Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah…
– Jeremiah 43:8
Now we see this phrase all over the book of Jeremiah, and it almost seems just so basic, and we kind of fly over it. But I want us to pause, meditate, and pray according to this simple reality that Jeremiah was sensitive to hear the word of the Lord when it came to him.
Jeremiah 43:8 reminds us that obedience begins with listening.
This whole book that we have in the Bible and other books we have in the Bible are there because people heard God speak and did what he said to do, wrote what he said to write, said what he said to say, but they all listened to God’s Word. This is the whole job of a prophet. Hear the Word of God and speak the Word of God.
And when I read this, I just think, Oh, I want my life to be like Jeremiah’s in this sense, to be sensitive to God’s voice from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, to be sensitive to hearing from God, listening to God, doing what God says, saying what God wants me to say, thinking according to God’s Word, desiring according to God’s Word. Speaking, living, loving, serving according to God’s Word.
Jeremiah 43:8 reminds us to listen for God’s voice through his Word.
So I want to lead us to pray for that reality in all of our lives, knowing that in a greater way than even Jeremiah had, we have the Holy Spirit of God living in us to speak to us. We have his Word revealed to us. 66 books in the Bible. Jeremiah didn’t have that. We have the Word of God. We can hear the voice of God anytime we open up our Bibles, and his Spirit dwelling in us, guiding us, directing us all day long.
So all the more so, God, we pray that you would help us to be sensitive to your voice through your Word. God, help us to meditate on your Word day and night, to hide it in our hearts, to turn it over in our minds all day long, to fill our minds with your Word. Lord, we pray, knowing that we have unprecedented access to your Word in our language.
This verse pictures the beauty of a life led by the Spirit and Scripture.
God, we pray again for people who don’t have your Word in their language. God, please bless all those who are working to translate your Word into other languages. Please give them success. We pray so that all the people of the world might know your voice, in their language, might know that you speak their language. God, please bless them. And God help us to steward this privilege. We have to know your Word, to hear your Word all day long from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed.
Help us to meditate on your Word day and night and to do according to what’s written in it. And God, we pray for sensitivity to your Spirit. We pray for your Spirit’s leadership in our lives and the details of our lives according to your Word, that our lives today would just be directed by your Spirit and your Word at all times. Yes, God, may that be true of us today in an even greater way than it was true of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 43:8. May it be so. God, we pray in Jesus’ name. 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.
