Troy Schmidt

How is your country doing? Prosperous? Are the people happy, cooperative, united? Do they love God and obey his commands? Are all the enemies kept away?Or is it chaotic, constantly in turmoil, with disobedience and selfishness running rampant, everyone doing whatever they want, worshiping whoever they want? And are the enemies knocking on the front gates or, worse, knocking down the walls?These days the latter is more likely true which makes Jeremiah and Lamentations reflections of today's culture as much as Jeremiah the prophet's time in Jerusalem from 627 to 589 BC.Jeremiah was the prophet who God chose to speak to the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem during its darkest time-its collapse at the hands of Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah's strength is to be admired as well as his compassion. The people (specifically the religious leaders) drove Jeremiah insane with their disobedience to God and abuse to Jeremiah. And yet Jeremiah wept for them and the destruction of God's city.As you pray through Jeremiah, you'll be praying for your nation too and most likely weeping for its current state, hoping that God will restore your county to the way it once was or a better version of what it can be.PRAYING THROUGH THE BIBLE SERIESWhat is God's word? Simply put, it is the word of God spoken to people long ago who transcribed that information into writing. That writing was meticulously passed down for thousands of years to speak to us today.How did God speak to people in Bible times? -Audibly - God spoke directly to people who heard Him with their ears or in their heart.-Through situations - God spoke through the actions and events of this world.-Through people - God spoke through leaders, kings and prophets who proclaimed God's purpose.-Through prophecy - God spoke about future events, then those events happened.-Scripture - God spoke through His written word when people read those words later.-Prayer - God spoke through the prayers of people.PRAYING THROUGH THE BIBLE SERIES recognizes the power of God speaking to mankind through His Scriptures. God's word was not only meant to be read, but applied. We must apply ourselves to these passages and adjust our lives to God's will.The prayers contained in this book paraphrase the scriptures into a personal conversation with God. That way you can speak the words of God back to Him and make them your own.Today, God uses many ways to speak to us. This book incorporates those avenues of communication to ensure that God will speak to you during your quiet time with Him.Each section asks the reader to do six things.1.Read the passage. Open up the Bible and read His Word.2.Memorize the passage. A certain verse is given special focus. Commit it to memory. Remember it all day.3.Understand the passage. Background information (Time, Characters, Place, What's Happening) help you to understand the context of the section you are reading.4.Read the prayer. Read the written prayers as if they were from your heart. Don't recite them as words from a page, but a plea from your soul.5.Keep praying. Prayer prompts are there to help you continue praying about other specific areas. Listen to the Holy Spirit and see if there is more you need to pray.6.Journal your thoughts. In the space provided, write down some thoughts that you feel God said to your during this time. Every so often I've included a "Prayer Thoughts" page to give you more room to journal your thoughts and write down prayer requests as you go through the Bible.Get ready to spend some quality time with God.Get ready for God to speak to you through His Word.

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