Week 30 Jeremiah 14
Jeremiah records a prayer that the people of Israel prayed:
Our wickedness has caught up with us, Lord, but help us for the sake of your own reputation. We have turned away from you and sinned against you again and again.
O Hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble, why are you like a stranger to us? Why are you like a traveler passing through the land, stopping only for the night?
Are you also confused? Is our champion helpless to save us? You are right here among us, Lord. We are known as your people. Please don’t abandon us now!
I don’t know if anyone has developed a Quality of Prayer Measurement Scale – a test instrument to help me rate prayers on a scale of – let’s say: Poor or Medium or Good.
I’ve never seen one so all I can do is look at a prayer and try to judge it on its merits. And this prayer looks like a pretty good one to me:
It’s a looking-for-help prayer (“we’re in trouble and need a bail-out”)
It’s an admission-of-wrongdoing prayer. Abject. Repentive. Down-in-the-dumps. Pleading.
What’s really surprising is the Lord’s reply: I will no longer accept you as my people. I will remember all your wickedness and will punish you for your sins.
I would have given Israel maybe an 8.5 out of 10 for this good-sounding prayer.
But it looks like the Lord gave them 0.
Note: quotes from Jeremiah 14:7-10 (NLT)