Ezra 9:1 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.
3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.
4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.
5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God...

O, Lord our God,

We were once of the world
We were once not Your people
We were separated from You

But in Your manifold mercies
But in Your great love
But in Your amazing grace

You chose us when we were powerless and helpless
You chose us to be Your adopted people
You chose us out of the world to be reconciled to You by Christ's precious blood

Now we are Your people, called by You to be a holy nation,
Now we are Your people, called by You out of the nations of the earth,
Now we are Your people, called by You to be separate from the world, separated to You

We proclaim You have always been faithful to us
We bow and confess we have not been faithful to You, O Lord our God

O, Holy God, forgive us our sins for Jesus' sake.
We have not been faithful to You
We have been faithful to the world's ways and not Your way

Instead of living not of this world, we live as if we are of this world
Instead of living as Your people, we live as if we are not Your people
Instead of living as separate to You, we live as if we are separate from You

O, Holy God, forgive us our sins for Jesus' sake.
We have sinned, we have forsaken You
We have sinned, we have forsaken Your way for the world's ways

We have despised Your holy calling on our lives
We have lived as if we are of this world
We have lived as if we are not Your people

We have not separated ourselves from the world...
We have forsaken You
We have forsaken Your holy way for the world's ways

Ezra could see and hear...
Can we see and hear?

Ezra could see and hear...
Ezra tore his garment and his cloak
Ezra pulled hair from his head and beard
Ezra sat appalled and astonished
Ezra trembled at Your word
Ezra fell upon his knees and spread out his hands to You

Can we not see? Can we not hear?
Do we not see and hear how we have not separated ourselves from the world?
O, Lord God, You who see all things, open our eyes to see!
O, Lord God, You who hear all things, open our ears to hear!
Should we not be moved by our current state like Ezra?

We have not separated ourselves from the world...
We have forsaken You
We have forsaken Your holy way for the world's ways

Can we not see? Can we not hear?
Are we appalled? Are we astonished?
Should we not be appalled and astonished at our state?
Does it matter to us that we have not separated ourselves from the world?

We have not separated ourselves from the world...
We have forsaken You
We have forsaken Your holy way for the world's ways

Can we not see? Can we not hear?
Do we hear You? Do we tremble at Your word?
Do we disregard Your word to us that we have not separated ourselves from the world?

Can we not see? Can we not hear?
Do we fall upon our knees and spread out our hands to You?
Do we fall down in confession because we have not separated ourselves from the world?
Do we fall down in repentance because we have not separated ourselves from the world?
Do we fall down and ask for You to be merciful to us because we have not separated ourselves from the world?
Do we fall down in utter dependence on You because we know we have no hope or help apart from You?

Have we not seen? Have we not heard?
We have mixed ourselves with the world and their abominations.
We have received Your pure Gospel but have mixed Your incorruptible holy seed, the deposit of the Gospel, with the world's corruptible doctrines.
We have been born again of Your incorruptible holy seed, and yet we have lived according to the lust of the flesh.
We have neither taught nor walked in a manner worthy of Your Holy Gospel calling.

O, Holy God, forgive us our sins for Jesus' sake.
We have sinned, we have corrupted Your Holy seed in our doctrine and in our practice.

We have watered down Your glorious Gospel so there is no clear witness of Jesus Christ in our words.
We have walked in the world's ways, so there is no clear witness of Jesus Christ in our actions.
How can You be glorified if we continue to yoke ourselves to the world's doctrine and practices?
How can the world know if they neither see nor hear a clear witness in and through Your people?

O, Holy God, forgive us our sins for Jesus' sake.
We have sinned, we have forsaken You
We have sinned, we have forsaken Your holy way for the world's ways

Continuing on with some reflections on prayer which I'm titling "Lord, teach us to pray once again."  (I would encourage you to read/pray through "May we learn to value the blood bought privilege of prayer" in addition to this one.)

Today's prayer is a more personal one, so I'm including it under my other screen name naphtali_deer.

I praise and thank God for each of you He is raising up to pray for His Church. I appreciate each and every one who has come here and all who are seeking God and His face and all He has for us. We are poor and needy. Poorer than we can imagine. Apart from Him we can do nothing! We have no hope apart from Him.

I continue to be grieved that we are not allowing His Spirit to have His way in our lives and in our churches. This is part of the reason I am writing this prayer. The desire of my heart is that we might freely welcome His blessed Spirit to come and dwell with us, both as individuals and as corporate bodies and allow Him to have His way with us. Is He not God? Is He not entitled to determine how He might work in and through us? O, brothers and sisters, born of the Spirit, may we not grieve, quench or limit Him as we saw the nation of Israel continue to do time and again. How can we say we are His if we are shutting His Holy Spirit out of our lives and our churches? May He give us grace to open the door to all He has for us, without reservation, fully abandoning ourselves to Him to do with us as He wills, including making us appear foolish in the eyes of men, as happened in the case of Hannah (as well as many other saints throughout the ages).

