Cheaters!

Have you ever felt betrayed—by people, by life, or even by God? In this episode, we dive into *how to pray* when trust is broken and your soul feels exposed. Based on Jeremiah 4, we unpack a raw and emotional moment in Scripture where Jeremiah prays amid deep disappointment and judgment. God’s people had been unfaithful, and yet—even in His anger—God still desires their return. 

Discover the *power of prayer* that reaches beyond our worst mistakes and reveals a God who corrects, not to condemn, but to restore. This episode reminds us that even when we don’t know what to say, honest prayer still connects us to a loving, jealous, and redemptive Father.

@presstopray

#prayer 

#prayers 

#pray 

#christianprayer 

#howtopray  

#biblestudy 

#biblestudyforbeginners 

#biblestudyforteens 

#Christian

#pentecostal 

#apostolic 

#press 

#pressmovement

Transcript

Press means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.

And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us. Greetings, everyone. Welcome to the Press Movement Podcast.

Have you ever been cheated on or felt cheated? It is probably the worst feeling in the world. And don't worry, you're not on the wrong podcast. We are still talking about prayer.

But we are in Jeremiah chapter 4 for today's prayer. And to set it up, you have to look back to Jeremiah 2 and 3 and really see how God is feeling about his people because he is feeling cheated. And actually, when we're talking in terms of God, it's more than a feeling.

He's being cheated upon. But the way he describes it is in such great detail. I am very grateful that my husband has been wonderful to me, and I've never had to fear if he cheated.

But I can say I have seen quite a few television shows set across from some people who've gone through it. And in my younger years, let's just say it took me a moment to commit to the kind of person that wouldn't cheat. So I might have run across somebody in their former years who wasn't faithful.

But we won't talk too much about that because we don't let everybody grow up. So cheating, though, evokes very strong emotions. And it evokes a strong emotion because you're in a relationship with this person.

You're in a commitment with them. And at the very basis of any commitment or any relationship or any bond is the bond itself, is the idea that we're both committed to making this work. And to do that, we have to be committed to each other.

And so looking at God here and how angry he is, he says in Jeremiah 3 and 1, they say, if a man put away his wife and she go from him and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? Shall not that land be greatly polluted? That is some serious language. But thou has played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me, saith the Lord. So what he's saying here is, even if a husband and a wife get divorced or they break up and she goes with somebody else, but then comes back, he's saying, isn't she messed up? Isn't she contaminated? Isn't that dirty? Basically, he's painting a picture that a man wouldn't even want her back normally, at least not easily, not without remembering you went somewhere else.

But he's telling his people, I still want you. And the whole context of the conversation and everything he says, even in rebuking them, even in telling them how dirty they are and how wrong they are, is centered around the ideal that I want you. Yet he uses such harsh language, such big language.

And I'm not saying harsh as in undeserved. I'm saying harsh as in heavy. He said to them, therefore, the showers have been withholding.

There have been no laddering and thou hast a forehead. Thou refuses to be ashamed. Yeah, he pretty much just called them what you're thinking.

And he said, you have no shame. God is not biting his tongue concerning how much he hates that his people aren't faithful to him. Now, let's pause right here because that has not changed.

God is not OK with sharing. He does not want to share you with anybody or anything. And that's why he tells us in Second Corinthians, come out from among them, be separate, and I will receive you.

He's always wanted a people to himself, not to be isolated from other people. That's not his point. But to be isolated from other gods.

He doesn't want you to serve anything but him. He wants to be the only choice. He wants to be number one.

And that has not changed in the New Testament. God still does not want to compete to be your God. And looking at how he's responding to his children through Jeremiah, you can see just how much he loves them.

But the intensity of the jealousy he has when there's something else trying to take his spot. God even describes himself as a jealous God in Exodus 20, verse 5. He lets you know, I don't want to compete. I will not compete.

I don't even deserve to have to compete. And that's the picture he's painting in Jeremiah as he's laying out his case against his people for their cheating on him. I don't deserve to have to compete, but I still want you.

