8th.: To The Next Level
Ezra was a Jewish scribe.
He wanted what God wanted.
He spent a large part of his life in Persia, during the time that Israel had been banished from their land.
Sometime after the Jewish temple was finished, he got permission from the king of Persia, Artaxerxes, to return to Israel.
Ezra wanted to offer a sacrifice to the Lord (Ezra 7:11-26, especially v17).
So, Ezra, and a number of other Jews prepared themselves to travel from Persia to Israel (see Ezra 7:28-14).
Bandits did not make travel between Persia and Israel easy.
However, Ezra did not want to ask Artaxerxes for soldiers to protect them,
because he had already told Artaxerxes,
“The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him,
but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.” (Ezra 8:22b).
So while Ezra and company were staying in a place called Ahava,
Ezra told everyone to ask God for protection,
and to fast in the process (Ezra 8:21).
You can pray and not fast. But fasting seems to take prayer 'to the next level'.
So Ezra and the others, “ ... fasted and besought our God for this. And he was intreated for us.” (Ezra 8:23).
Ezra put his confidence in the Lord, and the Lord provided.
Likewise, genuine trust in the Lord will do more for us than relying on politicians to help us.
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” (Ps. 118:8-9)