Don’t Neglect the Needy (Ezekiel 16:49)
Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
– Ezekiel 16:49
Wow, what a statement summarizing the sin of Sodom that led to Sodom’s destruction. And we oftentimes think of other sins when we think of the sin of Sodom and what led to their destruction, which are obviously serious in the fact that they are sins.
Ezekiel 16:49 shows how abundance can blind us to injustice.
But notice the list here, “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food and prosperous ease, and did not aid the poor and needy”. So they had all these things, and they ignored those who were impoverished and in need around them. And this is one of those verses in the Bible that just leads us immediately to examine our own hearts and lives and ask, “God, is there any guilt here in us? Is there any of this sin in us?”. And if so, to repent of it today, to turn from it and to live differently.
And so we pray based on Ezekiel 16:49. God, open our eyes right now. We pray to any of these sins in Sodom that are present in our lives right now. Any pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, while ignoring the poor and the needy.
God, we pray that you would forgive us. I know I live in one of the wealthiest places ever to exist in the world, in the history of the world, and there is so much tendency toward pride, excessive food, and prosperous ease while ignoring, not aiding the poor and the needy. God, we pray that you would help us to live with humility and to live, to give generously, cheerfully, sacrificially to the poor and the needy around us and around the world.
Ezekiel 16:49 urges us to repent from spiritual complacency.
God, we pray that you would forgive us and free us from the guilt of Sodom and the picture of these sins in any of our lives today. In any way, God help us to repent by your grace. I pray you, to help us to live according to the righteousness Jesus that you’ve made possible for us to live in with humility, with generosity, with compassion, with sacrificial commitment to the poor and needy. God, please help us to live out of the overflow of the Spirit of Jesus inside of us, not the spirit of Sodom.
Oh God, show us what this needs to look like in our lives. Help us not just to move on from this moment. Help us to repent and live in righteousness and to do justice and love mercy as we walk humbly with you. And God, we pray this, especially when we think about 3 billion people who have little to no knowledge of the gospel right now, many of whom are living in physical poverty, all of whom are living in total spiritual poverty without the gospel.
God help us to use our resources however you lead us by your Spirit inside of us, Jesus, to make the good news of your grace and your love and your mercy known among 3 billion people who need the gospel today.
Prayer for the Rejang People
God, we pray for the Rejang people of Indonesia for almost half a million of them who’ve never heard the gospel. God, we pray right now, hear our cries for the Rejang people that they might be reached with the good news of your love and your grace and your mercy. You might meet their spiritual need in Jesus. God, we pray for that and for thousands of other people groups like them. And we pray that you would use our lives however you desire, by your Spirit, Jesus leading us to make your glory known in a world of urgent spiritual, and physical need. God, please forgive us of and free us from the guilt of Sodom in any way that it’s present in our lives today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
