“Foxhole Prayer” – FBC Morning Light (10/18/2023)

Well a good Wednesday morning to you today. I hope you're having a good week thus far and getting much accomplished, being fruitful in your labors for the Lord, whatever the area those labors might be in.

Well today in our Bible reading we're reading in Jeremiah 37 and 38, Hebrews chapter 4, and Ecclesiastes chapter 6. I want to look at a couple of verses at the beginning of Hebrews 37 because I think they are pretty typical of even something we've seen in our own country.

Have you ever observed this, how that people who don't have any concern or care in the least bit to hear what God has to say, but yet when a crisis hits they say we need to pray. Well in Jeremiah 37 this is exactly what we see happen.

It says in verse 1,. Now King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land gave heed to the words of the Lord which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

You get that? So these are supposed to be God's people. These are supposed to be those who claim some measure of worship of and loyalty to the God of the Old Testament, the Bible, you know, Jehovah, Yahweh.

And yet they don't want to hear what he has to say. They don't like what he has to say. And this is the pretty typical condition in our land, is it not? People just do not want to hear what God has to say.

Do people want to know what God has to say about the sin of same-sex relationships? No. Do people want to hear what God has to say about the whole transgender movement? No. Do people want to hear what God has to say about abortion?

No, not really. Do people want to hear what God has to say about things like bullying? No. Do people want to hear what God has to say about idolatry? No. Do they want to hear what God has to say about matters of eternity, life, death, eternal life, eternal death?

No. And on and on we can go. People just don't want to hear. They don't want to hear it. That's why I just saw a statistic the other day that said three out of ten Americans claim no religious affiliation whatsoever of any kind.

So 30 of people in this country don't consider them any religion whatsoever. People don't want to hear what God has to say. And yet, what happens when a crisis hits, like the crisis of 9 -11, or the crisis of some major catastrophe striking the land, a terrible hurricane, catastrophic hurricane, and things of that nature?

What's one of the first things you hear? Pray. Pray. There's not a whole lot of elaboration on that, but there's this matter of pray. We need to pray, because this is devastating. This is horrible. Well, you know, they're right.

It is devastating. It is horrible. And the best response is prayer. It should begin with a prayer of repentance, though. And yet, this is exactly what we see in Jeremiah 37. The people, the king, his servants, the people of the land, they did not give heed to the words of the Lord.

But in verse 3 it says, Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Messiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to the Lord our God for us. We don't want to hear what he has to say, but pray for us.

And so it is in the 21st century, in the United States of America, just as it was back in the days of Jeremiah. We don't want to hear what God has to say, but in this crisis, will you pray for us? Okay?

The answer to that question is yes, we will pray. We will pray that God would be merciful, but we will also pray that people in distress will turn to God in repentance and faith, and they will change their attitude and their heart from one of not wanting to hear what God has to say to one that says, tell me more.

Tell me what God has to say. What is God's word for us in this crisis? We want to know. We want to obey. Oh, that would be a wonderful thing. That's the thing to pray for. That's the thing to pray for.

Well, let's do just that, shall we? Our Father and our God, our country is in a mess, and there's a lot of stuff going on in the world. There's great conflict in the Middle East and in Russia, Ukraine, other places in this world, and all these things cause us to be concerned.

I think in our own nation of the problems with the economy and more problems with the culture and the morality and lack of it in our land today, all these things are cause for concern. And Father, I pray that not only would we pray about these things and pray for your mercy and for your gracious intervention, but may we also pray for people to repent, repent and to turn to you with a heart that says, I will obey, I will trust Christ, I will turn from my sin, and I will follow you and do what you say.

Oh, that would be a wonderful thing if you would bring about such a revival, even in our day. We pray these things now in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen. All right, well listen, I hope you have a good rest of your Wednesday, and may the Lord bless you in it.

Have a good day.