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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com. You're listening

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Speaker 1: to Daily Devotions with Pastor John. I'm John Stonge, and

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Speaker 1: today's devotion is inspired by Ezra 8, verse 21, which says,

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Speaker 1: Then I proclaim to fast there, at the river Ahava,

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Speaker 1: that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek

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Speaker 1: from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and

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Speaker 1: all our goods. In life, we all like to make plans.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes our plans are inspired by our own thinking, and

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Speaker 1: sometimes God is the one directing the plans we're making.

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Speaker 1: Ezra's plans were clearly being directed by the hand of God.

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Speaker 1: But even knowing that, he invited the group to humble

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Speaker 1: themselves before God, and seek his protection for the journey

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Speaker 1: they were about to take. Ezra technically could have requested

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Speaker 1: armed protection from the king's soldiers, but he chose not

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Speaker 1: to because he had testified before the king that the

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Speaker 1: hand of God was on him, and he didn't want

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Speaker 1: to be someone who expressed faith in God verbally without

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Speaker 1: backing that up in how he lived. Ezra and the

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Speaker 1: group fasted and prayed, and God answered their request. In

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Speaker 1: our context, we frequently pray, but how often do we fast?

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Speaker 1: When we fast, we're temporarily removing things that we might

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Speaker 1: typically take comfort in so we can focus more clearly

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Speaker 1: on God and learn to find satisfaction in Him. Scripture

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Speaker 1: speaks of fasting from food, from alcohol, and from sexual intimacy.

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Speaker 1: If the Lord leads you to take a temporary fast

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Speaker 1: so that you can devote that time to Him in prayer...

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Speaker 1: Go for it. The point of all of this is

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Speaker 1: that we come to a place where we realize that

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Speaker 1: there is no substitute for the presence of God himself.

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Speaker 1: As we humble ourselves before the Lord, admitting our need

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Speaker 1: for redemption through Jesus, we are invited to find ultimate

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Speaker 1: satisfaction for our hearts through him alone. Let's pray. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we thank you for your word. And we thank you

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Speaker 1: for the privilege that it is to be able to

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Speaker 1: read this portion of Scripture together today from the book

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Speaker 1: of Ezra. And Lord, as we observe what was taking

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Speaker 1: place in Ezra's life, we can see that he was

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Speaker 1: seeking to be obedient to your leading. He was willing

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Speaker 1: to leave the comforts of his day-to-day life so he

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Speaker 1: could accomplish the mission that you had called him to.

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Speaker 1: And we're grateful that you raised up others to join

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Speaker 1: him and to serve alongside of him. But we know

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Speaker 1: that what they were doing involved danger. It involved risk.

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Speaker 1: And Ezra and the group of people that he was leading,

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Speaker 1: they wanted to seek your protection. They were asking you

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Speaker 1: for safe journey for themselves, for their children, and for

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Speaker 1: their property. And by your grace, you granted that to them. Lord,

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Speaker 1: it's also edifying to think about the ways in which

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Speaker 1: Ezra wanted his life to be a testimony to the king.

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Speaker 1: The king was certainly observing what Ezra was doing. And

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Speaker 1: Ezra wanted to make sure that his faith in you

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Speaker 1: was on display and that he left room for your

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Speaker 1: hand to work in his life and to testify to

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Speaker 1: your power. So we're grateful for those examples, and we're

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Speaker 1: grateful as well for the example of fasting and praying

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Speaker 1: that we see Ezra and those who were with him

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Speaker 1: following through on. As they humbled themselves before you and

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Speaker 1: they sought your intervention, you heard their prayers and you

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Speaker 1: met their needs. Lord, we pray that you would inspire

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Speaker 1: us to be willing to fast from the things that

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Speaker 1: we typically try to find some level of comfort or

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Speaker 1: solace in, so that our minds and our hearts could

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Speaker 1: be refreshed with the knowledge that we can find ultimate

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Speaker 1: satisfaction and ultimate solace in you. We pray that we

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Speaker 1: would remove our distractions and focus on you and humbly

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Speaker 1: entrust ourselves to your care, knowing that we can trust

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Speaker 1: you just as Ezra did. So again, Father, we're grateful

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Speaker 1: for this example from your word. And as you empower

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Speaker 1: us to do so, we pray that we would live

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Speaker 1: it out in our modern day context. And we commit

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Speaker 1: ourselves to you now and pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.