Jeremiah 12 ~ Praying Scripture

Please read Jeremiah 12.

Meditate on and memorize this part of verse 3.

You know me, O LORD; You see me,

and You examine my heart’s attitude toward You.

Jeremiah preached to people who said the name “God,” but He was the farthest thing from their mind (Jeremiah 12:2).   They did not think about the LORD and His Word as they made decisions and walked through their days.  God was about to uproot the people of Judah from their land because they were so polluted; they did not live to please the LORD.  They pleased themselves, their idols, and the wicked people around them (Jeremiah 12:14-17).  They refused to listen and take God and His Word to heart (Jeremiah 12:11,17).

Jeremiah was the opposite.  He had an intimate relationship with the LORD.  Jeremiah discussed matters with God (Jeremiah 12:1).  He knew God intimately knew him.  He knew God couldn’t take His eyes off of him.  Jeremiah knew the LORD knew what was in his heart and what he thought and felt about God (Jeremiah 12:3).

Think about your walk with the LORD.  Do you attend church, sing a few songs that contain His name, then go about the rest of your week without giving God another thought?  Or do you live life with the LORD, discussing all your matters with Him, aware that He knows your heart’s attitude toward Him and others, and wanting to please Him?

Pray Jeremiah 12:2-3 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, You have planted _________ and me. 

We have taken root; we grow and produce fruit.  Make it good fruit for You!  

LORD, be near to our lips and on our minds.  You know us, O LORD;

You see us, and You examine our heart’s attitude toward You. 

Make us pleasing to You.

In Your name, Jesus~”

Jeremiah 11 ~ Praying Scripture

Please read Jeremiah 11.

Meditate on and memorize this phrase from verse 4.

Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you.

Jeremiah’s next recorded sermon location was in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 11:6).  The message from God was simple: “Hear the words of this covenant and do them” (Jeremiah 11:6).  The people responded to the sermon as their ancestors had before them;  each person walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart (Jeremiah 11:8).  God promised to respond with disaster. 

When Jeremiah delivered the message to his hometown of Anathoth, the people wanted to kill him (Jeremiah 1:1; 11:21).  His tent had already been destroyed; his sons had deserted him; now the townspeople wanted him dead (Jeremiah 10:20; 11:21).  It is not always easy to tell people the truth of God’s Word.  Thankfully, Jeremiah had a Covenant Partner who protected him from those who did not want to be reminded of God’s covenant (Jeremiah 11:1, 3, 6, 8, 10).

When God told Jeremiah the message of the covenant, Jeremiah responded with: “Amen, O LORD” (Jeremiah 11:5).  When the people heard the message, they responded with: “Let us cut him off from the land of the living that his name be remembered no more” (Jeremiah 11:19).

What is your response to the Word of God?  Are you a “Jeremiah” who hears, heeds, obeys, and does what God says?  Jeremiah’s “amen” meant, “so be it.”  Do you respond to the LORD by saying, “So be it God; I am ready to do whatever you tell me to do!”?

Pray Jeremiah 11:4-5, 8, and 20 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, help _________ and me listen to Your voice

and do according to all which You command us. 

We want to be Your people, and we want You to be our God. 

Do not let us walk after the stubbornness of our evil hearts. 

Let us remember that You judge righteously,

and You try the feelings and the heart.

Amen, O LORD”

Jeremiah 10 ~ Praying Scripture

Please read Jeremiah 10.

Meditate on and memorize verse 8.

But they are altogether stupid and foolish.

In their discipline of delusion—their idol is wood!

God expressed clearly what He thinks about people who put their trust in anyone or anything besides Him.  “They are altogether stupid and foolish (Jeremiah 10:8).”

People waste much time taking care of the things they think will take care of them.  God compared idols to scarecrows in a cucumber field; they are things that have to be carried because they cannot walk (Jeremiah 10:3-5).  What are you carrying in hopes it will make your life better, but it is actually adding to your burden?

God contrasted Himself to idols. 

But the LORD is the true God;

He is the living God and the everlasting King.

At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.

It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom…

—Jeremiah 10:10, 12

God used the word stupid three times in this chapter.  People are stupid and devoid of knowledge when they trust in the works of their hands and do not seek the LORD (Jeremiah 10:14, 21). 

Examine your life for areas where you are stupid.  Pray Jeremiah’s prayer of confession in Jeremiah 10:23 and 24 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“O LORD, the way You want _________ and me to go is not ourselves.

It is not in us to be able to direct our own steps; we need You.

O LORD, correct us with your justice;

not with Your anger, or You will bring us to nothing.

For Your name’s sake, Jesus~”

Jeremiah 9 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Jeremiah 9.

Meditate on and memorize verse 24.

