Praying for Wicked Cities

Survivor Babylon: How to Make the Best of a Bad Situation

What do you do when you don’t like the circumstances of your life and it seems as if those circumstances aren’t going to change anytime soon? Jeremiah 29 teaches us a lot about this important question.

>>>Note: Ray's messages have application to community and citywide issues.

I suppose one of the hardest commands in the Bible to obey is the command of Jesus that we should pray for our enemies (Luke 6:27). It is hard because prayer is the last thing we want to do for our enemies. Mostly, there a lot of things we would like to do to our enemies--like getting even or making them suffer like we have suffered.

Here's the background: King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had attacked Jerusalem and sent many of the people into exile. It was a humiliating experience for the people of God. It was also a punishment from the Lord because of their rebellion. In a true sense, they got what was coming to them--70 years in captivity in a foreign land, ruled by pagans who did not worship God.

Not all of the Jews were taken to Babylon. Jeremiah was one of those who were left behind. Chapter 29 records a letter he sent from Jerusalem to the exiles in Babylon in order to encourage them. God's message is unexpected: "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" (v. 7). God's word is very simple: I put you in Babylon for a purpose. Although I know you are humiliated, discouraged and angry, do not despair. And pray for the prosperity of Babylon.

Read that last phrase of verse 7 very carefully: "If it prospers, you too will prosper." Here is a message from God for all of us. Many who read these words find themselves caught in a bad situation at work, or at school, or at home. Someone has hurt you deeply and it's all you can do not to strike back. With all your energy, you barely hold back the bitterness. And some of it sloshes over the top now and then. You couldn't pray for your enemies if your life depended on it. But God says to do it anyway. That's the whole point of Jeremiah 29:7.===>Click headline to access Pastor Ray's messages . . .

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