Today

After Jerusalem fell, the people who were left came to Jeremiah with a request that sounded right. “Pray for us unto the LORD thy God,” they said, “that the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk.” Then they made him a promise: “Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God.”

Jeremiah prayed, and after ten days the answer came. Stay in the land, God said, and do not go down into Egypt. If they would stay, He would build them and not pull them down.

But they did not like the answer. They told Jeremiah, “Thou speakest falsely,” and went down to Egypt anyway. God had already seen it coming. “Ye dissembled in your hearts,” Jeremiah told them. Their minds were made up before they ever asked.

I am afraid we can do the very same thing. We pray, “Lord, show me what to do,” when what we really mean is, “Lord, bless what I have already decided.” We ask for direction, but we are only willing to follow it if it agrees with us.

So what are you asking God about right now? Are you ready to hear “no” as well as “yes”? Pray this morning with an open hand, and mean it when you say, “whether it be good, or whether it be evil,” I will obey.