Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, oh Lord, our God? We set our hope on you for you do all these things.
– Jeremiah 14:22
Ah, what a great verse. God alone is God. There are no other gods. Are there any among the false gods of the nations, these other nations worshiping gods that cannot bring rain, that cannot cause the heavens to give showers? There is only one God who does that.
Jeremiah 14:22 reminds us God is the only hope that won’t disappoint.
And listen to the language, he is our God. We know him. You and I know the one who brings the rain. We know the one who causes the showers to come. We’re about to talk to him. You and I can talk to him anytime, and we hear from him all the time. We’re in relationship with the one who brings the rain. He’s the Lord, our God.
And so Jeremiah 14:22 says, “We set our hope on you.” We set our hope on you. I don’t know what all you’re walking through right now, what challenges, what trials, what temptations, what struggles you are facing. I do know this though, your only hope is God. He is the only one who can give you what you need, what your soul most wants. Nothing in this world can do that. No one in this world, no matter of money in this world, no matter of success in this world, nothing in this world can give you what only God can give you.
Jeremiah 14:22 encourages us to place our hope in God.
So set your hope on him today, amidst whatever you’re walking through, hope in him. In every facet of your life hope in him, look to him, depend on him, trust in him, seek him. The one who alone can bring the rain, physically to the earth, and the one who alone can bring the provision in every way our soul needs, and he is able to bring that provision in every way you need today.
Oh God, we set our hope on you. You are the Lord, our God. You are the only God. We praise you. You’re the only one who can bring the rain. You’re the only one with all power and all wisdom and all love, all might, all justice, all mercy. We praise you as God alone and we set our hope on you amidst all that we’re walking through in our lives at any moment, including today, you are our hope. You are our hope for peace. You’re our hope for wisdom. You’re our hope for strength. Lord, you’re our hope for redemption. You’re our hope for turning things around. God, we pray to you as our hope, and we trust in you as our hope.
Prayer for the Northern Iraqi Arabs
And God, we pray you help us to spread you as our hope today. Help us to encourage others, other brothers and sisters in Christ today with the hope that is found in you alone. And God, help us to share the gospel with people who don’t know you today, that they might find their hope in you. God, we pray specifically today for the Northern Iraqi Arabs of Iraq, for 11.6 million of them.
God, please cause the hope of Jesus to spread to Northern Iraqi Arabs. We intercede for them, God, that they might place their hope in Jesus. They might turn aside from false teachings about Jesus that they have heard, that they would hear the truth about Jesus, who died on the cross and rose from the dead as the incarnate son of God. We pray for their salvation, for their hope to be found in you, even as we set our hope on you. According to your Word in Jeremiah 14:22 we pray all these things 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.
