Ezra began with earnest repentance and confession, and that led to a move of God among the entire population. The picture of the prophet weeping and throwing himself on the ground in remorse for the sins of his people is powerful—and perhaps one that we should recall as we come together to worship this weekend.
Confession of sin is a lost discipline. Public confession even more so.
We have embraced a culture of pride that is reluctant to admit any flaw in our character, when we should be confessing our failures and seeking the prayers and accountability of one another to overcome sin in our life.
William Newton Blair, in describing the Korean revival which occurred in the early 20th Century, is widely quoted as stating, “We may have our theories of the desirability or undesirability of public confession of sin. I have had mine, but I know that when the Spirit of God falls upon guilty souls, there will be confession, and no power on earth can stop it.”
Perhaps the converse is also true: If there is no confession, no weeping and brokenness over our divergence from following God, then let our prayer be for the Spirit of God to fall upon us all. May God’s Spirit reveal to our blind eyes, as He did to these Israelites, the things we have loved more than God, the instructions of God that we have ignored, setting our own wisdom as superior to God’s, and the behaviors and pleasure we have esteemed higher than being in right relationship with the Lord who redeemed us from death.
Will you join me in praying that God’s Spirit would fall upon His people today and reveal our sin?
Pray that our hearts would weep and mourn as Ezra did.
Pray that our lips would confess before loving brothers and sisters and that they would encourage and lift us up, hold us accountable going forward, and remind us that God’s grace covers all our sin.
Pray that our minds would submit to God and we would turn away from anything He reveals to be sin.
Confession of sin is a lost discipline. Public confession even more so.
We have embraced a culture of pride that is reluctant to admit any flaw in our character, when we should be confessing our failures and seeking the prayers and accountability of one another to overcome sin in our life.
William Newton Blair, in describing the Korean revival which occurred in the early 20th Century, is widely quoted as stating, “We may have our theories of the desirability or undesirability of public confession of sin. I have had mine, but I know that when the Spirit of God falls upon guilty souls, there will be confession, and no power on earth can stop it.”
Perhaps the converse is also true: If there is no confession, no weeping and brokenness over our divergence from following God, then let our prayer be for the Spirit of God to fall upon us all. May God’s Spirit reveal to our blind eyes, as He did to these Israelites, the things we have loved more than God, the instructions of God that we have ignored, setting our own wisdom as superior to God’s, and the behaviors and pleasure we have esteemed higher than being in right relationship with the Lord who redeemed us from death.
Will you join me in praying that God’s Spirit would fall upon His people today and reveal our sin?
Pray that our hearts would weep and mourn as Ezra did.
Pray that our lips would confess before loving brothers and sisters and that they would encourage and lift us up, hold us accountable going forward, and remind us that God’s grace covers all our sin.
Pray that our minds would submit to God and we would turn away from anything He reveals to be sin.
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