The prophet Jeremiah showed his dissatisfaction with his brothers going into captivity. He wanted to cry out more, appealing for them to give God the credit He deserved, because with the works they were doing, inevitably many would be killed and others would be imprisoned and deported to Babylon. If we prayed more in the Holy Spirit, would we rescue more people from eternal fire? Certainly, because we would close the gaps that separate them from God.

The Bible speaks about the lack of wisdom in asking God for something: You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures (James 4:3). When the reason we plead with the Lord for something takes human arguments into consideration, it is carnal. He cannot grant us such a request, because He would be disapproving of Himself. Discover what God's Word instructs and obey!

Abraham cried out to the Lord to spare Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities, asking if He would destroy them if there were 50 righteous people there, but there were not (Genesis 18:22-33). During the prayer, the supposed number of righteous people was reduced to ten. Faced with this, Abraham gave up, and those cities were destroyed. God spared only Lot and his family. If the patriarch had prayed asking the Lord to guide him in what to ask for, I believe that, perhaps, he would have been answered. Cry out for wisdom!

Jeremiah's prayer is beautiful, but even if his head had turned into water, it would not have changed the situation, because the actions of the people of Judah were terrible, and just crying would not help. What would solve the problem would be to walk according to God's direction, and in this the prophet was exemplary. There was only one culprit in that destruction: the people who left the fountain of living waters and dug broken cisterns that could not hold water (Jeremiah 2:13).

If Jeremiah had no faith, would it have helped for his eyes to become a fountain of tears? This understanding only came fully with Jesus, who explained the certainty of what is expected: So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17.6). The solution is to hear the Lord through the Scriptures (Romans 1:16–17)!

By obeying God, the greatest number of people will be saved. When we pray based on the Word, He answers us. Christ made us kings and priests to the Father (Revelation 1:6). Taking this position allows Him to bless us: Where the word of a king is, there is power; and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” (Ecclesiastes 8:4). By believing, nothing will be impossible for us. Those who take hold of what God says about them become recipients of His work!

Today, instead of weeping for the spiritually dead, we must preach the Gospel to them, so that they, believing in the Lord, may repent and live, as the prophet Ezekiel did when instructed by God: Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” (Ezekiel 37.4). So, shall we obey the command?

           In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares