“Prayer of Protection”
Sermon Text: Ezra 8:21-23
Doctrinal Theme: A Call to fast
Point: Commitment
Transitional Sentence: The hand of God is upon all that do well
What to do in difficult times (8:21)
A. God’s intervention
1. Consider your source
2. Seek God in prayer
3. Proclaim a fast
4. Offer a sacrifice
5. Know (God’s) his ways
a. Psalms 5:8 Lead me O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
b. John 7:17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
c. 2 Timothy 1:12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
Where to go in difficult times
The power of His word (8:22)
Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Psalm 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
B. The evidence of God’s power
How to go through difficult times
Test are by design (8:22b)
1 Corinthians 9:15 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Psalm 34:16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
2 Chronicles 15:2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
Conclusion
A. God honor’s the right sacrifice (8:23)
1. We must go to God properly
B. Seek God’s truth rather than your own
Philippians 3:19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds seton earthly things.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
