Good morning, friends. I wish there were a way to know all my readers by name and to know how to pray for you. Today, we will read Jeremiah chapters 41–44.
Every Wednesday we have a midweek service followed by a prayer meeting. It is nothing formal—anyone can ask for prayer for themselves or others. We get the usual updates on people recovering from illness or surgeries, the follow-up on those looking for employment, all the usual things people pray for. I consider it an honor to pray for people who ask for prayers, especially when they have faith and expect that prayer to be fulfilled (Mark 11:24; 1 John 5:14–15).
Seeking Prayer with Expectation
Here in Jeremiah 42:1, we have a group of people. We know some were warrior-like—Johanan and Jezaniah—but there was a contingent with them. It is unknown what their beliefs were, but they had enough faith to seek Jeremiah and petition him to pray for them (Jeremiah 42:3).

How wonderful it is that we no longer need to find a priest or prophet. Because of Jesus’s sacrifice, we are all able to go boldly to the Father and ask Him directly, knowing He hears our prayers (Hebrews 4:16).

Before that, we were so contaminated with our sins that God could not even look at us. But Jesus gives us His righteousness for our filth when we have faith in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
When Intent Doesn’t Match Follow-Through
The problem, however, is what we see in Jeremiah 42:6. People will pray with good intentions. Whatever God wants, we believe we can give. Before writing, I always pray that He shows me what He wants me to say. When I preach, I pray that if there is anything in my message that did not come from Him, He would remove it from my mouth. I have seen Him do this.

But how many times do we pray, “Lord, if you get me through this trial, I will serve you better,” and then forget we even said that prayer? Looking back, we got through that trial—maybe not as well as we had hoped for, but according to His will, we are still here and no longer fighting that fight. We’ve moved on to other battles.
The Waiting Season
My point is: our carry-through doesn’t match our intent. We see a large part of that in Jeremiah 42:7—“Ten days later…” (NIV). We broke down on the side of the road, or our child was not home long after they should have been. As we prayed, we needed a quick or even immediate solution, and hours passed. He delivers—but by then we’ve moved on. We no longer attribute the outcome to the prayer.

How many of these people remembered for ten days that Jeremiah was praying for them?

I believe Jeremiah continued to pray for those ten days. We have had people on our prayer lists for months, and until their situation changes, we continue to pray—some of us daily or more often. When I fall asleep at night, I like to close my eyes and visualize the church in front of me. I go up and down the rows, and when I know the names, I pray for that person by name. When I don’t, I mention them any way I can: “Lord, the couple with the baby who sits behind Pam.”
The Power of Righteous Prayer
We know we are to pray fervently because:
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” — James 5:16 (NIV)
The people asked Jeremiah for prayer, but when they received the answer, they were reluctant to do what God asked. They claimed they would, but then they didn’t.

Before we fault them for this, we must examine ourselves. Are we any better?
Purposeful Prayer That Glorifies God
Prayer is potent, and we must have patience—but we also must have the correct purpose. If we pray for healing so that we can praise God and serve Him and our brothers and sisters, He will either heal us or bring us home to glorify Him.

If we pray He helps us get well so we can go out drinking with our friends next Friday, we may find He is not as accommodating. There would be no glory for Him in enabling us to sin.
Final Encouragement
Therefore, let us learn from these chapters that it is important to pray. Our prayers no longer require a priest or prophet. They have great strength. We need to sit tight and trust that the answers will come in God’s time, even if it’s not what we expect.
Tomorrow, we will read Jeremiah 45-48.