“Praying for the City” 10-9-22
Overview
Praying for the City
The exile shapes the entire landscape of the Old Testament. After the Assyrian destruction of the northern kingdom and the Babylonian devastation of Jerusalem in 586 BC, God's people found themselves uprooted from their homeland, the temple in ruins. False prophets promised a quick two-year reprieve, but God spoke a harder, truer word: seventy years in Babylon. Remarkably, Isaiah had already named these events—and even named Cyrus, the Persian king who would free them—roughly 150 years before they unfolded, a striking testimony to God's sovereignty over history.
Into that captivity, God sent instructions through Jeremiah that still shape how God's people live as exiles today. In Jeremiah 29:4-7, the Lord tells the captives to build houses, plant gardens, raise families, and—most strikingly—"seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." The Hebrew word for welfare is shalom: not merely the absence of conflict but the flourishing and abundance of the place. Babylon was not Jerusalem, yet God's people were called to pray for its prosperity. Psalm 122 supplies a usable outline for that prayer—prosperity ("may they prosper who love you"), safety ("peace be within your walls"), leadership ("security within your towers"), and the people themselves ("for the sake of my relatives and friends").
Scripture also reveals a beautiful pattern: God often makes those who pray the answer to their own prayers. In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus tells the disciples to pray for laborers because the harvest is plentiful—and in the very next breath Matthew 10:1, 5, He sends those same disciples out as the laborers. When we pray for the hungry, God uses our hands to feed them. When we pray for the gospel to advance, God equips us to cast the seed through teaching, mission trips, and witness near and far (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8). When we pray to grow in faith and fellowship, God births small groups, classes, and ministries that knit us together.
Because Christ is the Light of the world and has purified, preserved, and flavored us by His blood, He now calls us to be salt and light where He has placed us Matthew 5:13-16. Our true homeland is heaven; until we arrive, we are exiles charged to seek the welfare of our cities and pray for them. So pray boldly for prosperity, safety, leaders, and people—and be ready, when the Lord whispers, "I know who's going to answer that prayer," to discover that the answer is you.
Transcript
With your Bibles, please, with me to Jeremiah the 29th chapter for our study today. 2s
If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find Jeremiah the 29th 9s
chapter on page 690 in the Old Testament. 15s
Page 690 in the Old Testament. 20s
We continue today in our sermon series, Salt and Light, that incredible metaphor that is lifted 24s
up by our Lord. 31s
As we continue the series today, it takes us to the prophet Jeremiah. 35s
Now, some dates here is really important for us to fully grasp and to understand the depth 41s
and the richness of this work. 48s
You can take the Old Testament and you can really divide it into two parts. 52s
Pre-exile and post-exile. 59s
There's a host of crises in the Old Testament that chief crisis in the Old Testament was the 63s
exile, the exile. 72s
That's why you can divide the Old Testament. 74s
Pre- and post the exile. 77s
What was the exile? 80s
In 1722, the people of God, they were divided into two different kingdoms, north and the south. 83s
And the Syrians came and they destroyed the northern kingdom. 91s
Absolutely destroyed it. 97s
In 586 BC, the Babylonians, they decimated Jerusalem. 99s
They destroyed the temple. 108s
And they led the people into what was called Babylonian captivity. 112s
So, I mean, just try and put yourself in the sandals of the people of Old there. 119s
There's your homeland. 123s
There's the temple. 124s
There's Jerusalem. 125s
And it is absolutely destroyed the southern kingdom. 126s
Well, as they're deported to, of Babylon, some false prophets arose. 133s
And the false prophets says, this is going to be too bad. 137s
Two years tops, right here. 140s
Problem is, is that was their own word. 144s
It wasn't the word of the Lord. 147s
We could be so tempted, right, to just want to hear what we want to hear. 148s
And so that was a real appeal when false prophets would say, 154s
this isn't going to be too bad. 158s
Two years, two years. 160s
The reality was, is God was saying, it's going to be 70 years, 70 years. 161s
God had exercised his discipline upon the people. 170s
The people were not repenting of their sin. 174s
They weren't listening to the voices of the prophets that God had sent. 178s
And so God exercised his discipline and said, for 70 years, 182s
