A Year of Prayer: Season One Weekday DevotionalsSample

Jeremiah was a prophet thousands of years ago who frequently heard from God. The Bible records what God said to him and through him in the book of Jeremiah.

We must be careful not to read this as a written text of simply history. These words are living, active, and have very real implications that can change our lives and environments today, even though we are centuries away and oceans apart from where these words were first delivered.

If you’ve ever had the experience of cleaning and not releasing a splash of the cleaning solution has got on your clothing - there’s no second-guessing what the ‘active ingredient’ of it is once your clothes start changing colour. Bleach!

It instantly lifts colours and stains—often in places we didn’t want it to! Bleach is indisputable once it makes contact with a surface. The word of God is just the same.

'This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you' (Jeremiah 19:1-2 NIV)

Jeremiah’s story with the potter continued in Jeremiah 19. After observing the potter reshape a broken clay pot he was attempting, God spoke to Jeremiah first. Jeremiah listens. How do we know this?

Because then God tells Jeremiah to go and take the word to the people of the nation.

How often do we see and hear preachers and prominent Christian figures proclaim something, but when the word hits the surface, it has no effect? Sometimes, this might be about the listeners’ hard hearts, no doubt. But there are also times that we waste words; the active ingredient is missing, as we haven’t really received the words from God first, so we’re just delivering what we think is good.

Do you know that mixing baking soda and vinegar to clean actually neutralises them both and makes them pretty ineffective for cleaning? Something in the chemical reaction makes for a mighty explosion but renders the acid in the vinegar inert - it becomes closer to just water after the initial bubbles die down.

How often do we pursue the loud, energetic, attractive words thrown around from an explosive pulpit rather than simply seeking the ‘living and active’ word of God in the quiet place, in our devotions, or God first? Let’s remember that God requires us to do our part in preparing with God first before we seek leadership and influence others.

Prayer: Jesus, forgive me for when I don’t understand your ways and your will and when I seek myself first. Help me to hear you and forgive others for any offence I have taken on so that I may better understand the forgiveness you have offered to me. I want to seek you in a quiet place so I can seek you in silence, respect, submission, and fully trust you.

Action: Find time to sit with someone today and share what you have felt God saying. Read what someone else has shared about a child's response to this. Discern.