Jeremiah's Prayer

"I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, Lord, but only with justice- not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland."

Jeremiah 10:23-25

I really love this prayer because Jeremiah's not praying out of or for vengeance but for God's justice. Only the Lord can direct a man's steps, whether or not that man is too stubborn to listen to God. He's praying for Israel, even though they've fallen so hard and so deep, God would judge them in His righteous nature and not anger. For me this is really hard to do because when i see someone who's fallen so much and doesn't want to come back to church or God, me, in my self-righteous nature starts thinking that they don't deserve God's divine justice but wrath and pure anger. but who am i to judge? you can never know what God has in store for them until things start changing, or even maybe until we get into heaven. Jeremiah includes in his prayer that Israel doesn't know what they're doing, and the more sick you are the more healing and gentleness you need.