Today’s Reading, Ezra 8-10
Focal Scripture: Ezra 8:23 “So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and he was receptive to our prayer.”
What are you willing to do to get answers to your questions? If you spend anytime around me you know I love to ask questions. I will ask questions about everything and anything. Why? Because I want to know why things are the way they are and how they work. I have a ferocious desire to learn and not be static. This means I will annoy people to get answers. It also means that I will push myself beyond normal limits to find answers.
In our reading today Ezra is requiring of the Lord. They asked the King a question but did not have an answer because of a previous conversation. Ezra decided to fast and pray and God listened to them because of their faithfulness. They gave up food and replaced it with prayer. They pleaded with God until they were answered. They were persistent and passionate. Ezra was not going to stop until they heard from the Lord.
Ezra demonstrated for us what our prayer life should be like when we need answers to questions. We should be passionate pleaders when our hearts are in need of Gods wisdom. We should give up food and replace it with prayer time. We must become desperate in our prayers and watch how God moves in our lives when prayer is seen as part of who we are not just something we do.
I challenge you and myself today to pray with passion and learn the power of fasting. Fasting demonstrates our desperation for God to answer. It is a physical reminder that God is more important than food. It is also a reminder that prayer is powerful and God wants us to use it to communicate with him.
Imagine how different our lives would be if passionate prayer was what we were known for in our Christian lives. I hope one day to be known as a man of prayer. I hope you have the same desire to pray and shake the foundations of heaven. Our prayer lives should be such that when the enemy sees us to begin to pray he knows exactly where our faith and trust rest.
Pray and pray passionately and specifically. It matters more than you know.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Nehemiah 1-3