for 70 years, you will be in Babylon. 187s
The prophet Isaiah, beginning his prophecy in 700 BC, 194s
and remember the dates, Isaiah's prophecy in 700 BC, 200s
he prophesied of all these events that occurred. 204s
He prophesied of the events of 586. 208s
He prophesied of the events of 597 211s
when the first incursion here of Babylon came to the city. 215s
And he prophesied of 58 BC when the people would start to come back. 224s
The first wave that would start to come back. 230s
And remember the dates there. 233s
Isaiah, 700 BC is prophesying about events in 586 and 588. 234s
And not only does he specifically mention these events, 243s
but he mentions the kingdom that's going to free the people 248s
to go back to the promised land. 252s
And here's the thing. 254s
When Isaiah prophesied this, the kingdom of Persia 255s
that would then release the people to go back to the homeland, 259s
but the kingdom of Persia didn't even historically exist yet. 263s
And the prophet Isaiah even names the king, Cyrus, 269s
who would be the one that would free them. 277s
This is some 150 years before the event, 281s
for the kingdom even exists, 284s
before obviously Cyrus even existed. 285s
God gives Isaiah the word of what will occur. 289s
So 70 years, 70 years then, they're going to be in Babylon. 294s
And what were they to do during that time? 301s
Now let's look at our text. 307s
Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 4, 309s
thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 313s
to all the excels, who might have sent into exile 316s
from Jerusalem to Babylon. 319s
Bill houses and live in them. 322s
Plant gardens and eat what they produce. 326s
Take wives and have sons and daughters. 331s
Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage. 334s
That they may bear sons and daughters multiply there and do not decrease. 339s
But seek the welfare of the city. 346s
Where I've sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf 350s
for in its welfare, you will find your welfare. 356s
You catch that, verse 7. 363s
But seek the welfare of the city. 365s
This isn't Jerusalem. 372s
This is Babylon. 375s
And God says, seek the welfare. 377s
Really interesting word there. 381s
That word, their welfare in the Hebrew, it's shalom. 382s
That means peace. 386s
But it's not simply just the absence of conflict. 389s
It is the blessing here of desiring of abundance, abundance. 394s
They were to seek the welfare of the city. 400s
And notice what was connected to seeking the welfare of the city, 404s
back to verse 7, halfway through. 410s
And pray to the Lord on its behalf. 413s
Pray to the Lord on its behalf. 418s
So the people, Babylonian captivity, 421s
God is exercises discipline. 424s
He gives specific instructions now, what they're to do during these 70 years. 426s
And they're to seek the welfare, the peace, and the prosperity, 430s
and the abundance of Babylon itself. 435s
And what is connected to seeking of the welfare? 438s
Pray. 443s
So how were they then to pray for the city? 447s
Well, Psalm 122 would give them a perfect outline. 452s
Here was a prayer for Jerusalem, but it's transferable to Babylon. 458s
It's transferable to any city. 464s
Psalm 122, it's his prayer for the peace of Jerusalem. 467s
Here's the first petition, may they prosper who love you. 470s
And so here was a prayer outline that they could use to pray for Babylon 475s
that there would be a prospering there of that city. 480s
Second petition, verse 7, peace be within your wall. 485s
So they were to pray for prosperity. 489s
They were to pray for safety of those that were in the city. 491s
Second part of verse 7, and security within your towers. 496s
That's just another phrase that means leadership. 501s
So they were to pray for prosperity of Babylon. 505s
They were to pray for safety of those in Babylon. 507s
They were to pray for the leadership of Babylon. 511s
Verse 8, for the sake of my relatives and friends, 515s
I will say peace be within you. 519s
They were to pray for the people. 522s
Pray for prosperity, pray for safety, pray for the leadership, 525s
and pray for the people. 530s
They had in Psalm 122, a prayer outline 533s
for when God connects then the welfare of the city 538s
and seeking it to prayer, they've got the prayer outline then 544s
in Psalm 122. 549s
Back now, verse 7. 552s
But seek the welfare of the city, where I've sent you into exile, 556s
and pray to the Lord on its behalf. 562s
Well, what would happen when they would do this? 570s
What would happen when they do this? 577s
I think of Matthew the ninth chapter. 585s
The very end of Matthew the ninth chapter. 588s
The scripture says, then he being Jesus. 590s
Send of his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, 594s
but the laborers are few. 599s
