Jeremiah 37:1 (KJV) And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah.
3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us.
Two things are happening here. The king and the servants do not want to listen to the words of the Lord, which came through Jeremiah. But then, they wanted Jeremiah to pray for them.
Deuteronomy 5:33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I [Jesus] have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine [Jesus], and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
To be blessed, it is necessary to keep growing in obedience to the Word of God.
We don’t want to be like King Zedekiah and his servants, who paid no attention to what was being taught them by Jeremiah. Not doing the Word of God leads to reaping the consequences of not doing the Word of God which can lead to desperate prayers.
It is better to obey and avoid the pitfalls of the world as much as possible.
Disobedience leads to consquences. Prayer can bring mercy and grace from the Lord, but cannot be presumed upon to totally erase the consequences. A new start is needed in Christ.
There are many examples of this. As we read the Bible and read the lives of real people we see cause and effect, sowing and reaping. One example is King David, after he committed adultery and murder. He was in the highest office as king and this was the judgement given to him.
II Samuel 12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
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