A Phony Request

​God is a heart reader.  Imagine Jeff goes to his God-fearing sister and says, “Julie, I’ve got to make a decision. I need to either move to Montana for a new job opportunity so I can escape the toxic work environment I’m in or stay put and trust God to help me get through it.  I’m not sure what to do. Will you pray and ask God to reveal His will?” So Julie prays for Jeff, and God impresses on her that he is to stay in Vermont in his current job and trust Him. God is going to turn what is a current mess into a blessing. But if he moves, it will not go well.

​Julie reveals to Jeff God’s message, and he gets mad at her. He says he was better off when he trusted his gut. He accuses her of trying to manipulate him to stay in Vermont. “I’m moving to Montana, you are lying, and I know it will be better there than here.”

Meditation
Jeremiah 425-6--And they said to Jeremiah, “As for every word the Lord your God sends you to tell us, if we don’t act accordingly, may the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us. Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us. We will certainly obey the voice of the Lord our God!”
 
Here is the context for the passage of meditation. King Nebuchadnezzar’s army had just destroyed Jerusalem and exiled a large population of Jews to Babylon. The leader he put in place was murdered. The remaining leaders were convinced they were not safe to stay in Judah and should flee to Egypt. Yet, they asked the prophet Jeremiah to pray and receive God’s direction. But their ask was fake. They had already formulated their plan (42:20). They were lying to Jeremiah when they said they would obey. When he told them to stay put and that God was strongly warning them that they would be wiped out if they fled to Egypt, they rejected God’s answer. They accused the prophet of lying (43:2). So, they fled to Egypt and were destroyed.
            
A phony request is a prayer asking for God’s direction when one has already decided on the action to be taken. The army commanders and leaders of Judah’s remnant were not willing to stay, just as Jeff had no intention of remaining in Vermont. God knew their intentions and could have ignored their request, yet He graciously revealed His will to them. 
            
When people ask for God’s help from a place of pretension and a hidden agenda, they are really worshiping some other god. Jeremiah’s audience, steeped in idolatry, was burning incense to the queen of heaven while hoping God’s answer would fit their strategy. Jeff’s idol was money. Both requests came from an insincere relationship. Matthew Henry wrote, “We do not truly desire to know the mind of God if we do not fully resolve to comply with it when we do know it.”[1] When the Lord reads our hearts, may what He sees be sincere.
 
Inspiration
“God’s threatenings may be vilified, but cannot be nullified, by the unbelief of man . . . You shall die in the place whither you desire to go.”—Matthew Henry[2]
 
©2025 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)
 


[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Jer.42.1-Jer.42.6
[2] Ibid