March 11, 2024
Prayers – God’s Justice
God’s Justice Lies Beyond Human Understanding
A prayer inspired by Jeremiah 10-12
O Lord, let us not learn the contemptuous ways of the nations.
Help us resist walking in the path of the wicked.
Indeed, you show your sovereignty in the storm.
You terrify us with natural wonders.
Your hand in world affairs is certain,
even though blind men aspire to lead.
False gods compete for our attention.
But like a scarecrow in a melon patch,
they can neither move nor sound an alarm.
May we not fear them,
for they can do no harm;
neither can they do any good.
Since they cannot perform their assigned duties,
how can they fill the bequests of those who ask?
If we hold no regard for holy living,
how can we expect the Holy One to answer prayers?
No one is like you, O Lord.
You are great,
and your name is mighty in power.
Who should not revere you,
O King of the nations?
This is your due.
Among all the wise and powerful men of the nations,
there is no one like you.
Your rivals are all senseless and silly.
They follow the foolishness of their own making.
But Lord, you are the true God.
You are the eternal King.
Other gods are a fraud, having no breath or spiritual value.
When judgment arrives, they will perish.
Let all the nations know that their inert gods will perish with them,
gods of their own imagination,
gods who did not make the heavens and the earth.
But you are the God who made the earth by your power,
founded the world by your wisdom,
and stretched out the heavens by your understanding.
When you are angry, the earth trembles.
The people cannot endure your fury.
When you thunder, the waters in the heavens roar.
You make clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
You send lightening with the rain
and bring out the wind from your storehouses.
We know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own.
He cannot direct his own steps, let alone the steps of others.
Correct us, Lord, but not in your anger
lest we be consumed.
Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you,
on the people who do not call on your name!
They say, “Do not proclaim in the name of the Lord under the sentence of death,”
not knowing they are those who shall die—
not for their faith but for the lack thereof.
You are always righteous, O Lord.
Your judgments are deserved.
We may wonder why the wicked prosper
and why the faithless live at ease.
You have planted them.
They have taken root.
They grow and bear bad fruit.
You may be on their lips,
but you are far from their hearts.
You know us, O Lord.
You see us and test our thoughts about you.
You have answered,
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?”
“If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets?”
How should we answer in return?
We are made too small to comprehend your ways.
We cannot fathom your will or actions.
Forgive us, O Lord, for our lack of faith.
In you is our hope.
In Christ is our salvation.
Commentary. This is a prayer for the righteous who have turned from their “idols.” The righteous plead for a pure heart and confess an inability to understand the ways of God. Yet they proclaim their fear of God and hold tightly to their hope and salvation.
Why Us, Lord?
A Prayer inspired by Jeremiah 16.
When disaster comes,
men of the earth ask, Why, O God?
What sin have we committed?
Why have you treated our nation this way?
We are the apple of your eye,
the manifest destiny of the world,
the dream of those who aspire to human freedoms.
You, O Lord, ask, “Do you not recognize your idolatries?
You know your sins as well as I.”
O yes, Lord, you call us to repentance repeatably,
but we slip back into our old ways.
We are either overcome by temptation,
or we gain momentary pleasure from indulgence.
We are held prisoner by pride.
We have yet to learn the lessons from yesterday.
We put our confidence in superior military might
and are yet oblivious to the effects of war.
Please forgive our complacency, O Lord.
Please forgive our lack of faith.
Help us lay aside our misplaced trust
so we can enjoy eternal blessing.
Through your son, Jesus Christ, we offer this prayer.
Commentary. This is a prayer for those who do not comprehend the actions of God when they revert to former transgressions. Citizens echo the national creed and seek God’s honor as a prize of war. But other than citing “In God we trust,” there is little action that would give him pleasure and less to persuade him to divert his wrath from us to our enemies.
A Broken Heart
A prayer inspired by Jer. 23:9-14
O Lord,
our hearts are broken within;
all our bones tremble.
We are like a drunken man,
like a man overcome with wine.
Even so, your holy words comfort us.
You console our hearts through faith.
The land is full of adulterers,
and others live a lie.
The godless strengthen the hands of evildoers
so that no one turns from his wickedness.
They are all like Sodom.
They are all akin to Gomorrah.
Strengthen our faith.
Increase our resolve to proclaim your truth to a broken world.
In Christ we plead.
Commentary. A prayer for a time of immoral corruption. It appears that not much has changed in our world throughout the ages. We should not be surprised. Neither should we be gullible. God calls us to reassess our behavior and thoughts.
A Heart to Know
A prayer inspired by Jer. 24:7
Give us a heart to know you, O Lord,
for you are our God.
You are the God of each of us,
And we individually belong to you.
You made it so in creation,
In Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have been born anew.
Commentary. A short, simple prayer that acknowledges recognition of ownership.
They Did Not Listen
A prayer inspired by Jeremiah 25 and 27
Dear God, you have warned us through the prophets of ancient times,
“Turn from your evil practices.”
“Do not worship false gods.”
“Do not provoke me to anger.”
When our ancestors refused to listen,
they brought harm to themselves
and left a poor legacy.
When you pronounced judgment against the land, you said,
“I will banish the sounds of joy and gladness.”
“The land will become desolate.”
Let no nation think it can escape the judgment of God
who punishes sin whatever it may be—whether large or small.
Your instruments of destruction are of many types.
Scorching wild forest fires, earthquakes, and storms consume the land.
Famine, pestilence, and the sword cut off the living.
At your bidding, human destructive weapons become ineffective.
Even the land of the Free and the Brave is subject to your judgment.
Let the righteous not be afraid to proclaim true freedom in Christ.
It is they who shall escape the wrath of God.
Those who refuse repentance and pursue violence against the righteous
will bring the works of God on themselves.
Modern prophets, diviners, interpreters of dreams, mediums, sorcerers speak in vain.
They proclaim, “Do not listen to those who say no nation will subject us.”
They prophesy lies.
They speak of what they do not know.
They advocate what you have not authorized
and neglect what you have spoken through the prophets and the Christ.
Commentary. Our spiritual ancestors refused to listen to the Lord and suffered for their sins. The prayer is intended to provoke a faith that will not end in God’s judgment.
Mac Lynn
September 16, 2023
Prayers Inspired by Scripture: Issue 3