Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
7/18 Reading Portions: Judges 1; Acts 5; Jeremiah 14; Matthew 28
Jeremiah 14:22
Are you not He, O LORD our God? We set our hope on You, for You do all these things.
INTERCESSION
Jeremiah was commanded specifically not to…
“pray for the welfare of this people.” Jeremiah 14:11
Nevertheless, the weeping prophet’s heart was overwhelmed with compassion, and he interceded on behalf of Judah and Jerusalem, who were besieged under God’s holy judgment. The difficulty of and dilemma from the passage points us to Christ. Jeremiah’s conversations with YHVH God foreshadow unto us a picture of the intercessions of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed:
“I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” John 17:9
Jeremiah was not allowed to intercede for the godless “world” taken captive by idolatrous Chaldean cohorts. Nevertheless, a remnant of believers remained while other believers were taken captive. Jeremiah’s intercessions were for them. Were there not those who would find grace and repentance in Judah and Jerusalem because of Jeremiah’s preached word? Aha, there’s the rub. There were, just as there are still those whose hearts would be pricked by the preaching of Christ’s gospel today. Just as we cast a wide net in preaching the gospel, trusting that the Lord brings in the catch, we cast a wide net in our prayerful intercessions, knowing that Christ Jesus ever lives to make intercession for those He is saving (Heb 7:25). The Holy Spirit also intercedes on our behalf because we know not how we ought to pray (Rom 8:26). When we pray, and most especially when we intercede in prayer, we become more like our Master than any other endeavor the Christian soul undertakes. America today, is besieged by all kinds of idolatry. Both…
“prophet and priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge.” Jeremiah 14:22
As for you and me; let us pray. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Our God does hate the sacrifice,
where not the heart is found;
Let’s intercede to bring soul’s life
with knees upon the ground.
