Opening illustration: A mother was teaching her three-year-old daughter ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’ For several evenings at bedtime, she repeated it after her mother. One night she said she was ready to solo. The mother listened with pride, as she carefully enunciated each word right up to the end. “And lead us not into temptation”, she prayed, “but deliver us some e-mail, Amen.” How many of us pray like that?
Let us turn to Jeremiah 42 and see the kind of prayers the captain of the forces desires Jeremiah to pray.
Introduction: Johanan and the captains being strongly bent upon going into Egypt, either their affections or politics advising them to take that course, they had a great desire that God should direct them to do so too like Balaam, who, when he was determined to go and curse Israel, asked God leave. Johanan and the remnant of the people desire Jeremiah to ask counsel of God what they should do. They believed Jeremiah to be a man of God and he promised that when the answer comes, he will not hold anything back. Apparently the prophet assures them of safety in Judea, but destruction in Egypt.
How will God show us the way?
1. Manifest Humility for God to show ‘The Way’ (vs. 1-2)
Are you humble? I have a friend who jokingly says, "I'm proud of my humility." The funny thing is that he actually is one of the more humble men I know. He and I both realize that humility is no joke. It is a hard thing to master. If I say I am humble, and then am I humble? If I think I'm humble, am I? Or what if I say, "In my humble opinion, I'm not very humble," then what do I do? The problem is that it takes great humility to understand humility, and even more to resist the pride that comes so naturally with even a discussion of the subject.
We are on slippery ground because humility cannot be attained directly. Once we become aware of the poison of pride, we begin to notice it all around us. We hear it in the sarcastic, snarky voices in newspaper columns and weblogs. We see it in civic, cultural, and business leaders who never admit weakness or failure. We see it in our neighbors and some friends with their jealousy, self-pity, and boasting.
What is humility? Biblically there are several facets to humility, but I want to focus on that aspect that deals with our relation to God. Therefore, humility is the right understanding of who you are before God. Notice, I did not say it means that you have to hate yourself, or call yourself names, or say you aren't worth anything, etc. Humility is that quality of a Christian that demonstrates a right relationship and position before God. This demonstration is manifested in attitude, words, and deeds. John the Baptist was humble: "And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals," (Mark 1:7). He knew who he was in relation to Jesus. Remember the parable of the tax gather in Luke 18:9-14 where he said, "Lord have mercy on me a sinner"? Jesus called him humble. He knew that before God, he was a sinner.
How about you? Are you humble before your Lord -- don't answer. Instead, think of who Jesus is, His holiness, His greatness, His majesty, His love, His sacrifice, etc. And remember that Jesus humbled Himself by becoming one of us, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross," (Phil. 2:8). Then, ask yourself if you are humble or not.
2. Desire for God to show ‘The Way’ (v. 3)
Often God will use different circumstances to lead you in life. Sometimes He won't reveal certain things to you until you need to know them -- for many different reasons. At other times, the Lord will conceal His direction because He knows that if He revealed it to you, and you knew what was to come, you wouldn't go down that path -- but that is exactly the direction that He intends for your life.
This is simply what God does for us by giving us the commands and teachings of the Bible. They direct us specifically what to do and what not to do. The Ten Commandments are one example. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. Don’t lie. Or the Sermon on the Mount: Love your enemies. Or the Epistles: Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Put on humility. This is the leading of direction. God reveals his directions in the Bible.
Those who wish to live for God must seek Him in His Word. We must seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to apply the Word to our lives. Living for God means giving up ourselves and desiring God’s will above all else. As we draw nearer to God and come to know Him more, His desires will more naturally become ours. As we mature, our desire to obey God’s commands increases as our love for Him increases. As Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).
This reiterates what the Psalmist would say … show us your ways oh Lord! … lead us in the paths of righteousness … The captains of the forces had the right heart – they desired for God to show them the way that they needed to go and Jeremiah was their man who would help them discern it. When we are in a dilemma or at crossroads in our life, what do we really do? Do we come to our Creator to look for directions or ask the world for earthly directions? The ways of the Lord are righteous but the ways of the world will lead astray.
3. Pray for God to show ‘The Way’ (v. 4)
Far too often, prayer is viewed as a “magic formula.” Some believe that if we do not say exactly the right things, or pray in the right position, God will not hear and answer our prayer. This is completely unbiblical. God does not answer our prayers based on when we pray, where we are, what position our body is in, or in what order we word our prayers. We are told in 1 John 5:14-15 to have confidence when we come to God in prayer, knowing He hears us and will grant whatever we ask as long as it is in His will. Similarly, John 14:13-14 declares, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” According to these and many other Scriptures, God answers prayer requests based on whether they are asked according to His will and in the name of Jesus (to bring glory to Jesus).
So, what is the proper way to pray? Philippians 4:6-7 tells us to pray without being anxious, to pray about everything, and to pray with thankful hearts. God will answer all such prayers with the gift of His peace in our hearts. The proper way to pray is to pour out our hearts to God, being honest and open with God, as He already knows us better than we know ourselves. We are to present our requests to God, keeping in mind that God knows what is best and will not grant a request that is not His will for us. We are to express our love, gratitude, and worship to God in prayer without worrying about having just the right words to say. God is more interested in the content of our hearts than the eloquence of our words. God’s desire is for prayer to be a real and personal connection between Himself and us.
Pray with the right motivation. Selfish motives will not be blessed by God. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). We should also pray, not so our lofty words can be heard and we may be seen by others as “spiritual,” but mostly in private and in secret, so that our heavenly Father will hear in private and reward us openly (Matthew 6:5-6). Jeremiah said to the captains of the forces, "I have heard … that whatever the LORD answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you." He had the right motivation and knew that God would show them the way.
Illustration: Every biblically based institution in America, beginning with marriage is under attack. The health of every institution is dependent upon unity, mission, vision and leadership. In the past the church had protected these institutions well and today the same church becoming defiled, diluted, laidback and complacent has gradually given it all away. (will be elaborated)
4. Promise to obey God no matter what is ‘The Way’ (v. 5-6)
Faith means trusting God’s promises — trusting all that God promises to be to us in Christ Jesus. So, if faith means trusting God’s promises and Abraham obeyed by faith that means Abraham was obedient by trusting God’s promises.
We can see that this is how God wanted Abraham to obey, by noticing what God says to him. God starts with a command: “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you’ (Genesis 12:1).
So how did God want Abraham to obey? Not by just focusing on the command. Not by just saying, “I’m supposed to do this. God commands me to do this. This is the right thing to do.” No. God wanted Abraham to obey by faith — by trusting God’s promises. God wanted the worth of his promises to so capture Abraham’s heart so that he wanted to obey.
Abraham obeyed God no matter what he was asked to do. Looking from worldly eyes, God was ruining his world by asking him to leave the land of his forefathers and go to an unknown, unheard and unseen place. God showed Abraham the way. What did Abraham really do? He left everything and just went in the way of the Lord in faith. Though the Lord’s command may have displeased him and his family, he knew that God knew better. For him to really enjoy God’s blessings and live a full life, he stayed stuck to obeying Him whole heartedly. And because of His blind faith in God, he was also rewarded greatly.
The captains of the forces were willing to obey God no matter how difficult or offensive the route was and whatever the cost. They did not want to contend with God and have things going well with them and God. Their hearts were to please God no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it would be.
Application: All of us usually pray for God to show the way. In fact for most of the things, God has already shown us the way … the problem is we are not willing to follow that way and are looking for some new, amended answers from God. He will not give as any new answers for He is an unchanging God!
