Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
It is helpful when we come to God in prayer to be mindful of exactly Who He is. This is the King of Kings, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, Who called all things into being out of nothing by the word of His power.
Were we to come to the most powerful monarch the world has ever known and to submit a request to him, even if he were disposed to grant whatever we would ask of him, there would be limits on the things he could do for us. He would not be powerful enough to do anything we might request. Though he may declare his good intentions and promise to act on our behalf, we could never be absolutely sure that we would obtain the thing we had petitioned for.
When God declared in Sarah's hearing that she would bear a child in her old age, she laughed. God asked Abraham why she had done so. "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" He asked.
When Mary staggered at the news that she, a virgin, was to give birth to the Son of God, the angel assured her, "nothing will be impossible with God."
When Jesus explained to His disciples that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy person to be saved, they were amazed and asked who would be saved if this were true. Jesus replied, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Now look at our text. Jeremiah is amazed that, as Jerusalem is about to fall to Nebuchadnezzar, God commands him to buy a piece of land at Anathoth, about 3 miles north of the city. Nonplussed, he comes before God in prayer and as he does so, reminds himself in verse 17 that nothing is too hard for the Lord. He goes on to review how gracious and merciful God has been to Israel, but how unfaithful and disobedient they have been to Him. The result is that the siege ramps of the Chaldeans have reached the city and it is about to fall - and now God tells him to buy land just outside the city! Jeremiah does not understand.
In verse 26, God replies to Jeremiah. Jerusalem will indeed fall and Israel will indeed go into exile, but God will bring them back to this very place and fields will again be bought in Israel. Jeremiah's purchase of a field was a sign that God would yet be merciful and restore His people to the land. How could Jeremiah know that this would take place? In verse 27, God repeats to Jeremiah the very words with which he had begun his prayer, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
When we come to God in prayer, we must not in our prayer place limits upon what He can do, because He has no such limits. Sometimes we only pray for the small thing or for a limited outcome in a situation. It is as though we do not believe God can do the big thing. We are like the man who had a demon possessed son that the disciples of Jesus could not cast out. He says to Jesus, "...if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" Jesus rebukes him for his unbelief, responding “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Like this father coming to Jesus, many of us come to God in prayer as believers who need help with our unbelief.
The hymn-writer John Newton reminds us not to ask only small things of God in our prayers:
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.
So at the next prayer meeting you attend, or when you pray in private, do not hold back in your requests as though there was some deficiency of power or of grace on the part of our Father in heaven. Let the fact that nothing is too difficult for Him be an encouragement to expectant and fervent prayer!