Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Aug 23rd, 2024 Call Unto Me

Today’s Passage – Jeremiah 33 – 36 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Acts 25 – 28; Psalms 111 – 115; Proverbs 23)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Ephesians 4:32

Read the “0823 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Bible Burning,” and “The Rechabites“

“1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; 3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:1-3)

“11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Jeremiah 33:3 contains a wonderful promise given by God to Jeremiah regarding prayer during the time that he was prophesying a very unpopular message to the people of Judah.

Five Prayer Principles

• You Must Pray

“…ye have not, because ye ask not.” – (James 4:2)

“23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:23-24)

“7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

• You Must Believe That God Can Answer Prayer

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” – (Matthew 21:22)

Believing does not mean that God necessarily will do what you’re asking, but that He has the power to do what you are asking. 

• You Must Pray According to God’s Will

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” – (1 John 5:14)

• Your prayers should be Kingdom-centered or others-centered

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” – (James 4:3)

• Sin must be confessed and forsaken

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” – (Psalm 66:18)

In David’s great Psalm of confession, it states:

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. … Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. … Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” – (Psalm 51:7, 9-10, 13)

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7)

Of course, the greatest prayer, and one that will assuredly be answered is the prayer for salvation:

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)