A Consuming Fire: Desire!
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.