Now he's not talking about bringing in crops here. 602s
He's talking about the harvest of souls. 606s
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, 610s
then Jesus says, therefore ask the Lord of the harvest 613s
to send out laborers into His harvest. 617s
So Jesus turns to his disciples and says, pray about this. 622s
Pray that there'll be more laborers here 628s
so that the harvest might come in. 631s
That one assumes then, right? 635s
Death of disciples, pray this. 638s
Then it goes into chapter 10. 643s
Now remember, when Matthew, 646s
one of the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote the gospel, 649s
he didn't start by putting chapter one, verse one. 653s
He didn't say, now comes verse two. 659s
No, there were no chapters or verses when Matthew wrote. 662s
Those were added much later, just simply for reference points 667s
here for study. 672s
Sometimes the numbers of the new chapters 673s
can almost be like a wall that says, 676s
now this whole new thought is starting. 679s
No, it's just where they put the number here for reference. 683s
So at the end of nine, then, Jesus turns to his disciples 689s
and says, pray for more laborers. 694s
And then he just continues on and notice what it says. 698s
Then Jesus summoned his 12 disciples 704s
and gave them authority over unclean spirits 707s
to cast them out and to cure every disease 710s
and every sickness. 714s
And it goes to verse five and it says, 717s
these 12 Jesus sent out. 719s
You see what happened? 726s
Jesus says, pray for more laborers 729s
and then the disciples become the answer 735s
to their own prayer. 741s
Pray for the laborers, disciples pray 746s
and then who's the answer to the prayer? 752s
They are, they are. 757s
Have you ever noticed that in your own life? 762s
Have you ever noticed when the Lord prompts you 766s
to pray about something or someone? 768s
Have you ever noticed how often God uses you to be an answer 771s
to the very prayer that He has put on your heart? 779s
You've ever noticed that? 783s
Were you become the answer by God's grace? 785s
To the prayer that He has prompted you to pray? 789s
I think of our congregation. 795s
We pray in the prayers of the church. 798s
We pray that suffering might be alleviated. 799s
That's a prayer that continues to re-accur 804s
and we pray that as a congregation. 808s
And this Saturday, we'll gather once again 812s
and put together 20,000 meals that will be sent 815s
to someone who's suffering with the pangs of hunger. 820s
Have you noticed what happened? 823s
The Lord so often uses us to be the answer 828s
to our prayer. 834s
Use us. 837s
We pray for evangelism efforts. 840s
We pray that indeed the gospel will go forth. 843s
We can't control when faith is born in someone 847s
that's God's doing. 850s
But what we can control is the amount of seed 852s
of the gospel that we cast. 855s
And so we pray for the seed of the gospel to go forth 857s
have you noticed here as we as a congregation 862s
have prayed about that? 865s
If you know what's happened? 868s
The Academy has been born a three-year period of study 871s
of equipping saints for the work of ministry, 877s
for the work of the proclamation of the gospel. 880s
Have you noticed what happened of classes that are offered 884s
here for how to be the evangelist, 888s
how to articulate the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? 892s
Have you noticed the mission trips from youth to adult 898s
from the congregation that have been sent forth 903s
over the years and continue to do that? 906s
Have you noticed the growth of the online presence 910s
of our congregation as now we are witnessing 913s
to people literally around the world? 916s
Where we see who exactly is looking into our website 920s
from what country and literally, 924s
it is around the world. 927s
We birth mission possible. 932s
Do you see what happens? 936s
We pray Lord, we pray for evangelism to go forth 939s
in the gospel to go forth 942s
into this more seeds to be cast 944s
and God is using us by His grace. 947s
To be the answer, 953s
to the prayer. 956s
Jesus has go there for and make disciples of all nations, 961s
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son 964s
and the Holy Spirit. 966s
In the book of Acts, we see that they were sent forth 967s
from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. 971s
That's concentric circles where the church moved out. 975s
We as a church can't touch the ends of the earth physically, 979s
but we pray that there might be a living out 984s
of that very colon acts and so what's happened. 989s
But God has put before us over the years missionaries 997s
that literally are touching the ends of the earth 1000s
that we are financially supporting from this congregation 1003s
and what has happened. 1007s
God is using us to be the answer, 1012s
