Gospel Reading Plan: Luke 3-4
Mourning in Prayer
Read: Ezra 9:1-10:16
Once Ezra and the Israelites returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian
captivity they had only been in Jerusalem a few days when Ezra found out that
the people had not followed God’s Laws in keeping themselves separate from the
Gentile nations. Ezra found the church
hopelessly involved in the world. They
had intermarried and had formed ties in family, social and business life with
the Gentile nations, clear violations of God’s Law. To make matters worse, the leaders were
guilty of this sin. They were in direct
violation of God’s law. Ezra saw the
situation and realized how serious it was.
He was not blind to what was going on in the church around him. He did not minimize the situation or try to
hide their sins. These things grieved
him so much that he, tore his tunic and cloak, pulled the hair from his head
and beard and sat down appalled (Ezra 9:3).
He then fell on his knees before the Lord and prayed. He was ashamed of the sins of the people (vs.
6) and he knew the consequences (vs. 7).
He prays, deeply burdened. As he
prays the people gather around him and join his weeping, uniting in prayer and
confessing their sins. The prayer of one
man, Ezra, accomplished much and brought forth a great work of God. The situation seemed hopeless but nothing is
hopeless when we pray! Ezra’s prayer
moved God to do the work, God gets the credit here. Ezra’s prayer resulted in a great repentance
and a reformation in Israel. His prayer was born out of deep grief; it was not
a superficial prayer but came from deep down in his heart.
PRAYER AND MEDITATION
- Does the sin around you in our world and even in our church stun you the way it did Ezra? What is your reaction to the sinfulness of our nation?
- Ezra had a great respect for God and His laws (see Ezra 7:10). This led him to mourn the sin of his nation. His heartfelt desire was to see God’s Law obeyed, he was a man who would not tolerate sin. Ask the Lord to grow people like Ezra in our church, even in you!
