‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3
Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet in the scriptures. He lived during the time of the downfall of Israel and Judah. The nations who were once one had divided into two by rebellion and sin. Both nations chased after other gods and forgot the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel fell into the sin of idolatry and other impurities faster and harder than Judah and went into judgement and exile 150 years earlier. The 10 tribes of Northern Israel did not come back to their homeland (fulfilling Bible prophecy) until 1948, when Israel became a nation.
Judah, the Southern nation of Israel and a nation of idolatry, had more kings who sought to repent and turn the nation back to the Lord. The godly and sometimes-godly kings made a massive difference in the severity and timing of the judgement of God for their sin. They went into captivity in Babylon in 586 BC, while Northern Israel went into judgement in 722 BC. Southern Israel came back to their homeland after only 70 years in captivity in Babylon.
In Jeremiah 33, the Lord tells Jeremiah that he wants to tell him great and unsearchable things concerning Israel and his plans for his people. How can we hear from the Lord like this? We need to call to the Lord, too! If you read the entire passage, what do you find?
The Lord gives Jeremiah just what he needs to know to intercede for Israel. The Lord is promising judgement for sin, while also promising redemption. We see the justice of the Lord in one sentence and the mercy and love of the Lord in the next.
“ ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.’
“This is what the Lord says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without people or animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying,
“Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
for the Lord is good;
his love endures forever.”
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In this place, desolate and without people or animals—in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,’ says the Lord.
“ ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
“ ‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it c will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’
For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.’ ”
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’ ”
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two kingdoms he chose’? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the Lord says: ‘If I have not made my covenant with day and night and established the laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.’ ”
In Jeremiah 33, God reveals that even though sin brings judgement and has consequences, we all, through repentance and turning to the Lord, can experience the power of God to heal and restore. When we pray, we can ask God for direction on how to pray for our families. The Lord wanted Jeremiah to seek him on how to pray for Israel.
A prayer to seek God may look like this – “Lord, what is going on? How should I pray? Is there something I need to know to pray better? Holy Spirit, reveal the truth and give me wisdom to know how to pray.”
Not only does the Lord promise Jeremiah that healing and restoration will come to the nation of Israel, (a prophecy which he fully has fulfilled in our modern times), but he gives a prophetic message about the coming of Jesus our Messiah. Jesus fulfills the eternal role of king and priest and makes intercession for us continually before the Father.
When we are praying for our own children, we must remember that no matter how bad it looks, God loves our children more than we do. He has a plan and a purpose for our families in Jesus Christ. As we intercede for our family, we can stand in the authority of Christ the way the kings of old stood to hold back the judgement of God on Judah.
God does not want our destruction or the destruction of our children. He longs for restoration. Let us pray for restoration and peace for our children and families today.
Prayer Point –
Father, in Jesus name, I come before you to pray for my family. I seek you and call upon you for wisdom and direction in how to pray for (name). Lord, show me if there is something I don’t understand. Give me clarity. Give me direction in prayer. How can I pray for (name) better? I am calling upon you, so you can show me great and unsearchable things that I don’t know and need to know, in order to have a spiritual breakthrough in my family.
(Wait on the Lord and open your heart to hear from him now and in the coming days, as he leads. We will continue in this prayer based on the Jeremiah 33 scripture.)
I know that there is a long line of family sin in the past and sin in the present. But, today, I intercede and ask for your mercy and forgiveness on my family and the lives of my children and grandchildren. I ask that you forgive their sins, draw them by your Spirit and breathe new life into their hearts.
Sin brings death, but Jesus, you bring life. Jesus, you sit forever enthroned as king and high priest, making intercession for us. Jesus, please intercede for my family. Pray for (name). We need you to be Lord over our home, over our bloodline, over those we love.
I declare that you are faithful. Your are more faithful than I am to my family. You love them more than I do. I pray and thank you for not breaking covenant with me or my family. Hear my prayers. I pray in the will of God for the complete sanctification and salvation of my children and grandchildren. I pray that they will seek you and find you. I pray that they will walk forward in victory, with the glory of God protecting them from behind.
Lord, we live in a dark time when the devil is roaming and seeking to kill, steal and destroy. I pray that the protection of blood of Jesus – the perfect Lamb of God- will cover my family.
Lord, in the places of my family where I see the desolation of judgement and sin, I pray for you to bring a miraculous restoration of life. In the same way you restored Israel, I pray that you restore my family. Bring back the spiritually dead to life. Speak with your still small voice into the hearts of my children and grandchildren. Pour out your healing power on (name). I declare that I will still see the good of the Lord in the land of the living, in Jesus’ mighty name. I wait on you for the deep things and the direction for how to pray.
Amen.
Revealed Ministries 