Don’t stone me!

I’m just quoting scripture!

Jeremiah, delivering God’s message to His people who’s heart had wandered far from Him:

“As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.” Jeremiah 7:16.

How could anyone ever say such a thing? The bible tells us to “pray at all times”, right? We good human Christians would never say, “don’t pray”!

Ah, but here, beloved, we have yet another example of the security of our God. He is so secure in Himself and in His ways that He is not afraid to say something like, “Don’t pray.”

He was speaking to a people who maintained a religious system which they called by His name, yet their hearts were far from Him. They were two-timing Him with other gods (more like three-timing, or four-timing, or…) And they were doing abhorrent things, like, (i hate to even mention it) burning their own children as a “sacrifice” (vs. 31.) God had given this people ample opportunity to change. Daily, God got up early and sent them prophets, yet they did not listen nor even try to listen. (I am not being poetic here, read for yourself: Jeremiah 7:25, 26.)

Still, He is kind enough to tell them the punishment that is coming. That’s when He says, “Don’t pray.”

See, not even the mechanical act of prayer itself is sacred to God. If it has no friendship behind it, then it is worthless.

Prayer is sometimes viewed as a system, a transaction, a procedure, a formula… There is a lust in the human heart to figure out how the game works so we can play it to our own advantage. There is no lack of teaching available to you today regarding the proper mechanics of prayer in order to get you what you want. I am not going to tell you that such mechanics won’t work. They might. You very well may get what you want. But, i am also not going to tell you that Jesus will say, “Way to go!” on the day you stare in His face. Do we think He’s going to say, “Good job! You figured out the system! You learned to play the game! You discovered that if you press that lever you’ll get a food-pellet!” Does any of this add up to actual, intimate, relational knowledge? Does any of this equal friendship? No. It doesn’t. So, don’t pray.

Don’t pray if it is only mechanics. Let us refrain from prayer if the love of God is not in us. Don’t get this wrong: it’s not that we have to be “good enough” to pray. We can’t be “good enough”. We just need to be friends. Weak friends, broken friends, friends who struggle to hear, to understand and to obey: that’s all fine! Pray your heart out! But if it’s just about mechanics, if there’s no love in it, if He’s just one of many, if we refuse to listen or to even try to listen, if we have no interest in altering our course to walk more closely with Him… then forget it. Don’t pray.

Let us pray,

Forgive us, Friend, for making this conversation a formula. Forgive our refusal to listen. Forgive us for exalting other voices above Yours. Let’s start over today. Let me listen. Let me hear. Let me follow and speak to You as a friend. I love You. I really do.