Embracing God's Plan in Exile: Praying with Jeremiah 29:4-7

In this episode of "Messy Can't Stop Her," host JKO explores the concept of being in exile, a place of instability and trouble. Drawing a parallel between the Israelites exiled in Babylon and those facing challenges in their own lives, she encourages listeners to find hope in God's promises, using verses 4-7 of Jeremiah 29. These verses instruct the Israelites to build lives, plant gardens, and seek the peace and prosperity of the city they are exiled in. JKO reminds women that even in challenging circumstances, God sees our struggles and equips us to thrive and find peace. She ends this episode with a powerful prayer session for those facing difficulties, encouraging them to trust in God and take steps of obedience. 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to this episode of Messy Can't Stop Her. I am your host, Judith Kambia Obatusa, J K O. Continuing our series on praying over ourselves with the word of God, I would like to share something profound to me, and I believe it will also be profound to you today. I was thinking about Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11 in the Bible.

It's a very popular scripture. It says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. And [00:01:00] I wanted to go and read and just get a little bit more context. This, this is what I really wanted to pray with today. The Lord led me to see verse four and some other verses.

Which we'll be using to pray today together. So, verse 4 of Jeremiah 29 says, This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Amen.

Find wives for your sons and give your daughters a marriage so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase a number there, do not decrease. Also, [00:02:00] take the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it because the If it prospers, you too will prosper.

Praise the Lord. This is verse 4 to 7 of Jeremiah 29. You see, some of us are in exile right now. Exile is a place where you don't own. You may not even have property.

You might be unstable in an unstable life situation.

Exile is a place that sometimes could be a place of trouble. It could be trouble that took you there. People going to exile when there is a war, when there [00:03:00] is so much chaos around you, and you get to this place of not knowing what to do. That can be seen as exile or what God is saying to his people today is in that place of exile.

Don't start saying, okay, I will wait till I come out of exile before I build houses, before I settle down, for I plant gardens before I even enjoy whatever the gardens produce. I will wait till I come out of exile before my children will do well. Maybe when I come out of this situation, then my life will become better.

I will begin to increase in the things in my hands, in my [00:04:00] finances. And then it is when I come out of this situation, maybe my peace is in my future. What is saying in the scripture? No, you can, in the place of exile, in the place of turmoil, in the place of chaos, in place where challenges seem to want to overwhelm you, you can find peace there.

But then he says something in verse seven, he says, seek the peace and prosperity of the city, which have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. In that place where it's, there's so much on stability, instability, where you are being troubled, even maybe by someone close to you, maybe by challenges in the lives of those that you're caring for.

God says three to God for that place, [00:05:00] for that situation. Because when the changes for the good, good will become your portion. And it's after this scripture, verse 7, that you go on to 8, 9, and then 10, and then you get to 11. So, we're going to pray today. I'm going to pray over you with verses 4 to 7. I'm going to speak what the Lord has said concerning you, my sister that is listening to me.

God says he is aware of your situation. He is not blind to the things happening in your life. He can see what you're going through. And though you are not in the place that belongs to you, you are in a place of instability. You are in a [00:06:00] place of trouble. He is saying to you today, Do not worry. Rest there.

Settle down. Settle your spirit. Settle your heart. Do not be troubled. Begin to be involved in things around you. Don't isolate yourself, he says. Build houses. Settle down. Plant gardens. Eat what they produce. He says, what concerns you will do better. Your children will prosper. They will do well. All you need, stay.

Seek the peace and prosperity of that city. In Jesus mighty name, I pray for you. That he, that the Lord will give you grace to hear his word today. And throw down the troubles at his feet and say, Lord, [00:07:00] just like Sarah and Abraham said, even though my womb is dead, it's I'm 90 years old, Sarah said, but you promised me that I will have a son.

So I will believe you just like Sarah. I will believe your word today, Lord. That's. I can settle down in this situation. I can plant and harvest and be able to profit from that which I have planted. Therefore, God, I'm going to lean into you. I pray over my sister today that you will have grace to lean into you.

