Short prayers based on the book of Ezra-Nehemiah
<aside> 🙏🏻 “In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing.” (Ezra 1:1)
We are so thankful our great God to know that you are sovereign over all of history and over all the nations of the world and their rulers. We praise you that all events and leaders are under your rule and you are guiding all things so that your Word comes to pass and your purposes are accomplished. With an ever changing world, help us Lord Jesus to live with confidence knowing that you are the King of kings, with all authority in heaven and earth, and that your Word will be fulfilled. Give us the peace which comes from knowing that you can be trusted to keep all your promises no matter what is going on around us. Amen.
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<aside> 🙏🏻 “These now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported to Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.” (Ezra 2:1)
O God of our salvation, we praise you for bringing us out of exile. We were without you and without hope in exile, the exile of being in darkness, lost in sin, trapped in Satan’s domain, facing death and hell, when you acted for our good through your Son. We thank you that we have been brought into His kingdom by His blood, a kingdom of light and life and righteousness and hope and peace, where one day all things will be made new and every tear wiped from our eyes. We long to be home. Home with you in a new creation. Until then, may we live as those whose citizenship is in heaven and who are eagerly awaiting the Saviour from there. We pray that the rescue of Jesus would spread throughout the world and more people would experience the joy we have of returning home to you from the place of exile. Amen.
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<aside> 🙏🏻 “But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple, but many others shouted joyfully.” (Ezra 3:12)
Lord, we pray that when we gather to worship you, there will be both weeping and shouting joyfully. Help us to feel sorrow over sin in our lives, over the consequences of our sin in the past, and the effects of sin in the world around us. Help us to grieve deeply because of all the ways we disobey you, fail to trust you, and not worship you as we should. We pray that your Spirit would give us such a hatred for sin that it leads to us fighting hard against temptation. Yet we pray that our grief over sin would not so overwhelm us that we fail to see your grace, your love, and your mercy in saving us. Teach us to sing and shout with great joy because you have provided a way for us to escape your judgment. Our God we praise that, through Jesus our gracious Saviour, you have forgiven our sins, promised to remember them no more, and have removed them as far as the east is from the west. So, would these two realities, weeping and shouting, be present when we bring our worship to you. Amen.
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<aside> 🙏🏻 “Then the people who were already in the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.” (Ezra 4:4)
Almighty God, your Word tells us that we are in a battle, not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We have a real adversary in the Devil, Satan himself, who wants to thwart your ways and prevents us from doing the work you call us to do. Our experience Lord, is of one frustration, as we long to see more people being saved and becoming more like Christ. As we seek to make disciples, we find resistance and opposition, and our response so often is either fear or discouragement, which is what our adversary wants. Strengthen us to stand firm and persevere. Give us courage to keep reaching out with the message of Jesus and to spur one another on to love and good deeds. May the challenges, setbacks and obstacles be opportunities for us to grow in our dependence on you. Amen.
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<aside> 🙏🏻 “Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak began to rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, helping them.” (Ezra 5:2)
Lord Jesus, it grieves us that your church, rather than displaying the unity you have achieved by your sacrifice on the cross, is so often a picture of division and dissension. Rather than making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace by working together to make disciples, there conflict and disagreement, both between local churches and within local churches. We remember how before you went to the cross, you prayed that your people might be one as you and the Father are one. So, we pray as a local church we would believe the same truths, proclaim the same message, obey the same teaching, suffer for the same gospel, and share in the same hope found in your Word, and in response help one another do the work you have given us to do. Provide opportunities for us to unite with and support other local churches in their service of you. For your glory and praise. Amen.
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<aside> 🙏🏻 “So the Jewish elders continued successfully with the building under the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia.” (Ezra 6:14)
Lord, what a privilege it is to be part of the church, which is the temple of God. We are so thankful to be in your temple, but more than that, to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, and a place where you dwell here on earth. As you protected and provided for the physical temple in the past, we thank you for the confidence we can have that you will protect and provide for the church today, so we do not need to worry about what the future might bring. Help us to be committed to the building up of the church and to be careful not to tear it down by our actions. We pray that we would love, and serve, and honour one another, so that individually, and as a local church, we will be strengthened in our faith and encouraged to keep in step with the Spirit who lives within us. Amen.
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<aside> 🙏🏻 “Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10)
Father, we pray that with the help of the Holy Spirit we would be devoted to studying your Word and the good news about Jesus it contains. Grow us in knowledge as we learn and understand more of what you have revealed to us, and how to live a life that pleases you. Yet we know that we are not to merely listen to your Word, therefore we pray that we would be devoted to doing it, so that our studying of it would lead to our living out of it by trusting in what Christ has done for us and obeying Him in response. We pray too, that you would use us to proclaim your Word, to share your Word, and to encourage others with your Word. Give us such an appetite for what you have spoken that we love to hear it, know it, use it, and pass it on, and as we do, may your gracious hand be on us. Amen.
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<aside> 🙏🏻 “So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and he was receptive to our prayer.” (Ezra 8:23)
Our God, we pray that we would be a church full of members who pray unceasingly, bringing everything to you in prayer. Teach us to pray in a manner that you are receptive to. We pray that our prayers would be the expressions of humble hearts and full of trust in your sovereign power to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. Help us to persevere in prayer when it seems that answers are slow to arrive, and to keep on believing that you are our loving Father who only gives to us what is for our good. Thank you that we can plead with you about anything because Jesus, by His blood, has made a way for us to approach your throne with confidence and bring to you all our petitions. Thank you that when we do not know what to pray for, your Spirit intercedes for us. Lord, hear and receive our prayer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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<aside> 🙏🏻 “After these things had been done, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the surrounding peoples whose detestable practices are like those of the Canaanites, Hethites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.” (Ezra 9:1)
Father, forgive us because too often we do not separate ourselves from the world and give into temptation. We allow sin to live and grow in our lives. We lack urgency in putting it to death. We tolerate things that displease you. Holy Spirit, shine your light and expose those areas of our lives where there is a desire for even a tiny taste of worldliness; where we are being captivated by what we see; where we lack self-control over the sinful urges of our bodies; and where we full of pride. Give us the grace we need to repent and return to your Son who loved us and gave Himself for us. Sanctify us by the truth of your Word so that we are increasingly conformed to the likeness of Christ and shine like stars in the world. Amen.
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