DOUBTS IN PRAYER
BIBLE PASSAGE: JEREMIAH 32
Picture taken from Google
Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of
Solomon’s Wisdom FB page
Lesson
ideas taken from: ttps://www.lifeway.com
SEPTEMBER 12, 2021
MEMORY VERSE
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is
there any thing too hard for me?
JEREMIAH 32:27
INTRODUCTION:
Personally,
I am blessed with our last week’s lesson titled, “When God Speaks to our
Prayers.” Though King Zedekiah had given many clear warnings and guidance from
the Lord, he still chose his will. Remember his eyes were taken off and he was
put in prison, while he was there, possibly he would say, “GOD’s Word is really
true’ but sad to say, he could not make it up to the Lord because he died with
a tragic death. Another thing that spoke to me is the thought that, “THIS LIFE,
WE CANNOT MAKE IT ON OUR OWN.” I pray that I won’t forget that lesson and be a
warning.
To
continue, another lesson we’ll study today and it’s like a continuation because
the lesson is also from the book of Jeremiah. Before I proceed, I want to thank
the Lord for his continuous blessings for me and the family. I can’t help but
say my gratefulness to the Lord because I remember the time I was so down when
we were hit by financial crisis. We have a big problem about finances and it’s
not talking about small money but million. Imagine that situation that was so discouraging.
I don’t say this because we already solved the problem, but we are given by God peace
and wisdom on how to keep on coping that problem. I had thoughts in mind that
time, “IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM; WE ARE SO POOR.” Let me ask you,
do you feel the same? Was there a time you have doubts in prayer? (if possible,
let some audience speak)
Jeremiah
had come to a point in his life where he seemed had doubt to what God was
telling him to do. Let me elaborate.
Suppose a real estate agent called you and said, “I’ve
got a choice property in the mountains with a luxury hotel on it. The building
is worth $20 million, easily. I’ll let you have it for $20,000. What do you
think? Oh, by the way, it’s located in Afghanistan.”
Buying
property in a war zone is a high-risk investment, at best. But to buy a piece
of property that is already under enemy control, when it’s obvious that the
enemy is on the verge of overthrowing the entire country, would be crazy. Yet
that’s exactly what God asked His prophet Jeremiah to do. Jerusalem was under
siege, on the brink of falling to the Chaldeans. Jeremiah was in prison because
he had been preaching that the nation was going to fall and that God wanted
them to surrender.
While
he was in prison, with the sound of the enemy army just outside the city walls,
Jeremiah’s cousin came and offered him the family right of redemption to
purchase a piece of property in Anathoth, which was already in Chaldean
control. We can only guess at the man’s motives, but clearly he wanted to cash
out of a hopeless situation. God told Jeremiah to purchase the land and go
through the proper legal proceedings as a prophetic drama to emphasize to
Israel that God would keep His gracious promise of restoring them to the land.
Jeremiah
obeyed, but then he got a bit confused. Had he done something dumb? Let’s read
the last line of verse 24 and also verse 25, “And thou
hast said unto me, O Lord God, Buy thee the field for money, and take
witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” In
Tagalog, “…Matutupad na lahat ng Iyong sinabi. Ngunit Ikaw ang nag-utos sa akin,
Yahweh, na bilhin ko sa harapan ng saksi
ang bukirin, bagaman ang lungsod na ito ay nakatakdang sakupin ng mga Caldeo.”
If God was going to overthrow Israel by the
Chaldeans, as Jeremiah had been preaching and as seemed imminent, then why did
God tell him to buy this land? So after the transaction was completed, Jeremiah
prayed, and God granted him the answer he needed to endure. His prayer teaches
us some lessons on how to pray by faith in a bleak, confusing situation.
LESSON OUTLINE:
1. THERE IS STILL NOTHING TOO HARD FOR
THE LORD (JEREMIAH 32:16-27)
When Jeremiah received the proof of purchase in the
land, he prayed (32:16). We can see that in times of confusions of God’s will,
he prayed. May we see this a good habit that only God would enlighten your
minds on what’s going on in your lives; we just need to be silent and talk to
Him. In his prayer, Jeremiah recognized and
praised the great power of God, confessing the truth, there is nothing too hard for Thee. Jeremiah recognized the mercy and love of God. He recognized the justice and
judgment of God. And he recognized the particular
love, favor, and work of God toward His people
Israel. They were special objects of His power, mercy, and love. In
Jeremiah’s prayer, what I see in here is thou we know or recognize God’s power
and love like Jeremiah said, “there is nothing too hard for thee,” still there
are times we are little bit confused of God’s will.
In verse 27 God answered and says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is
there any thing too hard for me?” Yes, sometimes or most of the times God’s will is so painful.
Like Judah, it was so hard to be captive, houses are burned, farms are
desolate, discomfort with the enemy, hard times to be imprisoned and a lot
more. God let those things happen for their own good. These happen to make them
realize that disobedience would just make their lives miserable. Like Judah,
we’ll feel the same way away from God’s will. Will God able to fix it? Jeremiah 18:4-5, like the potter and the
clay, God enable to mold it and fix the broken pot. Yes, God says, “Behold, I
am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” Just surrender; put your pride aside.
It’s hard for a king to surrender, right? This is what happened to King
Zedekiah, he didn’t want to surrender, be humble, repent and accept the
discipline of the Lord. Like Judah, we are also stubborn, there are things
happening in our lives but refused the warnings of the Lord instead we fix by
our own selves. We don’t prioritize spiritual matters (mas madami pa ang absent
sa church kesa sa pagpunta). Aywan ko lang kung hindi ka lubusang pagpapalain
kung if you’re faithful in all aspects: worship (pagtitipon), sharing the
Gospel, financial matters, service-commitment, prayer, reading God’s Word and
your testimony. There’s nothing too hard for the Lord, just follow His will.
2. REMEMBER GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL
In Jeremiah 32:5
says, “And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there
shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.” In the last
line in Tagalog, “Anumang pakikipaglaban ang gawin ninyo, hindi kayo
magtatagumpay sa mga Caldeo.” He said this because He’s in control of
everything. In Jeremiah 33:25 -26 say, “Thus says the Lord: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven
and earth, then
I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that
I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers
over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their
captives to return and will have mercy on them.’” We have no effort
in making the day and night and heaven work with coordination and this concludes
that He controls everything.
The verse
in the book of Job chapter 38 verse 1, “Where were you when I laid the foundation
of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding” is a great
reminder that God is in control. Honestly, do we have something to boast to the
Lord? The fact that we have no participation during the creation is a proof
that we can’t do live this life without God. The creation itself proves that He
controls everything. Therefore, we can
say that this pandemic is allowed by the Lord, for a great purpose. People
choose other gods and make no priority for spiritual matters. Let’s try to personalize what happened to
the people of Judah. God might be saying this to us, “Famine, pestilence and lot of problems arise in
your land but don’t worry I will be there for you. I am in control just
surrender to My will. Be humble, repent and obey.”
3. WE CAN TRUST GOD IN OUR FUTURE
(JEREMIAH 32:36-41).
I think there is no person
who doesn’t think his or her future. There’s nothing wrong about it and we
learn from the last week’s sermon of our pastor that we need to develop
ourselves in order for us to reach our goal in reaching all people in their
different status.
When we experience the
early pandemic last year, there were also thoughts in my mind and one of those
was the question, “What will now happen Lord?” We can see by your eyes that our
environment is not safe anymore. We know that in spiritual aspect, our enemy is
not seen but we don’t think that time will come that in physical world, enemy
is not seen too, the virus; it spreads worldwide. Whom can we trust our future
now? Can we trust our business nowadays? Can we trust our job? Can we trust the
government? No one on this earth whom we can trust because they are also
affected. Like Jeremiah said, “NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR HIM.” What God has promised in the past, God has done. What He has
proposed, He has accomplished. God said, “Let there be light, and it was so.”
He was determined to create the universe, and he did it. God promised to create
man in His own image, and he did that. Can anything be too hard for God? Look
at the heavens at night. God created all that and sustains it so that all
those heavenly bodies do not crash into each other, or worse, into earth. Is
anything too hard for God? I am convinced! Nothing is too hard for Him.
Let’s read again what God had
promised to king Zedekiah if he’ll just obey. Jeremiah 38:17-18 say, “Then said
Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go
forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then
thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou
shalt live, and thine house: 18 But if thou wilt not go forth
to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand
of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape
out of their hand.” Let’s paraphrase this promise, “Though there are enemies, and you
become captives you’ll be in good hands: you shall live and thine house and the
city will not be burned just surrender.” Though there’s pandemic going on,
don’t faint just obey, keep on serving and keep on surrendering to my will.
Remember He promised to send a Savior, and He did it.
Jesus came and suffered and bled and died for your sins and for mine. He
promised to send the Holy Spirit to indwell believers. He did that on the day
of Pentecost.
Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call
unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which
thou knowest not.”
Jeremiah 33: 14 - “Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord,
that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of
Israel and to the house of Judah.”
WE CAN TRUST GOD IN OUR
FUTURE!
CONCLUSION:
We live in a world where sometimes
life’s challenges seem impossible to overcome, so much to learn and put
together like many jigsaw puzzle pieces. Even when we strive and find out how
to bring the pieces together, they don’t always hold together. We find
ourselves lost, twisted, or detached from the life we strive so hard to put
together and live on a daily https://discover.hubpages.com/. BROKEN THINGS become BLESSED THINGS if you let God do the mending.
Whatever
knowledge we have; God’s knowledge is incomparable. We can’t contain in our
minds His thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Whatever situation we are in God will be able to fix it. Again, verse 27 says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is
there any thing too hard for me?” TRUST
GOD IN THE STORM