to the prayer that he puts on our heart. 1017s
We see we want to care for one another. 1023s
We want to grow in faith. 1025s
We want to grow in our relationships with one another. 1027s
And so we pray that prayer. 1030s
We pray it as a congregation. 1031s
What's happened? 1033s
But this year alone, 22 small groups, 1036s
22 different small groups will be lived out 1040s
in the life of this congregation. 1045s
Some already have occurred and concluded 1049s
there's a whole batch more coming. 1051s
You see we pray Lord, we want to grow in the faith 1054s
we want to grow in the relationship, 1057s
we want to care for each other and so the Lord says, 1058s
I'm going to use you to be the answer, 1065s
to your own prayer. 1069s
Because it's the prayer that I've prompted. 1071s
We pray to glorify God and in voice and in instrument, 1079s
they blend together. 1084s
People using their gifts and talents. 1086s
We pray for the glorification of God 1090s
and what does God do, 1092s
but he brings together and calls forth people 1094s
to use their talents to glorify Him 1097s
and we become the answer to our own prayer. 1099s
Have you ever since that in your own life? 1103s
And when we pray for things, God says, 1109s
you know in this case, 1115s
I know someone who's going to be great in answering this. 1116s
And it's you. 1121s
It's you. 1124s
How we become the answer to our own prayers. 1127s
We pray for the youngest among us in this congregation. 1134s
We pray on that. 1140s
We pray for the less fortunate in our cities. 1143s
We pray for the unturged could it be that God is calling us to something new, 1148s
that God is at work to where we become the answer to the prayer? 1163s
Here's the idea. 1174s
Full of 2023. 1178s
A preschool here begins. 1183s
It is different from any other preschool. 1187s
Why? 1194s
Because it's based off of a free will offering. 1196s
For the children to attend. 1201s
Who gets prioritized then? 1207s
Who gets prioritized to be part of the preschool? 1210s
Members of course that prioritized for enrollment. 1214s
But who gets priority enrollment? 1218s
It's the less fortunate in our cities. 1222s
And it's the unturged. 1226s
And they don't have to pay it dime. 1232s
They don't have to pay it dime if they can. 1237s
Because you know what happens. 1242s
It's the same thing that happens each year at vacation Bible school. 1244s
When there are unturged families that drop their child off. 1249s
Because they see vacation Bible schools here. 1254s
And those little evangelists leave. 1258s
And they go back into the house of their unturged parents. 1261s
And they say, I learned about Jesus today. 1266s
And they tell the story. 1269s
It's the families in our cities. 1273s
That's how I would love to send my three or four year old to a Christian preschool. 1278s
I can't afford that. 1284s
You know, on average it costs $380 a month for one child to be in preschool in our cities. 1287s
$380 a month plus the supplies. 1300s
What if we said, you don't have to pay anything. 1304s
You don't have to pay anything. 1310s
And all of a sudden the door opens up for that family to be able to send their child to a Christian preschool. 1313s
We pray, we pray for the youngest among us. 1327s
We pray for the less fortunate. 1331s
We pray for the unturged. 1334s
We pray for the rest of the family. 1337s
Could it be that God is calling us to be the answer to the prayer that he's put on our heart? 1340s
There is no other church that's doing this. 1350s
Not one. 1355s
Not one. 1357s
We could lead the way on this. 1360s
Do you see it? Do you see the sign out front that says free preschool and choir within? 1362s
Do you see it? 1373s
Where we become the answer to our own prayer. 1376s
The light of the world, Jesus Christ has come. 1389s
In the light of the world brings light by mid-starchness. 1394s
And the Lord Jesus Christ acts as salt. 1400s
We have been purified through His blood. 1405s
The Lord Jesus Christ has taken our sin upon him at the cross and we are purified through His blood. 1408s
Like salt, he preserves us in the faith that he births in us. 1414s
And like salt, he flavors us with His grace. 1421s
And the one who is the light of the world, the one who functions as salt calls us to be light and salt in the world. 1428s
And how do we do that? 1439s
Seek the welfare of the city, where I've sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf. 1446s
Well, we are in our exile because we are away from our homeland, which is heaven itself. 1461s
What is our call to do? 1467s
Our call is to seek the welfare of the cities, to which the Lord has privileged us to serve, to seek the welfare of the city. 1469s
And to pray for the city. 1481s
And rejoice. 1490s
For when God says to us, ah, I know who's going to answer that prayer. 1494s
And it's you. 1515s
It's you. 1518s