Spiritual renewal - praying the Word

The book of Ezra, which we are just jumping into, is as much about rebuilding relationships with God, as it is about rebuilding the Temple. (You DID read the first two chapters, right? Grin.)

Rebuilding that building, and rebuilding the people's relationship with YAHWEH, all were dependent on God's grace, and His promises in His Word. If God had not promised restoration; if He had not planned renewal, then no amount of human effort could have made it all happen. But God DID promise, and He works through means that He chooses.

Let's dive in!
Many years after being dragged off into captivity; many years after the fiery furnace and dream interpretation incidents, Daniel was meditating on the prophecies of Jeremiah. He had an interesting response:

 I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. (Daniel 9:2b-3)

It appears that he realized the seventy years were almost up.
How did he accept this?
Casually?
"Cool, maybe we can go home soon!"
Nope.
Instead, he humbled himself with fasting, prayers, and petitions, and with sackcloth and ashes of true repentance -- for the sins of the people, as well as his own sins.

If we want spiritual renewal ourselves, or for our church, we need to humble ourselves and plead with our Father. If, on the other hand, we are content in Babylon, and don't really long for the worship of God in the true temple, then we won't cry out to Him to change things. We won't be longing for anything different. But if we realize that God promises more to us than what we are currently experiencing, we will give ourselves to prayer until He grants it; we will "keep after" Him until He grants renewal according to His promises.

“Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!"(Ezekiel 18:30-32)

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses yozu among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 30:1-10)

It's prayer and repentance that bring God's promises into reality.

The renewal that we will read about in the book of Ezra was a renewal of God's Word. When they saw the fulfillment of Jeremiah's and Isaiah's prophecies, the people knew again that God's Word is true. It can be trusted - no matter how dismal the situation looks!

It's His Word that reveals His promises.
In Ezra 7, we read that Ezra was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses. It tells us that he had "set his heart" to study the law of the Lord, and to practice it, and to teach it. (Ezra 7:10)  There's a verse in Nehemiah that says Ezra tasked well-trained scribes to read from the Law and to translate it for the people. Obviously, Ezra believed in the power of the Word to transform lives!

The Great Awakening was founded on God's Word. Before that, the Reformation was a renewal of the Word, as passages neglected by the church were taught and applied. The Puritan movement that came to North America was also centered on God's Word. The modern church is indicted in this quote by T. H. L. Parker in his book, Calvin's Preaching:

"What wonder that a church which picks and chooses what it wants out of the Bible should become confused in its theology, flabby in its morals...."

Sound familiar? Like some of the churches of today?
If we want true renewal and revival, we must put a renewed emphasis on the truth of God's Word.

Once we study His Word, we must (as Daniel did) pray in true humility.

And in humility, we can pray His promises back to Him. Want to know more about this? Stay tuned!