Why would you want to stay somewhere you don’t like? Why would you want to be living in a land, in a culture, you don’t enjoy? Why would you curse, destroy and demean somewhere you are currently living, rather than just move somewhere else? If you don’t like where you are living why don’t you move somewhere that you enjoy? Why do we stay in miserable situations and then blame the place rather than remove ourselves from there and find somewhere we do enjoy?

I spent nine years in another country. That country did not conform to my American way of life, my American values, my American attitude. No if I was going to live in that country, peaceably, I had to operate by their cultural norms, their patterns of behavior and their ways of doing life. They did not conform to me I had to conform to them if I was going to live in peace while there. The more I tried to make them like me, the more miserable I became. Once I submitted to their country and their culture, I enjoyed living in that foreign country, for I realized they are not going to change for me, so I must submit to them or leave.

I was praying Psalm 122 this morning and I realized the prayer for Jerusalem is given because you love that city. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: (pray like this) May they prosper who love you. May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces. May peace be within you.” The call was to pray for the city called Jerusalem, if you don’t love the city, you won’t pray for it to have peace, safety, wealth. If you don’t love your nation you won’t pray for it like this. Church, we must find somewhere we love, live there and pray for it to have peace and prosperity. I love my nation, so I pray for it to have peace and prosperity, I pray you love where you live to.