"Everyone is a fool for somebody--be it Marx, Mao, Muhammad, or simply Myself. So why not be a fool for Christ?"

Why not be a fool for Him? Why not?! God forbid if we are not willing to be fools for Him!

By His grace, I am continuing to seek His face, not worrying whether people call me a fool. My only desire is that I be found faithful in the eyes of the living God, for His approval is all I ought to be concerned with.

Karen

Lord God, God of all flesh, Savior of our souls, living Spirit who breathed life into us,

We see Your servant Hannah continuing in prayer before You. We see how she was mocked for her prayer. Overcome by Your Spirit, she poured out her soul before You, Lord. May we look to her example and be filled with Your Spirit so we might continue in prayer before You...

Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
Yet we are so slow to learn...
Father, have mercy on us.
Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
Though we are slow to learn we come to You and ask us to teach us again...

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.

Lord God,
May we wait for You alone and pour out our hearts before You.
For our hope is in You alone and not in men.
For our salvation is in Your blood alone and not in our works.
For our strength is in Your Spirit alone and not in our own power.
You are our rock and our salvation and our fortress.
You are our glory and refuge.
Let us not be shaken as we approach Your throne in prayer,
Let us not be shaken as we stand on the watchtower,
Let us not be shaken as we continue in prayer,
Let us not be shaken as we pour out our souls and hearts to You,
No matter what man may say of us...
Who else in heaven do we have but You?
Who alone has the words of eternal life?
Who alone is God but You?
Forgive us for seeking help in other places when we have received Your very life into our souls.
Forgive us for quenching and grieving Your Spirit.
Forgive us for wanting to look good in the eyes of men.
Forgive us for limiting You.
Forgive us for not trusting in You alone.
Have mercy on us, O Lord God. Forgive us our sins.
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.


O, Father,
Help me to continue praying before You...
even when others may call me drunken...
(is that not what many did on the Day of Pentecost?)
May I always we ready to be filled with Your Spirit,
Spirit-intoxicated,
overtaken with Your love,
consumed by Your mercies,
melted down by Your grace.
Forgive us, O Lord.
We confess we are Your people, born again by Your Spirit,
yet too often we have been full of ourselves, so we cannot be filled with Your Spirit.
We confess that we are Your people, breathed into life by Your Spirit,
yet too often we become puffed up with ourselves,
rather than being open to the blowing of the wind of Your sovereign Spirit and not fear Him.
We confess too often we forget we have nothing and can do nothing apart from You.
We confess there are times we fear You moving in our lives.
(O, Father, why should we ever fear Your moving in our lives, You are the one who loved us while we were yet sinners?!)
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.

Lord God,
You are a living God.
You are the God of the living and not the dead.
May we be filled with You to the point of overflowing,
May we be filled to where our prayers are poured out to You like the choicest wine!
Have You not filled us with the best wine, with Your Spirit?
How can our prayers remain tasteless?
Where is the new wine?
Have You not filled us with Your life, with Your Spirit?
How can our prayers remain lifeless?
We have a profession of faith but how does it really apply to our lives, to our prayers?
Are we earnest, are we pouring out our souls and hearts fervently before You?
Where is the life? Are we not all but dead now? Quicken us, Holy Spirit.
Where is the light? Are we not quite dark now? Brighten us, Holy Spirit.
Where is the fire? Are we not quite cold now? Inflame us, Holy Spirit.
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.


Lord God,
You have intended Your Church to grow and be fruitful.
We see Hannah troubled to the point of pouring out her soul to You because her womb was barren.
Why are we not more burdened over our current state?
We have a form of godliness but continue to deny the power.
We have a reputation for being alive...yet we are all but dead.
Are we troubled over our souls?
Are we troubled over the state of the Church?
Are we troubled that You are not glorified as You ought to be?
Are we troubled that You Name is not glorified as it ought to be?
How often do we become so burdened by the lack of fruitfulness that we pour out our souls to You?
Why do we not have great anxiety and vexation over the current state of our own souls?
Why do we not have great anxiety and vexation over the current state of the Church?
Why are we not continuing before You and pouring our souls out before You?
Forgive us for being blind to our condition before You and how we are not a glory and praise in the earth.
Open our eyes to see ourselves and the Church as You see us.
Take us to our knees before Your once again and keep us continuing there in prayer.
We have no other hope but You, O Lord God.
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.

