for them he would not be aligned with God’s will. At the heart of the prayer Jesus taught us was to seek God’s will first.
Is God’s will today found in discerning who needs to pass through fire and who doesn’t? Not at all, for Jesus has passed through the fires of judgment for all and intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25). So we pray earnestly for people of all kinds, men and women, leaders and people – for this is God’s will.
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” (1 Timothy 2:1-6) (NIVUK)
