“And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me, ‘Oh, house of Israel cannot I do with you as this potter has done?’ declares the Lord. ‘Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O, house of Israel.'”
– Jeremiah 18:4–6
This imagery is well known in the Bible. And it is a reminder to us today of what it means to trust in God, what it means to walk with God. It means to humble ourselves as clay in the hand of a potter. God, our creator who formed and fashioned us in the first place, who desires to continually form and fashion you and me according to His wisdom for the accomplishment of His good will in our lives. For us to arise every morning and say, “Here I am, God. I am clay. You are the potter. Mold me. Make me. Do whatever you desire to do in my life, through my life, for the accomplishment of your purposes in my life. I totally trust in you.”
Jeremiah 18:4–6 Asks God to Mold and Form Us
So can we just pray that right now in a fresh way today in a way that hopefully carries over into every moment of our day today and tomorrow and the next day that we would be, oh God, please help us to be malleable and moldable, humble and contrite in your hands, willing to be formed however you desire according to your word and your spirit for your glory. God, we want to be clay that brings honor to you. We want to be exactly who you are creating us to be. Form our thoughts today, according to your thoughts, God. Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We want our thoughts to be like yours.
Jeremiah 18:4–6 Reminds Us that God’s Ways Our Better
God, your ways are higher than our ways. We want our ways to be like yours. We want our desires to be like your desires. Form our hearts today, according to your heart. God, we pray that you would conform and transform our decisions and our words and our actions that they might be pleasing, fully pleasing to you, fully in line with your will.
We pray Romans 12:1–2 over each other that we would not be conformed into the pattern of this world but that we would be transformed by the renewing of our mind that we may be able to test and approve what your will is, your good, pleasing, and perfect will. God, make us the men and women you desire us to be. The people, the students, the young adults, the singles, the husbands, the wives, the parents, the children, the grandparents, make us the people you desire for us to be today.
Formed into the Image of Jesus
We want to be formed more into the image of Jesus today. Oh God, as clay in the hand of you, our potter, we want to look more like Jesus when we lay our head on our pillow tonight than we do right now and more like Jesus tomorrow than we do today and the next day and the next day. God, make us noble instruments in your hand for the spread of your glory, for the spread of your gospel, and for the good of others. And we trust that however you mold us will be for our good as well. You are the master potter, and we pray to you as clay in your hands. In Jesus’ name, according to Jeremiah 18:4–6.
I would just add, we praise you for the privilege of being clay in your hands and you molding us. We want to be made by you. Our loving Creator and Savior and Lord and Master and Potter. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
