40 Days of Prayer 2026! Day 13
Welcome to day 13 of our 40 day challenge! Today, we are in Jeremiah 18
(You can catch up on our Intro, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12 if you missed them)
Jeremiah 18:1-11, 18-20
At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clayin the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’
18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”
19 Listen to me, Lord;
hear what my accusers are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.
Remember that I stood before you
and spoke in their behalf
to turn your wrath away from them.
Yesterday, we saw Jesus giving a strong rebuke to the Pharisees. We know how they responded. And today we see Jeremiah in the same role, speaking truth to power, and they don’t respond any better. They don’t like what they hear, so they plot against the one who says it. It’s a hard role to be in.
The Lord is so merciful and so patient with us, but He won’t be forever. He cares too much about us, and especially about those being harmed by those in power. Especially those harming others using His name to do the enemy’s work of stealing, killing, and destroying.
But all that needs to be done is to turn to Him! Why is it so hard? How can the enemy convince people to do his bidding and not feel remorse, and even feel justified? And even call it God’s will?
If we are clay, then the best thing we can do is allow the Potter to form us into whatever vessel He thinks best. He knows the kind of vessel the world needs us to be. And the great thing is, in His mercy, He will shape us and reshape us as we need. We get another chance to be useful for His purposes.
Being reshaped doesn’t feel pleasant. But it’s often in these hard moments that we become more like Jesus. When people talk about their relationship with God, it’s usually the hard times they talk about. The comfort and help they received. The closeness of the Lord in the valley. And the way they were changed for the better because of it.
It would be wonderful if we could grow close to the Lord and become more like Him without the pain of being formed and molded, but that’s always where we experience the most growth.
Options for further journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:
- Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
- Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
- Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.
We’ll see you tomorrow for Day 14, and Luke 16