But I'm angry and there's repercussions to my anger. But even in his anger, he notes that I still have a plan for your recovery. He says in Jeremiah 3, 22, return you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.

Behold, we come unto thee for thou art the Lord, our God. He says things also like in Jeremiah 3, 15, and I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass when you'd be multiplying the crease in the land.

In those days of the Lord, they shall say no more. The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. Neither shall it come to mind.

Neither shall they remember it. Neither shall they visit it. Neither shall they be done anymore.

And he talks about how the children of Israel are going to make a complete turn. It's not just going to be about the Ark of the Covenant. It's not going to be just about the past.

He's building a relationship with them. So they'll turn to him. But right now he's angry.

And as Jeremiah is listening to this, that's when this prayer comes in in Jeremiah chapter four. And this prayer threw me for a little bit of a loop because of Jeremiah's language. He says in Jeremiah 4 10.

Our Lord God, surely that has greatly deceived this people in Jerusalem, saying you shall have peace, whereas the sword reaches unto the soul. I was like, wait, what did Jeremiah just say? God is deceiving. This is not something I would recommend.

I believe Jeremiah was speaking because he was confounded by what the Lord was saying to him by the judgment that was impending by the anger of the Lord. And he's like, God, you're actually still saying something good is going to come out of this. There's going to be peace.

And partly that's because peace is not yet. The peace that God was going to give them, the rest that he was going to give them, even to the deliverance was not yet. There was a sword at their soul, Jeremiah said.

And he knows that God can't be deceptive in that whatever the Lord thinks will come to pass. But more or less, this prayer is looking and saying, is it even really possible to get beyond this? Are you setting them up, God? It's ironic because there are sometimes we feel like, is it really possible to get beyond this? Can God really forgive this? And I will say as a good father, God is always looking past the punishment. A good parent doesn't punish a child because they want to hurt them.

They punish them because they believe there's something after the punishment that if they learn it in the punishment, it'll be better for them after. And God, when he's speaking of peace and judgment simultaneously, when he's talking about deliverance and giving you leadership and structure, and yet simultaneously setting you up in chaos and letting you fall because of your sin. It's not that there's duplicity in God.

It's that there is vision in God and he sees past the moment. I would not recommend the prayer Jeremiah prayed here today. Sometimes in the Bible, they teach us what to say.

And sometimes they teach us what not to do. This is one of the, don't pray that. Don't ever call God deceitful.

It's not even possible. But do understand God is always looking past your worst mistake. I remember I was in a table talk.

We were just talking and somebody made a comment about another person. And I really didn't like it. And they talked about some of their mannerisms or something.

And I said to everyone at the table, actually, I hope we don't define them by their weakest moment nor ourselves. I don't want to be defined by my weakest moment. And yes, the table got kind of quiet because I meant for that to happen because I felt like it was out of pocket to be talking about the person.

But sometimes, even with God or especially with God, we think I can't be this. I can't do this. Will it ever look like what he's saying? And it's because we think he's defining us by our weakest moment.

But I'm so grateful that God is not defining you by your weakest moment. He chastened those he loves. That's in Hebrews 12 and 6. That means he corrects those he's in love with.

He rebukes. He goes ahead and spanks their bottom or disciplines them or however you want to put it. He does that because he loves them.

The chastening is an investment, not in what they are in that moment, but in what he's always seen they could be. If you find yourself being chastened by God today or even just rehearsing in your heart your mistakes or your failures, just know that is not God's definition of you. And if he's allowing you to be corrected or he has corrected you, it was because he believed in what came after the correction.

And I pray today that you'll know that God is not deceiving you. He really does have a plan for your peace. And that prayer reaches every single situation.

Join the movement. Join the community. Like, share and subscribe to this podcast.

Visit us at PressToPray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook. Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears? I know some of us have prayed and were wondering, how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is listening for your voice. It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have.

You have to raise your voice and God wants to hear from you. It's Too Quiet, a book about prayer, is designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith. Visit PressToPray.com

Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.