Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
– Jeremiah 1:6–10
What a passage. The whole reason I wanted to read all these verses is to see what happens from the beginning to the end.
Jeremiah 1:6–10 teaches that God’s call is not limited by our weakness.
In the beginning, Jeremiah is saying, “God, I’m only a youth. I’m so young, I don’t even know how to speak, so what can I do?”. And by the end, God’s saying, “I’ve put my words in your mouth and you’re set up over nations and over kingdoms”. So what’s the difference? Did Jeremiah just all of a sudden become older and able to speak? No.
The difference is God says, “I’m with you and I’m going to give you everything you need to do, all that I call you to do”. I just think about a conversation I had. I was recently out of the country with someone who was wrestling with maybe God’s calling them to pastor a church. And he said, “I just don’t feel like I’m competent to do that”. And I looked at him and I said, “Well, that makes you a good candidate according to God’s Word”.
Then we talked about, obviously, yes, there are gifts that you would need to pastor a church… Abilities, competencies, the ability to teach that Paul talks about with Timothy. But the reality is all those abilities come from God. They don’t come from within us. This is the beauty of what God’s saying to Jeremiah, and it’s the reality in all of our lives. Just think. How many of you listening to this right now are walking through something that you don’t feel adequate for? That you don’t feel competent for in and of yourself? If that’s you, then look to the One who promises to give you everything you need to do, everything he calls you to do.
Jeremiah 1:6–10 teaches that God’s call always comes with His provision.
Even as I say that, I need that word in my own life. I trust many of you need it in your lives. So we pray… God, we praise you as our Sufficiency, as our Provider… As the One who calls us and appoints tasks for us and ordains circumstances in our lives and promises to give us everything we need to obey you, to glorify you, to do what you’re calling us to do.
God, I thank you for that reality in my life today that all you’ve called me to do, you’ve promised to give me what I need to do. I pray for that reality to sink in over every single one of your children listening to this right now. Father, that they would know that you, the Lord God over all are with them and will give them every thing they need for everything you’ve called them to today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day, all glory be to your name, God, for this reality in Jeremiah’s life, for this reality in our lives.
Prayer for the Jijhotia Brahmin People
God, as we pray for unreached people today, the Jijhotia Brahmin people of India, for half a million of them who don’t have the gospel. God, we pray for all those who are working for the spread of the gospel to the Jijhotia Brahmin people and all those who are working for the spread of the gospel to any unreached people right now, God amidst their inadequacy, amidst their struggles, we pray that you would remind them in a Jeremiah 1 kind of way that you are with them and you have all authority in Heaven and Earth, Jesus, all authority over all the nations, and you are with them. They are with you.
And so they have nothing to fear. They have no reason to be afraid or worried or to shrink back. God grant them everything they need to spread the gospel to Jijhotia Brahmin people, to the fill-in-the-blank people group, wherever they’re working. God, we pray that your people would do all you call us to do by the power you promise to give us, the strength you promise to give us, the resources and abundance you promise to give us to do it. We love you, God, we praise you as our Provider, and we pray you to help us to faithfully do all that you call us to do with trust you’ll give us everything we need to do it. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
