Ezra wasn’t only a priest and scribe. He was also a true man of God and a lover of God’s word. He had a great wealth of knowledge of the word and he also lived out the word.

“Praise the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who made the king want to beautify the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem! And praise him for demonstrating such unfailing love to me by honoring me before the king, his council, and all his mighty nobles! I felt encouraged because the gracious hand of the Lord my God was on me. And I gathered some of the leaders of Israel to return with me to Jerusalem.” ‭‭Ezra‬ ‭7‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭

God directs the heart, even the heart of kings! If he can do that within a kingdom to begin the work of rebuilding a temple, he can do it in our lives. We can use this proverb as our prayer. Just replace the “king’s” heart with whoever you’re praying for.

“The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases." Proverbs‬ ‭21‬:‭1‬ ‭

Ultimately, GOD is in control.

Like Ezra, we too should feel encouraged to know that the hand of God is on our lives. He is directing things. There is no greater sense of peace for the believer.

As they were making their way to rebuild the temple Ezra says, “And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.” Ezra‬ ‭8‬:‭21‬-‭23‬

In Deuteronomy, God told kings not to put their security in material things (ie. horses/carriages, wealth). As a scribe, Ezra must have known these verses. If kings shouldn’t trust in them, then why should he?!

Look again at verse 23. “So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.”

Ezra didn’t take credit for it. They prayed, GOD answered. Ezra put his faith in God alone. Then Ezra praised God for his protection.

How vastly different Ezra’s leadership style than King Saul. If we think back to our study of 1 Samuel, Saul wanted to take credit for everything. Even when he had absolutely nothing to do with the victory.

Saul would have never given glory to God.

Ezra continually put God’s glory above his own.

“I prayed, “O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens.” Ezra‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬ ‭

Word had reached Ezra about inner-marriage within the people of Israel. Ezra not only called out that sin in others, he took it on himself. When he prayed, he didn’t point the finger but cried out, “Forgive us!!” Bringing himself in as a responsible party. His humble attitude brought people to a place of repentance rather than pushed them away.

“While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him.” Ezra‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬ ‭

After reading the book of Ezra, we see that Ezra’s heart was good. He put God’s glory above his comfort. He loved, lived, shared and studied God’s word. We can impact our world when we have God’s word flowing through us.