Let him who boasts boast of this,

 that he understands and knows Me,

that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness,

 justice, and righteousness on earth,

for I delight in these things, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah is described as the “weeping prophet.”  He grieved for his people steeped in sin.  Jeremiah’s eyes were a fountain of tears, and he wept and wailed while God pronounced judgment on the people of Judah (Jeremiah 9:1, 10). 

Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them,

and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,

but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals,

as their fathers taught them,

…behold, I will feed them, this people,

with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 

I will scatter them among the nations,

whom neither they nor their fathers have known;

 and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.

—Jeremiah 9:13-16

Instead of annihilation, God offered the people something truly remarkable, something they could even boast about.  Their Creator desired these sinful, idolatrous people to understand and intimately know Him.  The LORD wanted them to comprehend that He delights in lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness. 

Ponder that truth because God’s invitation is for you and those you love.  The LORD wants you to understand and know Him.  He even gives you permission to boast that you do.  Why would anyone choose to understand and know sin when the Creator of your soul draws you into a personal relationship of knowing Him?

Pray Jeremiah 9:13-14, 23-24, and 26 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, __________ and I have forsaken Your law which You set before us.

Forgive us for not obeying Your voice nor walking according to Your Word.

Help us stop walking after the stubbornness of our heart.

LORD, we are done boasting about our wisdom and our might and our riches.

Let us boast of this, that we understand and know You,

that You are the LORD who exercises lovingkindness,

justice, and righteousness on earth.  You delight in those things.

 LORD, circumcise our hearts!

In Your name, Jesus~”

Jeremiah 8 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Jeremiah 8.

Meditate on and memorize what the LORD had Jeremiah say in verse 7.

My people do not know the ordinance of the LORD.

Jeremiah preached to people who chose to live in sin and wickedness instead of the LORD’s righteousness.  Choosing sin was choosing death, and the time would come when the people would be left with only dead bones to spread out to the sun, moon, and stars they worshipped (Jeremiah 8:1-2). 

The people were in a pathetic place because they did not know the ordinances of God.  They surrounded themselves with people who condoned their behavior instead of hearing and heeding the Word of the LORD.   The scribes wrote lies; the wise men rejected God’s Word, so they had demonic wisdom not God’s wisdom (James 3:15).  The people were not ashamed of their disgusting behavior (Jeremiah 8:8-9, 12).

Jeremiah preached God’s Word; he told about the coming judgment if the people refused to repent.   The horrible sin, lack of repentance, and impending destruction and death caused Jeremiah to be sorrowful beyond healing.  His heart was faint within him; he mourned and was broken for the brokenness of his people (Jeremiah 8:18, 21).

What is your attitude toward sin?  Does it break your heart to see lives destroyed by it?  Does sin grieve you?  Do you hear and heed what is written condoning behavior that is an abomination to God or do you hear and heed what God wrote?  Your world is grievously similar to Jeremiah’s.  Will you choose death or life?

Pray Jeremiah 8:7 and 13a over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, even the stork, the turtledove, the swift, and the thrush know the seasons and the migrations You have appointed for them. 

LORD, make ________ and me know Your ordinances,

so You will not have to snatch us away.

In Your name, Jesus~”

Jeremiah 7 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Jeremiah 7.

Meditate on and memorize what God said in verse 23.

Obey My voice, and I will be your God,

 and you will be My people;

and you will walk in all the way which I command you,

 that it may be well with you.

God prepared Jeremiah to be a preacher from the time he was in his mother’s womb.  He was a young man when the LORD commanded him to speak every word He put into his mouth.  Jeremiah’s first recorded sermon was at the gate of the LORD’s house.  God told him to preach to the people who were going inside those gates to worship the LORD (Jeremiah 1:5-9; 7:2).

The people worshipped in the beautiful temple built by King Solomon, and they were proud of it.  They bragged about “the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD” (Jeremiah 7:4).  It was the place they went to carry out religious rituals.  They thought going to the temple freed them up to spend the rest of their week stealing, murdering, committing adultery, swearing falsely, sacrificing to Baal, and walking after other gods.  They were even sacrificing their children (Jeremiah 7:8-10, 31-32).

Jeremiah’s sermon was one of warning with an opportunity to repent before it was too late.  God would destroy the temple and pour out His wrath on the people and the land unless they amended their ways and deeds.  If they did not cease from doing evil, God would make cease from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness; the land and their lives would become a ruin  (Jeremiah 7:3, 20, 34).

Examine your life.  Do you justify behaviors that are detestable to the LORD?  Who and what are you sacrificing to get ahead and to attain what you think you deserve?  Are you more proud of the church you attend than the LORD who is the Head of your church?

Pray Jeremiah 7:23-24 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, help _________ and me obey Your voice.

We want You to be our God; we want to be Your people.

