Friday, October 30, 2020

Pray For Your City

“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” - Jeremiah 29:7 

About a month ago, my family and I adopted a sweet little Welsh Corgi puppy named Finley. In this turbulent year, he’s been a breath of fresh air. For many of us, 2020 has been one of the hardest years of our lives. And honestly, some of us have been freaking out. But Finley doesn’t have a care in the world. Finley’s not worried about COVID. He’s not worried about paying the bills or keeping food on the table. And he won’t be any more stressed out on November 3rd than he’ll be on November 2nd. He doesn’t CARE who wins the Presidential election. He’s oblivious to all of it. At times I’ve found myself thinking, “It would be kind of nice to be Finley.”

Wouldn’t it be great to be oblivious to all of the problems and stressors in our world today? Of course it would. But you know what? God has something even better planned for you and me: Peace and prosperity without needing to be oblivious.

In Jeremiah 29, the people of Judah had been exiled to Babylon where, basically, they were prisoners of war. It was the hardest thing they’d ever endured, they felt as if God had abandoned them. But through Jeremiah, God gave His people a fresh perspective on their captivity. They felt their situation was hopeless, because they had taken their eyes off of God and were instead focusing on their problems. All they could think about was how to get out of Dodge as quickly as possible.

But God wanted His people to understand that they were in Babylon because He had PUT them there. And He had put them there for a reason, a reason that was going to take a number of years to carry out .... 70 years, to be exact. So, God tells them in verses 5-6 to “build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too my have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.” While 70 years in Babylon must have sounded like a downer, it was actually a message of true hope, because it was part of God’s master plan. And God’s plan is always the BEST plan for us.

In verse 7, God urges His people to get on board with His plan: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” It would have been natural for the exiles to feel bitterness and unforgiveness toward the Babylonians, because those are all parts of our old sinful nature. But the Jewish exiles were God’s people, and as such it was high time for them to stop living according to the flesh and start living according to the spirit. And the same goes for you and me.

When we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living inside us, there is no room in our lives for bitterness, resentment, hatred or unforgiveness. There is no room for blaming everyone else for our problems. Instead of criticizing and blaming those who have made our lives difficult, God calls us to pray for their peace and prosperity. Some of us are harboring bitterness and resentment toward family members who have treated us like crud. Others of us are harboring bitterness and resentment toward political leaders who make decisions that we passionately disagree with. But let me ask you: Are you praying for them?

If you aren’t praying for them, why not? And if you’re praying for them to be arrested, or to get sick and die, that doesn’t count. Those are terrible prayers! God says, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

You may not be crazy about the city you live in, whether it’s Victorville, Adelanto, Apple Valley, Hesperia or Phelan. But it’s where God put you, so you need to pray for it. If our hometown prospers…we too will prosper. Like many, I’m not too jazzed with California's Governor, Gavin Newsom, right now. I think he should declare all churches as “essential” and let churches in the High Desert get back inside their buildings. But regardless of how frustrated I am with him right now, that doesn’t change God’s command to me to pray for him and to seek his peace and prosperity. Because if Gov. Newsom and California prosper … we too will prosper.

Who ends up in office is important. But how Christians RESPOND to who ends up in office is even MORE important. It is both in our best interest and in God’s best interest that we seek the peace and prosperity of our city, our state, our nation, and the leaders who lead them. If America and its leaders prosper, we too will prosper. So this Tuesday, when new city council members and state and federal leaders are elected, there will be some new leaders you’re not crazy about. Who cares? Whether you like them or not is irrelevant. It doesn’t change God’s command to you to PRAY FOR THEM and seek the peace and prosperity of our city, our state, and our nation. Because if they prosper, you and I will also prosper.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

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