ESOCS Devotional 24 April 2024 – Selfish Request
MEMORY VERSE: “… and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to the Lord your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.”Jeremiah 42:1-2
TEXT: JEREMIAH 42:1-12
Now all the captains of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but a few of many, as you can see), 3 that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.”
5 So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you. 6 Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: 10 ‘If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’
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After the brutal massacre at Mizpah (Jeremiah 41), the leaders and citizens of those left in the land were anxious and asked Jeremiah for a word from the Lord. The whole populace came to secure an oracle from him; something which had never happened in the forty years before Jerusalem fell. Rightly concerned over the dangers surrounding them, they asked Jeremiah for guidance from God, with the idea that if they did what God wanted them to do, they would enjoy His protection. By all appearance, this was a humble, wise, and proper request.
On the surface, this was a great prayer to pray. It is still a prayer worth praying daily. Yet, a minute flaw on the surface of it, in the words ‘your God’, made an admission that went deeper than they realized. Underneath the good words, self-interest has predominated once again, and now their concern is merely to know if God will approve of their plan to migrate to Egypt.
It is useless to profess our desire to know God’s will, whilst in our secret heart we are determined to follow a certain course, come what may. How often do believers ask for prayer that their course may be made clear, when in point of fact they have already decided on it, and are secretly hoping to turn God to do their will? It is possible to deal deceitfully with our own souls. We do so, as these people did, whenever we ask for Divine guidance, having previously decided what our course of action is to be. Such praying is only a superstitious activity. When prayer is conceived of as a means of getting our own desires fulfilled, it is a superstition.
In modern language, we could just say that if we have our minds made up already, we are not going to get the blessing or the results we want. How much better it is to say, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).
God is looking for us to approach Him with a willing heart. It is then He can bless us. Here is His promise: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19).
Have you ever decided what you want God to tell you to do? We may pray, “God, tell me what you want,” but already have our minds made up. We may even try to give God advice and ask Him to ratify our own plans, rather than listening for His plans.
- Commit your plans to God for He knows what’s best for you.
- Father, guide me to develop a willing and obedient heart.
Further Reading: 2 Samuel 24:15-end; Matthew 27:45-end; Hebrews 13:1-12
ESOCS Devotional 24 April 2024
