“As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”
We should read also:
Jeremiah 11:14 (ESV)
“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.
In this section of Jeremiah the prophet is twice told not to pray for his fellow countrymen. As a prophet he is told not to pray for those who would hear his prophecy. As a herald in the streets of Jerusalem he was not to ask God to have those who hear him to heed his warnings. In the New Testament, however, we are told to pray for one another:
James 5:16 (ESV)
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
1 Timothy 2:1 (ESV)
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
In the Old and New Testament we are given countless examples of people praying for each other. Yet, this prophet, Jeremiah, was to NOT pray for others. This shows us how angry God was about the disobedience of His people. He was so angry He wanted no intercession for them. Lacking intercession people will have no hope for their own salvation. One of the tools God uses to heal the land is through prayer. Remember what God instructed the people of Israel to do:
2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
It is only by prayer that salvation is afforded mankind. Yet, this group of people were not to be prayed over. They were simply to be warned about their impending doom. Disobedience to God puts man in a bad condition.