Ezra's Prayer

I prayed, “My God, I am too ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are so many. They are higher than our heads. Our guilt even reaches up to the sky. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we, our kings, and our priests have been punished by the sword and captivity. Foreign kings have taken away our things and shamed us, even as it is today.

“But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been kind to us. He has let some of us come back from captivity and has let us live in safety in his holy place. And so our God gives us hope and a little relief from our slavery. Even though we are slaves, our God has not left us. He caused the kings of Persia to be kind to us and has given us new life. We can rebuild the Temple and repair its ruins. And He has given us a wall to protect us in Judah and in Jerusalem” [Ezra 9:6-9 NCV].

The end of the chapter 36 of II Chronicles tells stories about how the Israelite and Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had rebelled against the Lord by doing evil things. And how God allowed the King Nebuchadnezzar to capture the city of Jerusalem and took many captive people to live in Babylon. Jeremiah prophesied that they would stay at Babylon for 70 years of their captivity. God touched Cyrus, the king of Persia and allowed Ezra and the Israelites to return to their homeland, Jerusalem. Ezra was the next book of II Chronicles. Ezra is a book about the first and second return of exiles (from Babylon) to Jerusalem.

Ezra was a priest and teacher who taught about the commands and laws the Lord gave Israel. When they had finished rebuilding the Altar first and then rebuilding the Temple, soon afterward people forget to follow the Laws of God. They did not keep themselves separated from the influences of people that worship their pagan gods. This grieved Ezra and this was why he prayed a shameful prayer.

This kind of prayer impresses me. Going through the Zondervan Outlines book by book in the Bible, has really shown me the highlight type of prayers we could learn from. May the Lord open our eyes and forgive us if we sin against Him. Study Ezra’s prayer and may it touch our hearts. Amen!