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Again the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says the LORD, behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.
“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. (Jer 11:9-14)

It seems strange to find a verse in the Bible which says, “don’t pray.” More commonly we recall the Apostle Paul saying that we should pray without ceasing. Jesus taught His disciples the Lord’s prayer, which most of us memorized as children. Romans 13 tells us that we should pray for governmental officials even we don’t like them, and even if their conduct is despicable. (How hard it was to put Romans 13 in practice during the previous administration.)

But here we have the Lord Himself telling Jeremiah straight out: do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf. The “therefore” that precedes this command is a summary of how the chosen people–blessed and protected by Jehovah–broke the covenant by disobeying the first and second commandments, and elsewhere he tells us that they also broke the third.

It’s very tempting to apply these verses here, in our day, in the midst of the culture wars, to those of our citizenry who have rejected the God of the Bible, the God invoked by the framers of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Their influence seems to be growing, particularly in the media and among the elite decision-makers of academia and science. Should we give up on them and stop praying for them?

Or perhaps alternatively we should pray for the Lord’s judgment to fall upon them? Like David did. In the imprecatory Psalms that I mentioned in the previous blog. Listen to what he says: (Ps 139:19-22)

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!

I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

So what do you think, noble readers? Stop praying at all for our nation, or pray for judgment to fall upon it as it did ancient Israel, or as Paul prayed for his fellow Jews–unbelievers though they were–that they might be saved even if that meant he wouldn’t be? I invite your comments. (john@dishmans.net)