![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/desparate-prayer.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMost days this past year I\u2019ve concluded my morning time of prayer with Jeremiah\u2019s cry to God, because it has become my cry as well. Might this become your prayer as well?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cI know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.\u201d (Jeremiah 10:23-24)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Jeremiah prays of something he knows<\/em> and he asks for something he needs<\/em>.<\/p>\n
There is something each of us must know<\/em>. I, you, we, must know<\/em> that \u201cthe way of man is not in himself.\u201d By \u201cman\u201d Jeremiah intends not only males, but \u201cman\u201d as in humanity, mankind. What Jeremiah prays applies to every one of us.<\/p>\n
When Jeremiah speaks of \u201cthe way\u201d he uses a word that shows up often in the Proverbs. Proverbs speaks variously of \u201cthe way\u201d of the violent man (3:31), the wicked (4:14), the adulteress (7:25), the fool (12:15), the treacherous (13:15), the lazy (15:19), and so forth. But it also speaks of \u201cthe way\u201d of good men (2:20), of wisdom, of uprightness (4:11), of life (6:23), and of understanding (9:6). All of these latter ways are simply individual lanes that make up \u201cthe way of the Lord\u201d (10:29). It is \u201cthe way\u201d we ought<\/em> to go, \u201cthe way\u201d we are morally obligated to proceed in, \u201cthe way\u201d that makes for life, rather than death.<\/p>\n
Jeremiah similarly speaks of \u201cthe way of the wicked\u201d (12:1) and \u201cthe way of the nations\u201d (10:2), in contrast to \u201cthe way of the Lord\u201d (5:4, 5). He announces: \u201cThus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.\u201d (21:8).<\/p>\n
So \u201cthe way\u201d that is not in me, is the way I should<\/em><\/strong> go. I can\u2019t live before God as I ought.<\/p>\n
Jeremiah prays on \u2026 \u201cit is not in man who walks to direct his steps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whereas the first line confesses the way I ought<\/em><\/strong> to go, this line emphasizes way I want<\/em><\/strong> to go. Every day, all day long, you and I are taking steps \u2026 the moments pass, things happen, words are spoken, encounters with others take place. Life just keeps moving! You and I can\u2019t help but \u201cwalk\u201d through this passage of time. But it is not in us to \u201cdirect\u201d our \u201csteps\u201d aright while doing so. If I \u201cdirect [my] steps\u201d \u2026 I\u2019ll do it according to my desires, whims, wisdom. And if I do that, I will inevitably go astray! Again, Proverbs agrees: \u201cThere is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death\u201d (16:25).<\/p>\n
When it comes to the battle between what I ought<\/em> to be and what I want<\/em> to do, each of us must know and admit this: I can\u2019t do this!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
But there is more here than simply a reminder of what we must know<\/em>. What I know ushers me to the necessity of what I must ask. There is something every one of us must request<\/em>. We need this, desperately: \u201cCorrect me, O Lord\u201d! This is the admission, \u201cLord, I\u2019m going to mess this up if you don\u2019t guide me!\u201d<\/p>\n
The word translated \u201ccorrect\u201d describes correction that is aimed at educating a person toward a better course. It is always motivated by love<\/em> and is always an evidence of sonship<\/em> (Prov. 3:11-12; cf. Heb. 12:5-6). A variety of methods may be involved, but it is never merely punitive, but always instructional. The goal is not merely to shape ethical behavior, but to capture the heart for the Lord (Prov. 1:7).<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrect me, O Lord\u201d is a dangerous prayer. Are you willing to pray it, regularly?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d but I quickly add: \u201cBut be gentle with me, Lord!\u201d Correct me \u2026 \u201cbut in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing\u201d (24b). I have to admit, this part of the prayer bothered me for a while. Even as I prayed this prayer over and over, this part just didn\u2019t sit right with me. I wondered, \u201cWhy justice<\/em> rather than grace or mercy or patience?\u201d I would much prefer grace and mercy to \u201cjustice\u201d!<\/p>\n
But then I studied the word that is translated \u201cjustice.\u201d It woodenly means \u201cjudgment,\u201d but covers the entire gamut of governance. It is not merely a judicial word, but a relational word. So that the prayer actually means something like, \u201cRule<\/em> me, Lord!\u201d \u201cCorrect me as the one to whom I bow as my Sovereign, my King, my Lord \u2026 not simply as a Judge!\u201d<\/p>\n
I came to realize that this prayer enables me to humble myself and pray, as I so desperately need to, \u201cCorrect me, Lord, but gently, graciously, lovingly, strongly!<\/em><\/strong>\u201d It is perhaps the most basic prayer of a disciple, a learner after Christ. It is my lifeline to Him who alone has all I need and who is all I really want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Almost every day this past year I\u2019ve been praying a borrowed prayer. It is a prayer first prayed by a suffering man, a desperate man, a man utterly at the end of himself. It is a prayer first prayed by Jeremiah. Most days this past year I\u2019ve concluded my morning time of prayer with Jeremiah\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[37,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jeremiah","category-prayer","post-preview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgYGxX-I7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2735"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2739,"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735\/revisions\/2739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}