Prayers from Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther

Summary

After walking through the books of the Law and the Historical Books of the Bible with Year of the Word, we took Sunday to pause for an extended time of prayer together. Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther guided us in praying for each other and our church.

Key Takeaways

Pray for God’s presence.

• In Ezra, God puts into the heart of a pagan foreign king to rebuild the Temple. But, while the Temple was completed, there was no point where God’s presence filled the Temple.
• Don’t settle for a long-distance relationship with God.

Pray for those in need.

• Nehemiah was burdened for a people and a place to the point of weeping, praying, and fasting.
• Less praying and more doing shows an inflated view of self and a deficient understanding of prayer.
• In God’s sovereignty, God is most glorified when we seek him fervently in prayer, and he moves mightily in response to our prayers.

Pray for God’s Church and your role.

• One of the greatest blessings of the gospel is that we get to belong to a family and build up Christ’s Church.
• While the wall was being built in Nehemiah 3, we learn that people watched, served, and opposed.

Pray for God’s mission.

• Jesus is the greater Esther. Esther risked her life to save her people. Jesus gave his life to save his people. Jesus saves us, sends us, and uses us to save others.

Discussing and Applying the Sermon

• Who are you burdened for outside of yourself?
• Are you watching, serving, or opposing as a member at Watermark?
• Pray for God to do a miraculous work in and through our church.
• How can you be on mission with God today?
• Who has God put in your life who needs salvation today?