Shut Out Prayer Lamentations 3:8

In chapter three of Jeremiah's lament, he has told of his enduring the affliction of the Lord, the wrath of His rod, the darkness into which he was led, and how God turned against him. He added that he fell walled in, compassed with gall and travail, set in dark places like those who were dead of old, and bound with a heavy chain. If those descriptions were not enough, Jeremiah shares how he felt about his prayers in verse eight where he wrote:

Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer.

The verse begins, “Also when I cry and shout,...” As though in a yelp of anguish Jeremiah tells of his appeal to heaven through his “cry and shout”. These cries and shouts are not ordinary as they tell of his desire for help and rescue. Like one who has fallen overboard upon a large ship, Jeremiah cried out for relief, but he found none.

The verse goes on to say, “...he shuts out my prayer.” Rather than hearing or receiving the extrication he desired, Jeremiah said “he shuts out” or “stops up” his “prayer”. He believes that his prayer doesn't go beyond the surpassing of his lips and in lieu of answered prayer, Jeremiah concludes that his prayers are ignored.

Have we ever experienced times when it seems that our prayers do not make it past the ceiling? Sometimes it is as though we only waste our breath as we cry and shout out to God. We can be assured that when we are in a relationship with God He does indeed hear us even if we do not receive the answer to our prayers the way we think they should be. Sometimes His answer is “yes”, and other times His answer is “no”. Still other times His answer may be “wait”, but He does answer, and it is within His own time. When we feel like Jeremiah and believe that God has shut out our prayers, let us be reminded of the importunate woman spoken of in the gospel of Luke chapter eighteen who after repeatedly coming to the judge heard these words:

Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

To which Jesus added:

And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Let us evermore hear Jesus' words and live in “faith on the earth”.

Next time we see how Jeremiah felt about his ways and paths, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

 

Until tomorrow...there is more...

 

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