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  Welcome to the Third Week of Lent 2026 Prayers & Ponderings page!  Here you will find the resources for your weekly prayers and reflections - Weekly Prayer & Pondering Guide and Small Group Discussion Notes.

  If you are more of a visual learner, a video version of the Prayer & Pondering Guide is right here!  You can pause the video when you need more time to read, pray, or ponder.  Also, in case you wish to have the background music continue playing during your moments of prayer and pondering, the video guide will play 4 times so you will have the opportunity to catch up when you are ready to continue.  Here is the third installment:

  For those who rather have a continual flow of the Prayer & Pondering Guide, here it is:

Desire – Yours & God’s!

  God invites you to come to Him, The “Destination” you need, and He will transform you, NO MATTER who you are, into someone who desires Him.

  Our flesh-based desire is often in an opposite direction than God’s desire. Unfortunately, that is because of original sin … the human condition.  Eve was tempted in the direction of what was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom, and Adam affirmed her choice by making the same choice.   None of those three traits are “bad” or “sinful” except they directed them away from the desire of God … to not eat of that particular tree and trust in His provision and wisdom.  God had given them plenty of GREAT food, He had provided so much that was as pleasing to the eye, and He was their source of wisdom.  The two of them became obsessed with that which they saw of the world rather than that which God wanted them to see - His Glory and His Relationship with them.  This malady has haunted humanity ever since, and the pages of the Bible are full of this reality.

  The message text from Sunday in Jeremiah 32:26-41 paints the picture of how far God’s chosen had ventured toward their desires (to fit in, to satisfy themselves in their own way and the way of the world around them, etc.) rather than His desire for them.  After reading Jeremiah 32:26-35, pause, pray, and ponder if you have become enamored with a desire that may not be focused on God. Remember, this reflection is not for condemnation or chastisement from our, your, loving Heavenly Father. Rather, this reflection is for any necessary “path correction” to open your eyes to see that which your heart may even be informing you is “good,” “pleasing,” and desirable” but may not be God’s desire for you.

Jeremiah 32:26-35

  26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore this is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. 29 The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

  30 “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord. 31 From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight. 32 The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done—they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. 33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. 34 They set up their vile images in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. 35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded - nor did it enter my mind - that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.

PAUSE, PRAY, PONDER.

  After those moments of contemplation, read Jeremiah 32:36-41 and REVEL in the love God displayed toward the rebellious, self-seeking Judeans and that this level of love is for you!

  • To rescue you, restore you, gather you to Himself
  • To “recenter” you toward Himself, giving you singleness of thought, desire, feeling, and action for Himself.
  • To BLESS you in ways you may not comprehend.

PAUSE, PRAY, PONDER.

    After you are done with your time of pause and prayer, you can continue to engage some further reflective thought or possibly, some e-discussion by using the Small Group Discussion Guide that follows. If you want to have some e-chat about this topic and what God might be revealing to you, feel free to reach out to Terry via email @ tfnaz1@gmail.com.

Ministries
The Seasons of The Church
DESIRE - Yours & God's!

  God invites you to come to Him, The “Destination” you need, and He will transform you, NO MATTER who you are, into someone who desires Him.

  In considering the text of Jeremiah 32:26-35, think about these questions:

  1. Why were the Judean’s (the Southern Kingdom of Israel) in such a predicament of being so far away from God’s desire for them and receiving His harsh discipline at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians?

 

  1. Do you recall how long it had taken the Judean’s to get to this point of arousing God’s anger to this degree?

 

  1. What do these matters reveal to you about God – the predicament in which Judah found itself and the time frame it took for them to reach this predicament?

 

  1. Now, personally, have you ever experienced such a situation in your own life?

 

    Continuing with Jeremiah 32:36-41, consider these questions:

  1. How does God’s eventual action toward Judah remain consistent with Moses’ words about God in Deuteronomy 4:31 from last week’s discussion?

31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which He confirmed to them by oath.

 

  1. What is the extent to which God went for the Judeans to rebuild/restore His desire for/toward them?

 

  1. How do you see “the singleness of heart and action” that God plans to give Judah playing out in their daily lives?
  2. Now, personally, what do you think about God’s desire to give you “the singleness of heart and action” toward Him and how might/does that look?

 

Terry's Notes:

  God invites you to come to Him, The “Destination” you need, and He will transform you, NO MATTER who you are, into someone who desires Him.

  The message text from Sunday in Jeremiah 32:26-41 paints the picture of how far God’s chosen had ventured toward their desires (to fit in, to satisfy themselves in their own way and the way of the world around them, etc.) rather than God’s desire for them to be His holy, chosen people who impact the world and bring BLESSING to the world as God promised to Abraham.  THANKFULLY, the story is not finished!

  In considering the text of Jeremiah 32:26-35, discuss these questions:

  1. By the time Jeremiah was called to prophesy, 1300 to 1500 years had passed since God’s first promise to bless the nations through Abraham and Israel rarely got right their participation in the covenant.  The cycles of being faithful to God and wandering in selfish desires and sin were heavy on the selfish desires and sin part.  Though there were seasons of repentance and renewal of being faithful to God, God had been EXTREMELY GRACIOUS with Israel throughout the generations.  Even when we consider Abraham, he engaged some dicey behavior and decisions himself and then, the pattern seems to be deep-seated in the generations that followed … that’s the human condition … original sin, the heart is deceitful, as Jeremiah declared. 

