Scripture reading: Jeremiah 7:16-18

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Prayer changes things! James 5:16 “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Song #821: “Pray All The Time” “Pray in the morning, Pray at the noontime, Pray in the evening, Pray all the time”

Luke 18:1 “men ought always to pray” Eph 6:18 “praying always” 1 Thess 3:10 “night and day praying” 1 Thess 5:17 “pray without ceasing”

Jeremiah to stop praying! 3 times God ordered Jeremiah to stop praying! The first time: Jeremiah 7:16 “As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.” The question Is why?

Because of misdirected trust! Why? Because of misdirected trust! What were their sins? They listened to lying prophets – v 4 They oppressed the weak & helpless – v 6 They presumed upon God’s grace – vs 9, 10 They turned God’s house into a den of thieves – v 11

Is our trust in the Lord or in ourselves? Some questions:

Why? Because of A Broken Covenant The second time Jeremiah 11:14 “Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.”

God made a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai Ex 19:5, 6 “if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Ex 19:8 The people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

Judah had broken the covenant They insisted on doing their own will - Jer 11:8 “they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart” They refused God’s warnings & broke the covenant - V 11 “Therefore, thus says the Lord, behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.”

Our new & better covenant: Jer 31:31-34 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them & I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God & they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity & I will remember their sin no more.”

Do we break covenant with God? Hebrews 10:29 “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

Disingenuous Devotion Why? Because of Disingenuous Devotion The third time Jeremiah 14:11 The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people.”

They were actively keeping the Law Verse 12 “Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them.” They fasted at the right time They offered all the appointed sacrifices

Judah was utterly lost & beyond prayer. The people pleaded for mercy Judah was utterly lost & beyond prayer! The people pleaded for mercy! Verses 19-22 “Have you utterly rejected Judah? Does your soul loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but behold, terror. We acknowledge our wickedness . . . Do not spurn us . . . remember and do not break your covenant with us . . . We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.”

were to plead on their behalf Even if Moses or Samuel were to plead on their behalf God would not listen! Jeremiah 15:1 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight and let them go!’”

There is a time to stop praying, A time to act! Exodus 14:15 “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.’”

There is a time to stop praying! Ananias found Saul of Tarsus praying Acts 22:16 “Why do you wait? Arise, be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”