What verse in Scripture would you look to as a favourite?
I have known some people who would say their choice is Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.
I recently finished reading the prophecy of Jeremiah and was struck afresh by this most famous of sentences. Most of the time the original context is not acknowledged when people quote it. It is spoken by God to a people who faced his judgment in the form of banishment to a foreign land. So here it is in its fuller setting:
“This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
This passage is a heartwarming promise to an undeserving people and contains much for us to ponder about the nature of God and his grace to his children.
One word jumped out at me, making me sit up and take notice - “CALL”. “Call on me”, says the Lord. I traced that word back as far as I could in Scripture and came to settle on Genesis 4:26. “At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord.'
The way the sentence is set out emphasises that this moment saw the definite beginning of something new. Was this the time when prayer really began? It does seem that"calling on the name of the Lord” was the beginning of a conversation between humanity and God?
Genesis 4:26 is certainly built on the recognition that despite the profound break in our relationship with the Lord (read chapter 3) he continues to speak to his creatures, and makes it possible for us to respond to him. We can call on the Lord, but only because he has called to us. We can call on him to come through on his promises only because he has already made his promises (3:15).
It will be the story of the people of God from this moment on. In Genesis 12:8 and 13:4 Abram "calls on the name of the Lord" at key moments in his life - modelling a "faith response" to God's promises and showing that as he moves through the land of Canaan he does so relying on the Lord to do what he has said.
So prayer, calling on the Lord, is what we do now - until God intervenes to straighten everything out. Prayer is God's gift to help us grow in relationship with him and navigate life with him in a broken world - a world where we ache and get distracted and struggle with sin. Prayer helps in a world in which we hurt people and get hurt; where we let God down and ignore him, even though we belong to him (e.g. Jeremiah 29!). Prayer is an ointment that heals the wounds of loneliness, discouragement and frustration.
Four chapters after Jeremiah 29, the Lord will once again say to his people:
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (33:3)
Now that is a verse to get excited about for the week ahead!
P.S. U2 referenced this verse on the album cover of "All That You Can't Leave Behind". You might just spot it!
(Picture - Ben Lawers range)