When pray seems not to be answered is it like Jeremiah?

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In the Book of Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah expresses his feelings of being deceived by God in Jeremiah 20:7. Here is the verse:

Jeremiah 20:7 (NIV): "O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me."

In this verse, Jeremiah expresses his deep frustration and betrayal, feeling that God has enticed him into a problematic and unrelenting prophetic ministry that has brought him nothing but mockery and suffering.

Jeremiah felt deceived by God because of the intense and relentless opposition, suffering, and ridicule he faced as a prophet. Here are several vital reasons why Jeremiah felt this way:

  1. Unpopular Messages: Jeremiah delivered messages of impending doom and judgment to the people of Judah, calling them to repentance for their sins. These messages were unpopular and often met with hostility and rejection.

  2. Personal Suffering: Jeremiah experienced significant personal suffering due to his prophetic ministry. He was often persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, and threatened with death. This intense persecution made him feel overwhelmed and abandoned.

  3. Mockery and Ridicule: Jeremiah became a laughingstock among his peers and the people he was trying to warn. His prophecies were mocked and dismissed, adding to his isolation and despair.

  4. Internal Struggle: Jeremiah had a deep internal struggle between his commitment to God's calling and the harsh reality of his experiences. Despite the pain and opposition, he felt compelled to continue his prophetic mission, leading to feelings of entrapment and frustration.

  5. Loneliness and Isolation: Jeremiah's messages often set him apart from his community, leading to loneliness and isolation. He felt alienated from his own people, which intensified his emotional turmoil.

Jeremiah's feelings of being deceived by God stem from the immense personal cost and suffering associated with his prophetic ministry, combined with the apparent lack of visible success or positive response from the people he was trying to reach.

Jeremiah did experience a situation where his prophecies did not come to pass. His feelings of despair and frustration also stemmed from the reactions of the people to his prophecies and the timing of their fulfilment. Here are the main factors contributing to his sense of being "deceived" by God:

  1. Immediate Rejection and Hostility: The people of Judah, including the leaders and other prophets, often rejected Jeremiah's messages of doom and repentance. They ridiculed him and treated him harshly. This lack of immediate repentance or change in behaviour sometimes made Jeremiah's mission seem futile.

  2. The Timing of Prophecies: Prophecies often have a component of future fulfilment, which means that the judgment and events Jeremiah prophesied were not immediate. The delay in fulfilling his prophecies could have contributed to his frustration, as he faced continuous opposition without seeing immediate results. Like prayer, we wondered what God was doing without understanding our will and aligning it with his will.

  3. False Prophets: Other prophets in Judah were delivering messages of peace and security, contradicting Jeremiah's warnings of impending disaster. These false prophets were more popular, and their messages seemed more appealing to the people, further isolating Jeremiah and making his true prophecies appear ineffective in the short term.

  4. Personal Suffering: Jeremiah faced significant personal suffering, including imprisonment, threats to his life, and public humiliation. These experiences were part of his prophetic journey, and his ministry's intense personal cost led to profound emotional turmoil.

In summary, Jeremiah felt deceived by God because his prophecies were not fulfilled in his lifetime (which he didn't know), and the path of delivering God's messages was fraught with relentless opposition, suffering, and an apparent lack of immediate positive change. This challenging experience made him feel God had enticed him into a role that brought him more hardship than anticipated.

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