“Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.” James 5:17
It was during the seige of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans that Jeremiah was shut up in prison. With circumsances pressing in upon him, and limitations being imposed upon him that were quite narrow, the commandment came from God that Jeremiah should call upon Him. Now, why did God command Jeremiah to pray? Prayer has always been a means by which God reveals Himself to the heart and mind. Not only did He desire to do this for Jeremiah, for certainly he needed the fresh revelation of the Lord, but God would use Jeremiah’s petition to answer him, and give him a message for the people. It would be a message of certain hope, even in the midst of very troublous times. The call to Jeremiah to pray was a call for him to know God, hear His voice, respond in faith to His declaration, passing on the message of hope to the people, to all who would hear and be receptive to the words of God. The call to prayer was God’s way of giving to Jeremiah and the people a means by which to specifically come to Him, and hear what He was going to do, and this, in spite of the Chaldean empire.
Habakkuuk was another prophet that found himself in a very difficult position, not only with regard to an enemy, the Chaldeans, who were coming upon Israel, but one where there were lessons that he had to learn from the Lord. The invasion by the Chaldeans was imminent, and certain. The coming wave of suffering would be unimaginable, as the Chaldeans were ruthless in their conquests. It is with the knowledge of their coming, and Habakkuk’s inability to understand the logic of it, that he finds himself also like Jeremiah, in a position of great limitations, confined to face a reality that he does not want to see. It is there, that the Lord had told him to, “Behold ye among the nations, and regard, and wonder marvelously; for I will work a work in your days which ye will nto believe, though it be told you.” (1:5) To Jeremiah, God would say that He would show him “…great and mighty things which he knew not.” To both men God will reveal His working in a mighty way, greatly exceeding what they could grasp. The call to prayer for both of these men is one where God desires to reveal to them that which He will do, which will exceed their expectations. God’s sovereignty and power become the basis of a life of faith. Prayer is God’s gateway to understand and grasp His will.
So, two men pray, one from prison, and the other beholding impending judgment on the horizon. Both men call upon the Lord, not just “pray,” but beseech the Lord. Both men seek Him earnestly, specifically, attentively, with the expectation that as they pray, God will answer them. Habakkuk writes: “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” (2:1) It is then that “…the Lord answered me.” Jeremiah would have the same experience. Since God had called them to pray, so there was the certainty that He would speak to them in answer to prayer. For both men, a vision was given, a perception of things to come. For Jeremiah it was a vision of hope, and blessing, after the storm of being conquered and led away captive. For Habakkuk, it was a vision of hope also, for although the Chaldeans would conquer the land, there would come a time of restoration. It is then that Habakkuk will pray, “…revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years, make known, in wrath remember mercy.” (3:2) Faith’s prayer was answered.
Dear Father, Answer our cry today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.