God Said NOT to Pray???

Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

~Jeremiah 11:14

Are you as shocked as I was when I first read this statement from God to Jeremiah?
Did He really just forbid prayer???
I mean, it sure looks like it, doesn't it? The God of the universe who has been sending Jeremiah to the people over and over again with a call to stop worshiping other gods, to stop being faithless and adulterous - and instead return to HIM - has just said not to pray, for HE will not listen when they call to Him because of their disaster.
Because of their disaster.
Because of their disaster.

Ahhhh, that phrase makes all the difference.
God was refusing to listen to another cry for help, another plea for mercy and removal of the impending disaster - from a people whose hearts remained hardened toward Him. As long as the people continued to worship idols, as long as they trusted in deceitful words and continued with their wicked practices - while assuming they were safe from harm because the temple of God was in their midst - until they humbled themselves and returned to HIM in Truth, God was not going to listen.
But what if the prayer for the people was not with regard to their disaster? What if, instead, the prayer was for their hearts? Would God listen if somebody asked Him to have mercy on their souls? Would God listen if an intercessor pleaded with Him to soften the stubborn hearts, to open the blinded eyes, to unstop the deaf ears? Would God hear the prayer of one who was crying for the repentance of His people?

I believe HE would.

So that has become my prayer for our world as I watch what is happening. As I see laws passed which forsake God's laws. While standards which HE set in place at the beginning of time are tossed aside in the name of not "offending" or "hurting feelings." When I read, Shall I not punish these people, and on a nation such as this shall I not avenge Myself? (Jeremiah 5:9 & 29) and think about how the nation in which I reside resembles one such as this.
I am praying for the Truth of God to come back to us, for the hearts of men to be receptive to It. I am praying for our leaders (in the Church, as well as in government) to humble themselves and turn to God in faithfulness. I am asking God to strengthen those who are devoted to righteousness and to give them courage to stand up for what is right. My cry is for the cleansing of our hearts and our return to the One who has the power to destroy or restore.
Because if we continue to be faithless, if we refuse to embrace a reverent fear of our Maker, if we presume upon His mercy while we pursue our own sense of what is right - I don't think He is going to listen.