Daily Thought

Jerusalem fell as Jeremiah had predicted. King Zedekiah was slain, and many Jews led into captivity. A few remained in the land, governed initially by Gedaliah, under Babylonian authority, and then by Johanan. It is hardly surprising that these disheartened people should turn to Jeremiah for counsel. Against all the odds his predictions had come true, and he was therefore fully accredited as a faithful prophet of God, Deut. 18. 20-22.

It is good when others recognize that believers have a genuine contact with heaven and request our prayers, 1 Sam. 12. 19; Acts 8. 24. It is, however, sadly true that many solicit aid either as a temporary circumvention of difficulties, or as a means of rubber-stamping their own decisions.

In this case the prayer requests were feigned. Despite pious words, never a reliable guide to the heart, these people had no real love for the God of Israel. They pledged themselves to obey, 42. 5, 6, but were exposed as shams, ‘ye dissembled in your hearts’, vv. 20-22. Alas, they recapitulated the nation’s empty gestures at Sinai, ‘All that the Lord hath spoken we will do’, Exod. 19. 8.

Such events are recorded in the word as a lesson in the importance of heart-honesty before God. The Pharisaical practice of lip-service, however impressive or plausible, will never satisfy the God who knows the thoughts of our innermost beings, Jer. 17. 9, 10; Matt. 15. 8, 9. To approach Him disingenuously, to ask for guidance when the mind is already fixed on its course, to attempt to deceive the God of heaven, is to court disaster.

To the humble alone will God make Himself known, Isa. 66. 1, 2. If we would learn His will, let us remember the great precondition is that our will must be unconditionally subordinated to His. As the Saviour said, ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine’, John 7. 17.

Prayer is no formal, impersonal request for information, but the outpouring of the heart before God, unreservedly surrendering ourselves to the One who knows what is best for His people.

May we pray with a heart willing to obey.