October 15, 2025

Praying Where You Don’t Want to Be

"Also, 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 prosper."
Jeremiah 29:7 (NIV)

Pray for your enemies? That's what God was asking. Seek the welfare of Babylon. The city that destroyed Jerusalem. The empire that burned the temple. The people who enslaved God's chosen nation. And not just tolerate them. Actively work for their good.

God didn't just tell them to endure Babylon. He told them to invest in it spiritually. Pray for the city. Seek its peace. Work for its prosperity. Why? Because their well-being was tied to Babylon's welfare. When Babylon thrived, they thrived. When Babylon struggled, they struggled.

This command went against every natural instinct. The Israelites wanted Babylon to fall, not flourish. They wanted revenge, not reconciliation. They wanted God to judge their captors, not bless them. But God's ways flip our expectations upside down. In Acts 7:59-60, Stephen was being stoned to death by an angry mob. While rocks crashed against his body, he fell to his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Even in his final moments, he prayed for his executioners. Prayer was his weapon when he was at his weakest.

Prayer transforms not just circumstances, but also the one praying. In Genesis 35, Jacob built an altar to God in Bethel while fleeing from his brother Esau. He was running for his life, yet he stopped to worship. He built an altar in the middle of crisis. He created a sacred space in an unsafe place. When you pray where you don't want to be, something shifts inside you. God meets you in the resistance.

The hardest prayers happen in the hardest places. You don't need perfect circumstances to pray. You don't need ideal conditions to seek God. You don't need to escape your Babylon to build spiritual practices. Praying where you don't want to be is an act of trust. It declares that God is present even here, even now, even in this place you despise.

Godseekers, your difficult place needs your prayers. That workplace needs you interceding for your coworkers. That neighborhood needs you blessing your neighbors. That difficult relationship needs you praying instead of complaining. Stop waiting for a better situation to start your spiritual disciplines. Pray where you don't want to be. Pray for the people around you. Seek the welfare of the place that feels like exile. Your faithfulness might be the very thing God uses to bring His light into darkness.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, forgive me for withholding my prayers from difficult people and places. You loved me when I was Your enemy. Teach me to do the same for others.

Give me a heart that prays for my Babylon instead of resenting it. Help me pray where I don't want to be, trusting that You are present even there. Use my faithfulness to bring Your kingdom into the places that need it most.

In Jesus' name, Amen.