Grace to say, Lord, I give it all up to you. I will walk. With you, I will listen to this word and I will let this word resonate in my spirit. I will speak this word over myself. But I thank you. Thank you that I can [00:08:00] build houses in exile. My sisters can build houses in exile. That you said they can settle down.

You have commanded them to plant gardens. Father, thank you because there's nothing that you ask us to do that you do not equip us for. So I know that you have equipped us to be able to plant gardens and see the harvests and eat of the harvests. Even in this place of trouble, even in this place of chaos, even in this place where we don't know the next step, we are going to trust your word in the name of Jesus.

In verse 6 she said, What? Marry and have sons and daughters. Is there any sister listening to me? Any of my sisters listening to me? Who has looked around and it seems she's barren financially. She's barren spiritually. She's barren. She doesn't have any offspring. Nothing to show for the life that she has lived.

Jehovah, you said she should lean into you. She should rest in you. She should go forward [00:09:00] and join herself. To the places where prosperity, therefore, God, I ask that you open the eyes of my sister that has listened to me today so that she can see you as a director to that place where she can go forth, be connected and prosper and multiply in the name of Jesus everlasting father, you said in that place of exile, we will find spouses.

We will be able to. Have children and our children will be able to get married and have their own children. Father, I thank you because even in this time trouble, even in this time where I don't know where we don't know what to do, where things seem so hard, Jehovah, we're going to lean into you. We're going to obey this word.

Lord God, I thank you because your promises are yes and amen. You said we should have children and our children will have children and Lord, you said we will increase. Father, therefore we know that where we are connected. That you're going to [00:10:00] cause us to be connected and where we're connected, we're going to prosper.

And even that prosperity will multiply. We will increase in the name of Jesus. Father God, you said in verse seven, we should seek peace and prosperity of the city to which you have carried us into exile. Jehovah, we seek peace. We speak peace over our situation. I speak peace over my sister's situation right now.

Whatever she's going through, that rumbling and tumbling, that rough time that is all around her, the swirling storm, the waves that are unrelenting. Father God, I seek peace. I speak peace. Father, I begin to speak prosperity over her situation, over her environment, over her relationships in the name of Jesus.

Father, I speak peace and I pray God that you will give us strength, strength to obey your word and pray. You said, pray to the Lord for it, [00:11:00] pray to the Lord for that place of exile because when it prospers, you too will prosper. Father, I ask that my sisters will no longer be led by what their eyes can see, but they will lean into your word, obey it and receive the fruit of it.

But I would thank you because this journey. We are not alone. Therefore, I pray for everyone listening to me on this podcast today that Lord Whatever is distracting them from hearing you from obeying you right now We come against it by the power in the name of jesus. I ask oh god That you will pour out Grace upon them like rivers of water and they will be able to obey your word That says they should pray to you You So that the place of exile will yet become a better place because when it becomes a better place, they too will be able.

To [00:12:00] enjoy the prosperity, but I thank you for the testimonies of a turnaround, the testimonies of restoration, the testimonies of progress to testimonies of healing mother that is coming out of today's episode, but I thank you in Jesus mighty name. We are prayed. Amen. In the short notes of this. episode, you have the opportunity to send me a message.

If you need prayers regarding specific things, this is your opportunity. This is season five of Mercy Can't Stop Her, and we're running very close to the hundredth episode of this podcast, and I'm bringing in a powerful woman of God. Next week to be praying over us. So if you have a prayer request, this is your opportunity.

Send it to me, send it to me through my social media links in the [00:13:00] show notes or through the Google drive link that is in the show notes. And my sister, if you will only do what's. Take, do what you need to do. Take that first step in obedience to what God has said in chapter 29 of Jeremiah from verses four to seven, or if it's, you are too weak, you don't know what to do, send a prayer request.

I can assure you that messy won't stop you. Thank you so much for listening. See you next time and share this episode with your sister, your friend, your relative, your colleague at work that needs it. God bless you.