  The Judeans to whom Jeremiah was preaching continued this pattern of faithfulness to God and then, utter failure in following God.  One would think that Judah would have learned a tremendous lesson looking to their brothers and sisters in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, who had been defeated and exiled about 100 years before Jeremiah comes on the scene.  However, as we are prone to do, we forget the tragedies and the triumphs of the previous generation(s) and we think we can do it differently, better, and not fall into the same traps or get distracted from the most important.  BOY, are we WRONG!

  As an aside, Israel had been divided into two separate kingdoms - Israel to the north and Judah to the south.  This division came because Solomon eventually led all of Israel away from God by incorporating all the gods of the Canaanites into their worship practices.  Because of this sin, Jeraboam, one of Solomon’s officials, was given a prophecy by Ahijah that he (Jeraboam) would lead the northern 10 tribes of Israel, but if you read 1 Kings 11:26 thru 12:24, you learn that more sin and self-centered desires are involved.  If you read past that point, you will soon find that though Jeraboam appears to have the desires of God in his heart, he does not and God sends a prophet to correct the matter.

  For the generations after Solomon’s death, Israel and Judah were two separate kingdoms ruled by two separate lines of kings.  Israel, the Northern Kingdom, is often noted as the most wicked of the kingdoms due to their train of wicked kings.  However, Judah, the Southern Kingdom, was not really much better; Judah did experience some revivals but they eventually failed again and again to remain faithful to God.  By the time Jeremiah is on the scene, a young king named Josiah has led the people in a resurgence of faithful, covenantal living with God, but that lasted as long as Josiah’s short life of 39 years.  However, since Josiah was only 8 when he became king, Judah did serve the Lord rather faithfully for 31 years.  Nonetheless, Josiah’s son, grandson(s), and great-grandson led Judah into the sewer of sin over the next decade.  In the midst of those years, we find Jeremiah’s prophecy in our text.

  Sin and rebellion had become rampant, not just recently for Judah … but FOR GENERATIONS! They had continued to reject God and do things their own way and absorb the lifestyles, gods, and worship practices of the Canaanites who were left living in the land way back from the days of Joshua and Judges.

  1. So, it had taken Judah a good 300-ish years on their own to test God’s patience enough that He saw the need to discipline them and open their eyes to Who He was, the Lord Who delivered them out of slavery in Egypt to become His chosen and holy people through whom He would bless the world.  Even more centuries had passed since the kingdom was first established and more yet, since the Exodus.
  1. For me, these matters reveal the EXTREME GRACE and PATIENCE of God! 

  These realities of God are heightened when we continue reading the text of Jeremiah 32.

  1. In continuing to read the text from Jeremiah 32:36, we quickly see that Moses’ words about God, which were directly from God, hold true to Who God is.

31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which He confirmed to them by oath.   ~ Deuteronomy 4:31

  Judah, like Israel 100 years earlier, DID NOT DESERVE such patience and grace BUT God still gave it.  Their actions, their lifestyle, warranted destruction.  They did not get all that they deserved … that is MERCY.

  Though it may appear God abandoned them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, Exekiel’s prophecy assures that God was with them while they were in exile … and the words of our text in Jeremiah promise that God has not given them over for utter destruction.  Instead …

  1. God will do more than remain faithful to His Covenant with Judah, and Israel as well; God will be The One Who brings about the restoration of covenantal living. Read the text!

  God is The One Who “gather them form all the lands” where He has banished them. He is The One Who “will bring them back … and let them live in safety.”  He is The One Who will restore right and righteous relationship and God and people.  PLUS, He goes many steps further to change their hearts, giving them the “singleness of heart and action” declared in the text so that they will live in awe and wonder fo such a patient, gracious, merciful, and faithful God!

  God will not just restore the present generation that will enjoy the return to their home but God will ensure this enjoyment for generations yet to come, even everlastingly so! Depsite all of Judah’s generations of forgetting God, He will “rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all (His) heart and soul.”

  WOW! WHAT A GOD!

  1. After 70 years of exile in Babylon, God fulfilled His promise of bringing them back and all of Judah, and Israel, enjoyed 400 years plus of apparent faithfulness to God.  Even prior to those years, we are given a little insight into their lives in Babylon through Jeremiah’s words as well as Ezekiel’s and Daniel’s prophecies.  Likewise, Ezra and Nehemiah reveal life in Judah after the return from Babylonian captivity.

  We do find continued needs in their midst as God raised the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi after Judah’s return “home”.  These prophets ministered between 520 and 431 BC and encouraged rebuilding of the Temple and addressed some spiritual apathy among the returned remnant. They focused on restoring worship, prioritizing God's house over personal homes, and looking forward to the Messianic age. Then, we “hear” 400 years of prophetic silence.

  These years of silence do not mean there issues were absent but apparently, the BIG MESSAGE finally stuck to a greater degree than ever before … WORSHIP YAHWEH ALONE!

  God is SOOOOO gracious, loving, patient, merciful, faithful, etc., etc., etc., etc., and He pours all of that into lives like ours …. AMAZING! Prayerfully, we do not text God’s patience as much as Israel and Judah, learning our lessons MUCH SOONER and without as much discipline and difficulty as they endured… then again, that is one of the reasons God had all of these events recorded!  On this last matter, check out 1 Corinthians 10:1-13.