3.w. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant

Nehemiah 1:4  As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Leviticus 26:33     And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

Deuteronomy 4:27    And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.

Deuteronomy 32:28     “For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.

1 Kings 9:6-7    But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,  then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

Ezra was a priest.  He was sent to Jerusalem by Nehemiah to start rebuilding the temple and leading the people in commitment to God.  Nehemiah’s prayer.  This was a very big ask by Nehemiah.  He knew they had fallen away from God and this was the reason they were in exile.  He also knew from God’s word that unfaithfulness is punished and returning to God is rewarded by the awesome power and steadfast love of God.  He prayed confession, praise, and faith.  He prayed believing in God’s word.  He prayed for success in what seemed impossible.

When our heart is heavy and our burdens overwhelming we don’t have to wait and be overcome with doubt, fear, worry, and restlessness.  we can take it straight to the feet our redeemer Jesus Christ.  We can know and believe that He is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  Why do we not ask?  Why do we not ask?  Why do we wallow in our doubt?  Could it be that we think we are not good enough or have not done enough?  These thoughts of being and doing are lies from Satan.  He wants you to believe that the only way to receive God’s grace and love is to be better, do better, live better and with this lie filling your heart deny the power that is through Jesus Christ who willingly died for the person we were.  He did this for the lost sinner.  He did this out of His love.  He did this to show His love for us.  While we were yet sinners He did this.  In faith, we come to Him.  In faith we can rely on Him.  In faith, He is honored and glorified.  In faith we are made right with Him, not by being good.  We are made good through faith in Him alone and not by what we do.

Come to Him as you are, in faith, confessing, praising, and trusting in Him alone for the trials, worries, and burdens that are seemingly impossible to overcome.

57. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life

Deuteronomy 28:58   “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the Lord will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.  “And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. And among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see. And the Lord will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”

We should never take for granted grace and mercy of our Savior Jesus Christ.  You can read the expectations of Israel to follow and obey all that God had recorded in His word.  Anything short of meeting these expectations came with severe consequences not only to the hearer but also to their offspring.  Grace and mercy do not eliminate the expectation of humbly serving, honoring, glorifying, praising, worshiping, following, trusting, and obeying God.  In God’s grace, mercy, and love demonstrated in “for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”   “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He wants none to perish and reaches out to everyone with the same Grace and Mercy and Love.  He calls us to Himself, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.”  It is up to each individual to open the door to their heart, mind, and soul and desire God’s forgiveness, refuge, peace, power, comfort, strength, joy and rest.

God stands at our hearts door and says I love you, I sent my Son to redeem you, I want to adopt you as my child, I want to forgive you, I want you to live with Me forever in eternity, I want to give you a new heart, I want to give you my Holy Spirit to reside in you to guide and direct your life, I want to give you purpose and meaning in this life, I want to shine My light in you, I want to take away all of your worries, I want you to have an abundant life, I want to give you wisdom and understanding, I want to give you hope, I want to carry your burdens…..   

Can you understand the reason why His wrath, anger, and fury will be unleashed on those who reject His Grace, Mercy, and Love?  Choosing to reject, neglect, or being complacent with such a great gift has eternal consequences.  “Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life”