“So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.” (Jeremiah 7:16)
“Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.” (Jeremiah 11:14)
“Do not pray for the well-being of this people.” (Jeremiah 14:11)
Jeremiah’s calling from God is to bring His message of judgement to Israel and surrounding nations. He is to “stand up and say to them whatever” God commands (1:17). Three times (7:16; 11:14; 14:11) Jeremiah is specifically instructed by God not to intercede in prayer for the people. God states that He will not listen to such intercession. It is time for judgement. Jeremiah is to preach rather than to pray. He is to focus on preaching God’s dire warnings to them of the consequences of their sin and disobedience. The onus is on the people to respond correctly. Jeremiah is only to preach precisely and accurately what God gives him. Even then, God warns him that “they will not listen to you” (7:27). Jeremiah does agree to pray at one point when the people specifically ask, “where we should go and what we should do” (42:1-6) in response to this message of judgement. His prayer brings clear guidance from God which he faithfully relays to them, but this instruction is also rejected. The people do not listen. It is the preached word they must respond to and not the prophet’s prayers. Jeremiah keeps preaching though because God’s Word is in his heart “like fire” and he “cannot hold it in” (20:9).
It seems to me that we are in a season of intercession with the Baptist Union of Scotland’s ‘Increase Prayer’ Initiative. There are encouraging signs of positive responses. But may there come a time, such as Jeremiah faced, when God will not listen? It is the Word that must be spoken and heard. May God’s Word be a fire in our hearts that we cannot hold in. A Word of judgement and a word of hope.