Why Christians don't Pray for their City

Today of course is the Day we have dedicated to Praying for our City. Now several of you do not live in Fountain Valley, but that’s okay, God, the Father, still wants you to pray for YOUR City and leaders. But here’s the deal. Many Christians never pray for their city? In general, there are three primary reasons why Christians seldom pray for the city and its leaders

First, We Don't Think About It. We have been conditioned to pray for health concerns or situations involving our immediate family, friends, acquaintances, or those friend of a friend, uncle’s, nephew’s, step dad prayers, which tends to damage your brain cells just trying to remember.

However, we are called to broaden our prayer scope. Praying not only for health concerns and people we know, but also for other areas like our spiritual growth, praising God with words of thanksgiving, and like I mentioned today, praying for our leaders nationally and on a local level in our own cities. 

The Second Reason is Indifference!  Indifference toward our city and its leaders. We just don’t care either way! As far as we are concerned we just happen to live here.

We must remember however, God doesn’t just place you where you are for no purpose. There is a reason you are here, whether it is job related, family related, school related or simply for a transitional period in your life.

Make no mistake, God has you here, so you can make a difference, and to be a witness to your neighbors, to your volunteer organization or even your Bunco group. You see, God has provided a circle of people in your community for you to make an impact. God doesn’t like indifference, Scripture says He would rather spit you out if your neither hot nor cold (Revelation 3:15-16). He wants you to make a difference in your city, so pray that you will no longer suffer from indifference, but rather that you will make a difference!

The Third Reason is Dislike. Some Christians don’t pray for their city because they don’t like where they live. They don’t like the leaders and the direction the city is headed. Unfortunately, they can go out of their way to make it known to others.

Many times, when some think of their ideal city, they long to return to the good old days, where they grew up, where they had better relationships, where people believed more like them.

That kind of attitude makes this passage more intriguing here, because God’s people,the Jewish nation, did not like their new city nor its leaders. They longed to return to their ideal homeland. Yet the Lord wanted them to have a change of heart, make Babylon their new home. 

4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 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.

You see, as verse 4 indicates, all of them where exiles who had been deported, forced to move from their home in Judea to Babylon, where they underwent a culture shock, a plurality of gods to choose from, and leaders who were prone to use violence to promote their city's agenda. To add insult to injury, the Babylonians burnt down their sacred city, their beloved Jerusalem. So, if you don’t like your city or its leaders, can you imagine how they felt?

Yet, believe it or not, this was all a part of God’s disciplinary plan. Generations of bad decisions by Judea’s leaders, abandonment of the Lord’s instructions, lack of compassion, pride, etc., led to their city’s demise. Therefore, intrinsically, you can bet your bottom line they longed to return to their city were life was simpler.

Yet, as verse 4 states, He sent them there to be exiles in a foreign land. In fact, God had declared thru a prophet that his people would be exiled for 70 years. As a result, they needed to get used to this reality and make Babylon their home.

That is why the Lord tells them in verse 5, to build houses (Stake their claim, plant their flag), to plant gardens (Add character to your neighborhood and contribute to its agricultural economy), to marry and have children, to make sure their children married and make a family (Leave a family legacy).

The Lord wanted them to make the most of their time in their new home, so they would be stronger and better people when they left to rebuild Jerusalem generations later. Babylon was by an imperfect city, yet God wanted his people to be role models as citizens in a foreign land, contributing members to welfare of the city of Babylon.  

The Welfare of the City: If you want God to change a city, you must do your part thru community involvement and by praying for it.  That’s what God communicates when he says in verse 7, to seek the welfare of the city and to pray for it.

In my experience, attending city council meetings and even worse, reading on various forums on social media, I often hear or read about what people disapprove of, like “that” decision, “that” building project, “that” new measure, etc., etc. Furthermore, this rhetoric is often accompanied with criticism, even character attacks on the city leaders.

Now, I am not saying you must agree with all their decisions, but what I am saying is that as Christians, there is a wrong way to deal with disagreement and a right way. So instead of having a critical spirit we need to voice disagreement in an appropriate forum.

Make sure you do your homework and vote for the leaders who you believe will represent and serve the city the best. If you have ideas that would make the city better, share them with your council members, or form a committee that will present, petition or protest with integrity.
In the big picture, we must understand that we are always witnesses for Jesus, whether in a negative way or a positive one. Consequently, the Lord wants to make sure that His people seek the welfare of the city and to be actively praying for it and its leaders.

Why? Verse 7 concludes, in the city’s welfare, you will find your own. If the city is doing well, you will reap some the benefits. If not, the opposite effect is true. Pray, even if you don't like the direction because ultimately God is in control. He has a master plan that dwarfs what you think is best. So, let’s pray for our city and its leaders, wherever we live, because in its welfare we will find our own!