The Lord has done what He purposed. He has carried out His Word.
– Lamentations 2:17
Now, the specific context here in Lamentations 2 is God has poured out his judgment on his people. Just like he said would, he has carried out his Word. That he had warned his people through Jeremiah and others, over and over and over again, that if they did not turn from their idolatry and immorality, they did not repent of their sin, that they would experience destruction like they had now experienced. The Lord has done what he purposed. He has carried out his Word. Mark it down. God will judge sin according to his Word, and God will do a multitude of other things according to his Word.
Lamentations 2:17 reminds us God is faithful to his Word.
This is why it is so important that we meditate on God’s Word day and night, because what happens in our lives and what happens in the world around us will happen according to God’s Word, and this affects the way we pray. I think about Moses’ prayer in Exodus 32 for salvation among his people from the judgment they were about to experience. And Moses says, “Remember, God, your promises to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob to preserve these people, to bring them into this land.” Moses calls on God to be faithful to his Word.
And this prayer is pleasing to God, and God answers. God is faithful to his Word. And so I just want you to think with me about different promises, purposes that we see God make clear in his Word and to pray accordingly. And there’s so many directions this could go, but let me just lead us in some of them.
Oh, God, we praise you for your Word that you always carry out, for your purposes that always come to pass. So, God, you promise to be with us, to strengthen us, to help us, to uphold all who trust in you. So we pray, God, carry out that word today in our lives. Lead us, guide us, direct us, help us, uphold us in every way we need. God, you promise to give us peace that passes all understanding, that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus when we look to you.
Lamentations 2:17 encourages us to pray for the fulfillment of God’s Word.
So God, we pray for this. We pray for your peace in our lives. God, you promise to comfort us by your Holy Spirit in us as we walk through suffering. So God, we pray for your comfort to be carried out in our lives, particularly for those of us who are walking through hard days, who are walking through grief or challenges in different ways.
God, you promise, when we face temptations, to give us the strength to overcome those temptations. So we pray, oh God, for your power, for your strength in our fight against sin in our lives today. Carry out your Word, give us everything we need. We pray to overcome temptation and to live in holiness today, as you are holy. God, you promised that you will fill us with your Holy Spirit for the spread of your Word to people around us.
So God, we pray, carry out your Word. We pray for boldness, compassion, and power from your Holy Spirit to share the gospel today. Lord, when opportunities arise for us to speak about Jesus, for us to weave gospel threads in the fabric of our conversations, help us by your Spirit in us according to your Word, to speak boldly with compassion and show the power of the gospel to save, to draw people to yourself.
Prayer for the Duun People
God, we pray specifically today for the Duun people of Mali, for 189,000 of them, that your Word says you’ve purposed to save them. Jesus, you died on a cross to purchase people from every nation, tribe, tongue, and language. So we pray for the Duun people who you love. Carry out your Word, do what you have purposed, to bring salvation to them, and use us just as you have purposed, however you want, to bring that about. God, we praise you for your faithfulness to your Word, for your faithfulness to your purposes. And we pray that you would help us today to obey your Word, to fulfill your purposes in our lives, and to pray accordingly, asking you all day long for your help according to your Word and for the accomplishment of your purpose, just as you taught us to pray, Jesus.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Bring it about, oh God, according to your Word. For the fulfillment of your purposes, we pray 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.
