God of the City

Jeremiah 29:7 - 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.

In western culture, we often think that we can change the cultures and systems in which we live. However we often underestimate how much our cultures and systems are actually shaping us. How we think, feel, and live are influenced by the places where we reside. Part of being a sent people is caring about where we live. God cares about the well-being of our city. God’s Spirit is already at work on behalf of the place where we live. Our welfare is always connected to the welfare of the community we are living in. Try as we may, we cannot be insulated from the influences of the neighborhood. God wants us to pray for our communities, invest ourselves in their welfare, and realize that we have an important role to play in our neighborhoods. Endeavor to promote, as far as you can, the prosperity of the places where you interact with others daily.

Jeremiah’s word of encouragement to the Israelites on the brink of despair was that God was at work in the midst of their messy city. The Israelites could settle down, build houses, and seek the welfare of the city where God had sent them into exile because they knew God’s ultimate plans to restore and gather them from all the nations and from all the places where He had driven them. When we understand our spiritual purpose rooted in who God is and who He created us to be, we can look back, like Joseph, over the trials in life, knowing that God has always and will always be with us (Genesis 39:3, 21).

 Remember the scene from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the bad guys had stolen the map to find the “Holy Grail,”? Indiana was distressed at what to do next. His father, however, reminded his son not to worry, because: “I wrote the map!” When our own lives seem directionless, we need to remember that our Heavenly Father has already meticulously drawn out the maps of our lives (Psalm 139:13-16). As we seek God and come to know Him more intimately, He will give direction to our lives.

Chris Tomlin: God of this City

The Model Prayer

This prayer is often called "the Lord's Prayer", but it should really be called "the model prayer". Jesus never had to ask the Father for forgiveness. The true Lord’s Prayer is in John 17,  which is a glimpse of the intimacy between the Son and the Father.  But this prayer can be used by us as a model:

Luke 11:2] And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

Jesus began with an intimate direct address: Father. The only time He didn’t call Him Father was when He couldn’t from the cross:  “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1). 

Seven Petitions are made in this prayer:

1. “Hallowed...”: “to set apart or sanctify” or, as here, “to treat as holy.” Thus the request was for God’s reputation to be revered by men. [Furthermore: when God’s people pray, His reputation is at stake!
2.  “Thy kingdom come...” John the Baptist, Jesus, the Twelve, and the 72 had been preaching about the coming of God’s kingdom. This is referring to the time when Christ will to rule during the Millennial Reign... and forever!
   
3. “Thy will be done...” We should continually hold up His agenda.  Prayer is God’s way of enlisting us in what He is doing. Getting ourselves to the place where He can trust us with the answer and His mission.  We never need to be afraid of the answers He gives.  Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness.
   
   Luke 11:3] Give us day by day our daily bread.
   
   
4. The provisions for the day; we ask Him for needs – not our greeds.
   
   Luke 11:4] And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
   
   
5. The fifth request concerns man’s relationship to God—the forgiveness of sins. In asking for forgiveness of sins a person expresses his faith that God will forgive him (1 John 1:9).  Such a person then evidences his faith by forgiving others.
   
   
6. The sixth request is, “lead us not into temptation.” But why pray this since God does not want people to sin?  The meaning is that Jesus’ followers are to pray to be delivered from situations that would cause them to sin. His disciples, contrary to the Law experts (Luke 10:25-29), realized that they were easily drawn into sin. We are the same. We are all likely to sin and thus we need to pray to be delivered from those temptations.
   
   Our “being saved” in the past tense is being delivered from the penalty of sin (justification). This can be viewed as “being saved in the present tense: delivered from the power of sin (sanctification), by walking by the Holy Spirit.  Therefore Jesus’ followers need to ask God for help to live righteous lives.
   
   
7. Seventh petition: “Deliver us from [the] evil [one]”.

Now is the time to be strategic. Even pray for what is prophesied (thus, ostensibly inevitable). Prayer is God's way of enlisting us in what He is doing. Knowing that the 70 years of captivity were almost over, Daniel prayed for his people. And Gabriel interrupted this prayer by giving Daniel the most fantastic prophecy in the Bible.

Persistence is always a key to victory in any calling. Don't ever give up. You can't get a clear connection with headquarters with excessive static on the line. This can be the result of unconfessed sin, an unforgiving spirit, selfishness, etc. Be serious and organized. Use a notepad or notebook. Keep a battlefield record of victories! 

Recognize that God often will veto our requests for our own good. (Moses' denied entry into the Promised land, Paul's "thorn in the flesh," et al. Even Christ in Gethsemane subjected His petitions to the Father's will.)  
Don't be discouraged; that is a victory for the enemy. Realize that God finds many ways-each day-to ask you, "Do you trust me?"