May we walk in the way You command us, that it may be well with us.

Help us to obey and incline our ear to You. 

Do not let us walk in our own counsels and in the stubbornness of an evil heart. 

May we stop going backward! 

Let us go forward with You, LORD!

In Your name, Jesus~”

Jeremiah 6 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Jeremiah 6.

Meditate on and memorize this phrase from verse 15.

They were not even ashamed at all;

they did not even know how to blush.

God was preparing war and great destruction against Jerusalem for refusing to listen to Him and walk in His ways.  The LORD condemned the people for their abominations.  Some of His indictments in Jeremiah 6 included:

            *They kept their wickedness fresh (v. 7).

            *Everyone dealt falsely (v. 13).

            *They had no shame (v. 15).

            *They did not even know how to blush (v. 15).

            *They refused to walk in the good path (v. 16).

            *They refused to listen to God’s Words (v. 19).

            *They were stubbornly rebellious (v. 28).

*There were preachers among the people who superficially healed their brokenness instead of teaching the truths of God and how to walk with Him in holiness (13-14).

God appointed Jeremiah to examine and test the ways of the people (Jeremiah 6:27).  He was God’s messenger of truth for the people of Judah.  His sermons were not superficial; they were God’s Words that could truly heal brokenness, if the people would listen to what God said. 

God’s Words spoken 2600 years ago are still fresh today.  They are living waters to refresh your soul.  Be a Jeremiah and examine your life and the lives of those you love.  Is there fresh wickedness in your life or in the life of someone you love?  Does “stubbornly rebellious” describe you or people you know?  Do you still blush?  Hear and heed the Word of the LORD and pray it over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

Pray Jeremiah 6:16.

“LORD, _________ and I are standing by the ways,

looking and asking for the ancient paths where Your good way is. 

We want to walk in it.  As we do, let us find rest for our souls.

In Your name, Jesus~”

Jeremiah 5 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Jeremiah 5.

Meditate on and memorize this phrase from verse 24.

Let us now fear the LORD our God.

The people should have said, “Let us now fear the LORD our God,” but they did not.  Instead they refused to take correction from God and repent.  They used the LORD’s name in vain and lied about Him.  Their homes were full of deceit.  They had wealth, so they thought their relationship with God was just fine and that it was the poor people who did not know the way of the LORD.  Instead of speaking God’s Word, their preachers preached falsely, and their priests ruled by their own authority, and the people loved it (Jeremiah 5:2-4, 12, 24, 27, 31). 

God warned Judah of His coming judgment because of their arrogant rebellion.  Even the waves of the sea obey God and stay within the boundaries He sets for them, yet people defy the ways of the LORD.  God declared, “Do you not fear Me?  Do you not tremble in My presence?” (Jeremiah 5:22).

Hear and heed the Word of the LORD!  Who do you fear, people or God?  Do your preachers and teachers speak the truth of God’s Word, or do they teach lies?  What do you love?

God asks you a question at the end of Jeremiah 5, “What will you do at the end of it?”

How are you going to answer the LORD?

Pray Jeremiah 5:22-23 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, You have established boundaries for __________ and me;

do not let us cross them. 

You have issued eternal decrees;

do not allow us to prevail against them. 

May we fear You and tremble in Your presence, LORD. 

Remove our stubborn and rebellious heart. 

Do not let us turn aside and depart from You.

In Your name, Jesus~”

Jeremiah 4 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Jeremiah 4.

Meditate on and memorize verse 14.

Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. 

How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

The people of Judah had heart issues.  Bitter evil touched their hearts; the wicked thoughts lodged within them made their hearts evil (Jeremiah 4:14, 18).  God told them to “remove the foreskins” of their sin hardened hearts (Jeremiah 4:4).  His approaching judgment would make the heart of the king and the princes fail (Jeremiah 4:9).  Judah’s rebellious ways and deeds would bring destruction upon the nation (Jeremiah 4:18).

When God told Jeremiah of the coming devastation, his soul was in anguish.  Jeremiah cried out, “Oh, my heart!  My heart is pounding in me; I cannot be silent…”(Jeremiah 4:19).

The Word of the LORD caused Jeremiah’s heart to pound.  His heart was tender towards God.  His Word affected Jeremiah; he spent 53 years of his life not keeping silent but proclaiming the Word of God. 

How does God’s Word impact you?  What is the condition of your heart?  Are you hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, or are you circumcised by the LORD Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:13; Colossians 2:11)?

Pray Jeremiah 4:19 and 22 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, may _______ and my heart pound when we hear Your Word.

Let us not keep silent about what we hear.

Do not let us be foolish people.

Let us know You, LORD.

Stop us from being stupid children who have no understanding.

Do not let us be shrewd to do evil.

Teach us how to do good.

In Your name, Jesus~”