Lord God,
We confess we continue in our own earthly means rather than coming to You.
Forgive us, O Lord. Have mercy on us for Jesus' sake.
You are our rock. Why do we keep building on the sand in vain?
You are our salvation. Why do we look to earthly saviors in vain?
You are our fortress. Why do we keep looking our own strength in vain?
You are our refuge. Why do we expect to find rest in any other but You?
You are our glory. When we seek help in any other place, You are not glorified!
Forgive us, O Lord, for not seeking You and Your face.
Turn our hearts away from these earthly devices, these idols.
Turn our hearts to You, and we will be turned.
Turn our lips away from asking for help from earthly thrones.
Turn our lips to Your heavenly throne, for certainly You will hear the prayers of Your elect.
Keep us pouring our souls and hearts out to You to send Your Spirit to us once again.
You have promised to provide all we need here to fulfill the mission You have given us,
to bring glory, praise and honor to Your holy Name in all we say and do.
May we continue to pour out our souls and hearts to You, Lord.

O Lord,
May we continue to pray before You
May we continue to pour our souls and hearts out to You
No matter what men may say of us
We have no hope apart from You, O God, our refuge.

Continuing from yesterday and reflecting once again on Elijah and his ministry of prayer.

You taught us through your servant Elijah, a man like us, who prayed fervently, a man who had faith to keep believing in spite of appearances to the contrary:

Lord God,
Once we have gone to your throne of grace
May we patiently persevere in prayer there
May we continue to go to Your throne of grace
And may we keep going there again and again
Trusting that You have heard us
Trusting that You will answer in due time, in Your time, not our time
Trusting that You will answer in Your way, Your ways are higher than our ways
Trusting that You have heard and are waiting to answer us so you might be highly exalted.

Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
Yet we are so slow to learn...
Father, have mercy on us.
Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
Though we are slow to learn, we come to You and ask us to teach us again.

Lord God,
Once we have gone to your throne of grace
May we patiently persevere in prayer there
May we continue to go to Your throne of grace
And may we keep going there again and again
Trusting that You have heard us
Trusting that You will answer in due time, in Your time, not our time
Trusting that You will answer in Your way, Your ways are higher than our ways
Trusting that You have heard and are waiting to answer us so you might be highly exalted.

Mighty God,
Look with mercy on us.
We are so weak and wavering.
We don't get an answer the first time and sometimes we don't even pray a second time or a third time.
Not to mention seven times...or as many times as You lead us to pray...
You gave Elijah the faith to believe even though the answer was not seen.
He had trust in You, in the God Who is not seen when there was nothing to see.
That is the only way we can persevere in prayer and in well doing.
Give us faith to trust You in spite of what we see. That is real faith.
We can trust that as we sow prayers before Your throne, we will reap in due time.

Lord God,
Once we have gone to your throne of grace
May we patiently persevere in prayer there
May we continue to go to Your throne of grace
And may we keep going there again and again
Trusting that You have heard us
Trusting that You will answer in due time, in Your time, not our time
Trusting that You will answer in Your way, Your ways are higher than our ways
Trusting that You have heard and are waiting to answer us so you might be highly exalted.

Faithful God, our faith cannot ever be rooted in what see but in Who You are.
You are ever faithful and true. You are not a liar. You cannot lie.
All Your promises are Yes and Amen in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May our faith rest in You and You alone, rather than in what we see.

Lord God,
Once we have gone to your throne of grace
May we patiently persevere in prayer there
May we continue to go to Your throne of grace
And may we keep going there again and again
Trusting that You have heard us
Trusting that You will answer in due time, in Your time, not our time
Trusting that You will answer in Your way, Your ways are higher than our ways
Trusting that You have heard and are waiting to answer us so you might be highly exalted.

You are the God who hears the cries of Your elect.
How can You not hear us?
We are Your purchased possession, redeemed not with corruptible things but the precious blood of Jesus.
if we don't get an answer, may You strengthen us to continue to come to You, to pray again and again.
You have called us to persevere in prayer.
There are so many souls there who are helpless and scattered.
They do not know You as their Good Shepherd.
We agonize for them as they are in need of living bread that is freely given from Your gracious hand,
We watch as they buy bread over and over, bread that does not satisfy them and never will.
May we continue to lift these hungry souls up to You in faith.
May we persevere and pray in faith, with boldness and confidence.
We can know You have heard us for Jesus' sake.
We can know You are already acting even though our faith may not yet be made sight.
We can know You are already acting even though our faith may not become sight until we are with You when You come again.

Lord God,
Once we have gone to your throne of grace
May we patiently persevere in prayer there
May we continue to go to Your throne of grace
And may we keep going there again and again
Trusting that You have heard us
Trusting that You will answer in due time, in Your time, not our time
Trusting that You will answer in Your way, Your ways are higher than our ways
Trusting that You have heard and are waiting to answer us so you might be highly exalted.