PODCAST
God Answers Prayer
February 14th, 2018
Ezra 8:15-23
Part of the burden of spiritual leadership is to set an example of faith. God moved on the heart of Ezra, a priest among the Jewish exiles in Mesopotamia, to reestablish the worship of God. Ezra boldly asked King Artaxerxes for permission to take additional exiles and resources to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes “granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him” (Ezra 7:6). This included great wealth from the king’s treasury.
With all this wealth, the returnees could reasonably become the target of marauding bands of thieves. Ezra could ask for protection, but he wrote, “I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer” (8:22-23).
Instead of taking their problem to King Artaxerxes, they took it to the Lord of heaven and earth, and He responded, once again, with blessing.
Author: Duane Brush
