“The Hardest Words”

Jeremiah 11/12 Is there ever a time when you stop praying for a person? We answer, no, but then we read Jeremiah and hear God say: “Do not pray for these people. Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf. Do not plead with me to save them. I will not listen to them…” [Jer 7:16]

How do you react to these words? We must remember that context is king, and Jeremiah had a particular message for specific people. Like Jeremiah, we ask “why” but behind the “why,” there is always a “because.” For Judah, the “why” is Judah’s national sin. The “because” is that God’s ways are not our ways. His ways are higher and have purposes we may not always understand. God could see the hearts, and these had no intention of turning back. How about us? Are we to stop praying? Remember, we don’t have the heart or the wisdom to know; therefore, we are to pray without ceasing. Who knows, but our prayers may be the very link to restoration.

God wanted Jeremiah to present this truth to his people:  “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us.” [Deut 29:29]

We are to be like Jeremiah and Habakkuk, stand firm, present the gospel, and leave the results to God.