But 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.
– Jeremiah 29:7
What a beautiful command from God to his people as they were going into exile in Babylon, and God says to them pray for the good of this pagan city you’re in. Pray for the welfare of that city. I have you there, so intercede on that city’s behalf before me, knowing that the good of that city will bring good to others in that city and good to you. In its welfare, you will find your welfare. Oh, what a great picture of the cities where you and I live, the places where God has put each of us. We are there at this moment.
Jeremiah 29:7 commands us to seek the welfare of our city.
Obviously the context is very different from Jeremiah in the Old Testament, but the truth is still the same. God has put each of us in the cities, towns, and countries where we live, to seek the welfare, the good of those cities, those towns, those countries, the people who live in them, and to pray for the Lord to intercede on behalf of our cities, towns, our countries.
Do you see yourself this way, as placed by God in a particular location to intercede for the people around you, for the city, for the structures around you, that they would be good and lead to good for all who live there, including you? Let’s do that right now. God, I pray for the welfare of Metro Washington, D.C., and for others who live in different places, just substitute the place where you live in this prayer. Lord, we pray for the good of our cities, our towns, and the countries where we live. God, we want to see your favor where we live, your mercy. Lord, have mercy on the cities where we live.
Jeremiah 29:7 to seek justice and righteousness on behalf of our city.
God, we pray for justice and righteousness and good to be exalted in the cities where we live. God, we pray that you would grant grace to those who are leading our cities and our countries. You’d help them to lead well. Oh God, even as we’re asking for this, we just pray you’d help us to be faithful intercessors. God, forgive us for not praying as we should for our cities, for the leaders in our cities, and for the people in our cities.
God, we want to see your grace and your glory and your mercy and your justice spreading throughout our city. We want to see the gospel of Jesus spreading throughout our city. So God, please bring it about and help us as citizens of these earthly countries and these different cities. God, help us to be good citizens, promoting the welfare of our fellow citizens as salt and light all in the name of Jesus that we might point people to you.
Oh God, we just pray Jeremiah 29:7 over our lives. Help us to seek the welfare of the cities where you have sent us and to pray to you on their behalf, knowing that in their welfare we will find welfare.
Prayer for the Orma People
And God, we pray at the same time for people in cities and places in the world where there’s no knowledge of the gospel, where there’s no one to intercede on their behalf.
God, we pray specifically today for the Orma people of Kenya who live in remote part of southeastern Kenya. Please, oh God, bring about their welfare. We pray, we intercede for them and we pray for the gospel to spread to them, for disciples to be made and churches to be planted and multiplied among the Orma of Kenya. We pray for the welfare of their communities and for brothers and sisters in Christ who will seek the welfare of those communities as salt and light in the name of Jesus. God, we pray this for our cities. We pray this for other cities that come to our mind, all in light of your word in Jeremiah 29:7. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
