P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Jeremiah seeks the face of the Lord for all that is going on.
Together we will pray (P.R.A.Y.) each day – ‘P’: Pausing to be still as we come into the presence of the Lord. ‘R’: Rejoicing as we remember who our God is and what He has done, and Reflecting on His word. ‘A’: Asking God to help us and others. And ‘Y’: yielding to His will in accordance with His word.
As I come before you to pray, I still my thoughts and quiet my mind. I seek to make you the center of my focus.
Prayer of Approach
Lord, as I end this year in your presence would you meet with me? Remind me of the faithfulness you have shown me this past year. Fill my heart with joy that you are the God who loves me. Wherever I may find myself today, would you fill me with hopeful anticipation about a future with you? Meet with me, my God.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 33:4
For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
Psalm 33:4
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Jeremiah 32, where we read:
“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror. And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the Lord. This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction. They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Jeremiah 32:16-35
In the midst of this terrifying time Jeremiah seeks the face of the Lord in praise. He rehearses who he knows the Lord to be in the midst of the situation he finds himself in. He knows he is the Creator and nothing is too hard for him. He knows the steadfast love of the Lord. He knows how faithful the Lord has been to them in their history. Jeremiah also knows that the people of God walked away from him. That they have not listened to his voice or obeyed his commands. So now they find the judgment of the Lord at their doorstep. There is hope in the reality of what they have done though in Jeremiah’s eyes. He knows that the Lord made him buy that property to remind him of his goodness and what their future will hold in the long run. Suffering may come for the moment, but God will ultimately restore Israel, at least that’s what Jeremiah hopes. (A little bit of a cliffhanger today.)
Lord, show me yourself. When I see you as the God you are I see myself for who I really am. Open my eyes to the sin in my life. Show me where I have wandered from you.
1)Where do I need to rehearse the faithfulness of the Lord in my current situation?
2)Where have I like Israel walked away from the Lord?
3)What do I need to confess to him today?
God, nothing is too great for you to accomplish. As the new year approaches, I ask for you to pour out your Spirit on your people. Would you make 2023 the year you wake your sleeping church? Would you make 2023 the year you pour out your Spirit in a supernatural way in South Florida? Would you make 2023 the year we look back on and remember that it was in that year that the Lord dealt with his people mercifully by making his glory known amongst them?
As I read the passage again slowly, I listen for anything that You would say to me in it. Help me see how to position my life in order to yield to your word.
“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror. And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the Lord. This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction. They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Jeremiah 32:16-35
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I yield to what you want for and from my life. Take my life and make it be according to your word. Let me know that the sufferings I face in this life draw me close to you. Let me learn to love the waves that crash me into the Rock of Ages. Let me know that you will never leave me nor forsake me. There is nothing too hard for you.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Jeremiah 32:17:
‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
Jeremiah 32:17
Closing Prayer
Lord, as I leave this moment would you go with me? As I have met with you and heard what you have to say give me the strength to hear what needs to be heard and to obey what needs to be obeyed. Fill me with your Spirit that guides and convicts. Let me experience the love and mercy you have for me as I walk in step with you. May the words of my mouth match the meditations of my heart today?
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.