Ezra Chapter 9
When we look at the intercessory prayers of the faithful in the Bible, we will find several key reasons why their prayers are heard by God, key points that we should always remember and uphold in our daily prayers as well.
“The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” (Num 14:18 – 19)
”Then Moses pleaded with [d]the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.” (Ex 32: 11 – 14)
“O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.” (Daniel 9: 4 – 6)
“At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. 6 And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.” (Ezra 9: 5 – 6)
“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, 11 which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity. 12 Now therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.’ (Ezra 9: 10 – 12)
First we see how they humble themselves before the Lord. For they know that God dears near to the humble, He listens to their prayers and will shower His abundant grace upon them. These faithful men unreservedly pour out their pleas also because they know full well that it is He and only He who can save. There is no one else to turn to for help.
In recognizing the vast difference between our lowly state and the wondrous glory and awesomeness of the Almighty, that also becomes the catalyst for the earnest (and desperate) outpouring from the depth of one’s soul.
We are also deeply moved by their love and concern for the spiritual well-being of the people. The concept of one body in the Lord is not just head knowledge that one verbalizes and teach, it is one that is clearly exemplified through one’s actions and heartfelt words. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it, if one part is honoured, ever part rejoices with it … “ (1 Cor 12: 26 – 27).
That is no wonder, as we read on in Ezra chapter 10, the people are stirred up and returned on their own accord. Such is the power, such is the devotion, such is the manifestation that intercessory prayer can effect through every member of the body.
Finally, all those who are faithful knows the will of God. They understood the words of God, they hold fast to His promises, they know that it is not just sufficient to ask God for forgiveness, it is also imperative that God’s people turn back from the folly of their ways, to resolve to keep His statues and commandments, to live a life that God delights in.
As Samuel pointed out to Saul, “To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15: 22 – 23)
We may wonder and ask. Why does God interfere with our decisions in life. Why can’t we marry whom we chooses, the man (woman) of our dreams, the perfect companion in our life, our soulmate. The same may go with other decisions that we make in life, the career we want to take up, the life we want to lead, etc. We find that being a Christian is so restrictive, there seems to so many advice and words that the people around us offer. The words they bear are so burdensome, they are irritating and ear sore.
Of course, we need to first differentiate between the advices of men, made with men’s wisdom the words of the Lord, that brings forth life. The commandments of the Lord are not burdensome, they are for our good (1 John 5:3, Deut 10: 12 – 22). It is just like ground rules that we set, which is not to restrict nor to control nor to manipulate but rather to safeguard and to protect those whom we love. God in the same way, seek to protect and preserve the people that He deeply cares for.
Deut 10:15 tells us that God specially selected the people, to love them and to exalt them above all others. In like manner, our Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross, that through the shedding of His [precious blood, we who received His baptism have been transformed from sinners to the special status as the sons of God.
The decisions that we make, the partners that we choose, the careers that we make, the life that we lead. Do we consider and uphold them in view of His commandments and will. Let us remember the words of Jesus in Matt 16:26, if what we do in this life gives us temporary pleasure and satisfaction, but goes against the principles of God and adversely affected our faith and relationship with Him, to the extent that we lose our soul. Does this exchange sound reasonable and wise. Eido.