Jeremiah 11:6
The Bible says in Jeremiah 11:6, Then the
LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the
cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of
this covenant, and do them. One thing about Gods will does
not change. As long as this world keeps rotating around the sun, He wants us to
proclaim His Word. That is what He wanted Jeremiah to do, and that is what He
wants us to do. Paul wrote in Second Timothy 4:2, Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 11:7-12, For I
earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of
the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying,
Obey my voice. Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every
one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them
all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them
not. And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found
among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They are turned
back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words;
and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house
of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Therefore
thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon
them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me,
I will not hearken unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they
shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
These verses are actually a very strong presentation of the reasons for the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word gospel means good news. These
verses in Jeremiah chapter 12 are full of bad news. God said to the Israelites
from the time that they were first delivered from
Over and over again we are told in the
book of Jeremiah how much the Israelites had failed to keep the law, and
therefore, they were in a state wherein they were deserving of Gods judgment
and punishment. I can think of at least one good reason that we keep being reminded
of this truth: Christians tend to commit the error of going back to law in their
view of themselves and their relationship with God. That is a big mistake.
Through faith in Christ we are not under law but under grace. Law does not work
as a basis for being accepted by God. If you are under law, then you are under
a curse. But those who have faith in Christ are not under law, but under grace.
Gods unmerited favor is showered upon us, not because of anything that we have
done, but because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. When people see their
relationship with God as based upon law, they often end up condemning
themselves because they because very aware of their failures. As it says in Romans
3:20, Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
You are acceptable to God because of your faith in Jesus, not because of any
good deeds that you have done or failed to do.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 11:13-23, For
according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to
the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful
thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. Therefore pray not thou for this
people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in
the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. What hath my beloved to do in
mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is
passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. The LORD called thy name, A
green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult
he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. For the LORD
of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of
the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against
themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal. And the LORD
hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst
me their doings. But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the
slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let
us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the
land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered. But, O LORD of
hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart,
let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the
name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the
young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by
famine: And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the
men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
Notice that the Lord said in Jeremiah
11:14, for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for
their trouble. This tells us an important biblical truth: there are some
prayers that God does not answer. Often we give a very general statement about
prayer. We say, God answers prayer, as an encouragement to people to make
sure that they pray about everything. But the truth is that there are certain
circumstances in a persons spiritual condition that could actually keep one or
more prayers from being answered. The first condition is what is described here
in Jeremiah chapter 11: unconfessed sin. If you have
sins in your life that you have not confessed, then the very first thing you
need to pray about has to do with you repenting and asking the Lord to forgive
you. After you have done that confessing of sins, then pray about other things.
It says in Psalm 66:18-20, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will
not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my
prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
Another important spiritual factor in
having prayers answered has to do with following the example of Jesus when He
prayed in Luke 22:42 just before His crucifixion, Father, if
thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. Our own will must be surrendered to
Gods will when we pray. If our will is not surrendered, then we are just
making a bunch of selfish requests when we pray. It says in James 4:3, Ye ask, and
receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
There is another spiritual principle
that can result in unanswered prayer, and that has to do with faith. As
believers in Jesus, we are to live by faith in Him. That means to rely upon,
depend upon, and have confidence in Jesus in everything we do. When we pray, it
is very important to believe that the Lord is going to answer our prayers. It
says in Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Notice that
it also says in James 5:15, And the prayer of faith shall save the sick
Not just
any prayer will cause a sick person to be healed, but a believing prayer, a prayer of
faith. Jesus made this principle of prayer very clear when He said in
Matthew 21:22, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing,
ye shall receive.
There is at least one other spiritual
principle that is required in order to have answers to prayer: praying in
connection with the name of Jesus. Notice carefully that concerning the prayer
that results in salvation, it says in Romans 10:13, Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The name of
the Lord is Jesus. If you call upon the name of the Father, you will not get
saved. If you call upon the Holy Spirit, you will not get saved. But if you
call upon the name of Jesus, you will get saved. Speaking about Jesus, it says
in Acts 4:12, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Jesus said
in John 14:13, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. Jesus also said in John 15:16, Ye have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask in
my name, he may give it you. To ask in the name of Jesus actually means much
more than saying at the end of each prayer, This I pray in the name of Jesus.
Such a format for prayer is not even found in the Bible, although it certainly
is ok to pray in that way. To pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in
connection with the name of Jesus. It means that the one who is praying
understands that every word of his or her prayers are
only possible because of Jesus, and that the prayer is being made both through
Jesus and to Jesus. It says in First Timothy 2:5, For there is
one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. No one goes
around a mediator to get to another party. No one only mentions the mediator at
the end of the discussion. If there is a mediator involved, then we go directly
to the mediator with all that we have to say. The mediator is Jesus. Starting
with the moment we are saved, if we want our prayers to be heard and answered,
we must pray in the name of Jesus.
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Copyright; 2012 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved