Jeremiah 14 - Praying God's Word

Please read Jeremiah 14.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/14/1/s_759001

Meditate on verse 9b.

 

You are in our midst, O LORD,

 and we are called by Your name;

 do not forsake us!

 

Sin took its toll, not only on the people of Judah, but on the land and the animals.  The water was gone; the ground was cracked, and the animals abandoned their newborn babies because there was no grass (vs. 1-6).

Amazingly, in the midst of the drought, the false prophets said there would not be a famine.  In the name of the LORD, they said everything was going to be fine.  God said they were preaching the deception of their own minds (vs. 13-14).

As you read Jeremiah, does the attitude of the people and the false preachers remind you of today?  False teachers preach that God just wants you to be happy, prosperous, and blessed.  People do whatever feels good with no regard for what God thinks about their behavior.

Do not be deceived!  Just because current laws or religious teachings legalize and condone sin, God still hates sin and punishes those participating in and approving it. Surround yourself with God’s Word and with people who are not afraid to teach what the LORD says.

Pray Jeremiah 14:20-22 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“We know our wickedness, O LORD.

 __________ and I have sinned against You.

Do not despise us for Your name’s sake;

do not disgrace the throne of Your glory.

Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

We hope in You, O LORD our God, Jesus Christ~”

 

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 13 - Praying God's Word

 

 

Please read Jeremiah 13.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/13/1/s_758001

Meditate on verse 15.

 

Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,

 for the LORD has spoken.

 

God told Jeremiah to create an interesting sermon illustration.  Jeremiah took a waistband, put it around his waist, went to the Euphrates River, and hid it in a rock crevice.  After many days, he returned to the Euphrates and dug out the waistband, which was totally ruined (vs. 1-7).

The waistband was a picture of Judah’s pride.  Like a waistband clings to the waist, the people clung to their foolish pride instead of clinging to God.  In their wickedness, God declared them totally worthless just like the worthless waistband (v. 10).

Jeremiah begged the people to listen to the LORD, but they refused.  They were eventually taken captive by the Babylonians and marched from Jerusalem to Babylon.  Their route took them by the Euphrates River where Jeremiah had once buried a waistband.  The sermon illustration was no longer ridiculous to them.  “Oh, if we had only heeded the Word of the LORD before it was too late!”

God’s Word is timeless truth, carefully preserved, so you do not repeat mistakes from the past.  Hear and heed His Word!  Let go of pride and cling to God.

Pray Jeremiah 13:11 and 15-16 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, as the waistband clings to the waist of a man,

__________ and I want to cling to You. 

We want to be Your people for

Your renown, praise, and glory. 

Help us listen to You!  We want to listen,

give heed, and not be haughty. 

We give glory to You, God! 

Do not let our feet stumble.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 12 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 12.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/12/1/s_757001

Meditate on verse 3a.

 

But 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,” yet He was the farthest thing from their mind (v. 2).  They did not think about the LORD and His Word as they made decisions and walked through their days.  They pleased themselves, their idols, and the wicked people around them (vs. 14-17).  They refused to listen and take God and His Word to heart (vs. 11,17).

Jeremiah was the opposite.  He had an intimate relationship with the LORD. Jeremiah discussed matters with God, and he knew the LORD saw him and was listening to him (vs. 1, 3).

Think about your walk with the LORD.  Do you attend church, sing a few songs about God, then go through the rest of your week without giving Him another thought?  Or do you live life with the LORD, wanting to please Him, discussing everything with Him, aware that He knows everything about you?

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~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 11 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 11.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/11/1/s_756001

Meditate on this phrase from verse 4.

 

Listen to My voice and do according

 to all which I command you.

 

Jeremiah’s next sermon was in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem (v. 6). The message from God was simple: “Hear the words of this covenant and do them” (v. 6).  The people responded to the sermon as their ancestors had done before them; each person walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart (v. 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).  It is not always easy to tell people the truth of God’s Word.  Thankfully, the LORD protected Jeremiah from those who did not want to hear about His covenant.

When God told Jeremiah the message, he responded with: “Amen, O LORD” (v. 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” (v. 19).

What is your response to the Word of God?  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”?

Pray Jeremiah 11:4-5 and 8 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. 

Amen, O LORD Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 10 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 10.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/10/1/s_755001

Meditate on 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 idols and the people who put their trust in them.  Idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field that have to be carried because they cannot walk; those who trust in such things instead of trusting the LORD “are altogether stupid and foolish” (Jeremiah 10:5, 8).

 

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). 

 

God contrasted Himself to idols in verses 10 and 12 of Jeremiah 10.

            The LORD is:

·      The true God

·      The living God

·      The everlasting King

·      The One who made the earth by His power

·      The One who established the world by His wisdom

 

What are you hoping will make your life better, but it is actually adding to your burden? Do not be stupid; let the true and living God, who made the earth by His power, establish and care for you and those you love. 


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 in 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.

For Your name’s sake, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 9 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 9.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/9/1/s_754001

Meditate on 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.”  His eyes were a fountain of tears as he grieved for his people steeped in sin (vs. 1, 10).

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.

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 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~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Jeremiah 8 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Jeremiah 8.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jer/8/1/s_753001

Meditate on what God said 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 (vs. 1-2).

The people were in a pathetic place. They surrounded themselves with others who condoned their sinful behavior. The scribes wrote lies and rejected God’s Word. The people were not ashamed of their disgusting behavior (vs. 8-9, 12).

Jeremiah preached God’s Word; he told about the coming judgment for refusing to repent. The horrible sin, lack of repentance, and impending destruction caused Jeremiah to be sorrowful beyond healing. He was broken for the brokenness of his people (vs. 18, 21).

What is your attitude toward sin? Does it break your heart to see lives destroyed by it? Your world is grievously similar to Jeremiah’s. Do not be tempted to condone behavior that is an abomination to God. Hear and heed the Word of the LORD and share it with others.

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~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL 2 ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell