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Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 363

"I prayed to the LORD"

Text: Jeremiah 32:16

A PRAYER OF JEREMIAH I

Jeremiah was a man given to prayer. Many prayers of Jeremiah were recorded in his prophetic book. Each prayer offers meaningful insight.

“Now when I had delivered the purchase deed
to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying:
‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth
by Your great power and outstretched arm.
There is nothing too hard for You.
You show lovingkindness to thousands,
and repay the iniquity of the fathers
into the bosom of their children after them—
the Great, the Mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts.'”
Jeremiah 32:16-18

1. “Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah,
I prayed to the LORD, saying”

a) Some prayers were intercessory in nature.

b) Other prayers were for deliverance.

c) This particular prayer was offered after the purchase of the field in Anathoth.

i) It is a prayer of reflection.

ii) It is one where Jeremiah wondered why God instructed him to purchase the field in Anathoth, knowing that the Babylonians would conquer the land.

2. “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth
by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You”

a) It is a fairly formal prayer.

b) Jeremiah addressed the LORD.

i) As the Creator of heaven and earth.

ii) The power of the LORD was acknowledged.

iii) If God could create all things, obviously there was nothing too hard for Him.

3. “You show lovingkindness to thousands,
and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them—
the Great, the Mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts”

a) Jeremiah acknowledged:

i) God’s lovingkindness.

ii) His work of upholding justice.

iii) His right to chastise even the children of unrepentant sinful fathers.

b) The LORD was truly:

i) Great

ii) The Mighty God

iii) He is the LORD of hosts.

4. This may be regarded as a prayer too

a) Though it may also be seen as a preamble to his actual petition that he would make a little later in his prayer.

b) This elaborate address of God shows Jeremiah’s high regard for Him.

c) Though he was a significant prophet, he was nevertheless addressing the LORD God of hosts and it was right to show such reverence in prayer.