SCRIPTURES:
And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.
But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”
DEVOTIONAL:
Jesus wept over Jerusalem. That means you can live in a place and still miss what God is doing there. You can be near people and still be numb to their pain. Jeremiah tells exiles to seek the welfare of the city - not because the city is perfect, but because God’s people are called to carry God’s presence into broken places.
Today, let God give you compassion for your neighbors: the addicted, the lonely, the angry, the apathetic, the abused, the successful-but-empty. Don’t curse your city. Pray for your city.
QUESTIONS:
1. What part of my city/community breaks my heart most?
2. Where have I become cynical instead of compassionate?
3. What ’s one practical way I can “seek the welfare” this week?
PRAYER:
Lord, give me Your heart for my city. Let me love people the way You love people. Make me useful in Your hands. Amen.
FASTING FOCUS:
Take a prayer walk (even 10 minutes). Bless streets, schools, families.