“Now, these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.”
– Ezra 2:1
Oh. Ezra 2:1 gives us a picture of the people whom God was bringing back from exile to Jerusalem, to Judah, to their own towns. This is a beautiful picture of God’s restoration of his people, of God keeping his promise to his people, of God rescuing his people from exile and redeeming them. And God does this over and over and over again through his Word.
God is the Restorer and Redeemer
So God, we pray for your restoration where restoration is needed in relationships, marriages, and friendships.
God is the Redeemer. God is the Restorer. So, as I read this verse, and picture this scene in Ezra 2, I can’t help but think about, and long for, restoration and redemption in people around me and situations around me, and not just around me, but around the world. I think about marriages that are struggling, that I just want to pray for restoration and redemption. I think about people who have wandered away from the Lord, and to pray for their rescue and their redemption, to pray for circumstances where people are struggling. And maybe some of you walking through things right now, where you just need God to bring about restoration, redemption, to make things new. Could we just pray that, based on Ezra Chapter 2:1?
Ezra 2:1 Thanks God for His Restorative Powers
You are the Restorer, oh God. You are the one who is able to work in all things for the good of your people, and the glory of your name. So, God, we pray for your help in all kinds of different situations in our lives, in the lives of people around us. God, we pray for your restoration where restoration is needed, for restoration of relationship, for restoration of marriages, for restoration of friendships. God, for restoration in your church, where there’s any hurt and need for healing.
So God, for redemption, that you would make things new, that you would take what the adversary has intended for evil, and you would turn it for good. God, we pray for people who have fallen away in their faith. Maybe it’s children, maybe it’s parents. God, we pray they would return to you, they would return to your grace and your mercy. You’re the Restorer. You’re the Redeemer. So, God, we pray for your redemption. We pray for your restoration. And God, we pray for this all around the world.
Ezra 2:1 Prays for Redemption Among the Nations
So God, we pray for redemption among the Gulf Bedouin of the UAE, and the United Arab Emirates. Oh God, we pray for Emirati men and women. God, we pray for all of the different nations that you have brought to different parts of the UAE. So God, we pray for your redemption and your restoration and your rescue in Jesus to spread throughout the UAE. Your blessed churches there, like Redeemer Church and UCCD. God, we pray that you’d bless those churches for your glory among those nations, for the spread of your redemption and your restoration.
So God, we praise you for being our Redeemer, our Restorer, our hope of rescue. And we long, Lord Jesus, for your return, when your redemption and rescue and restoration will be full and final, and you will wipe every tear from our eyes, and all things will be made new. We put all our trust in you, all our hope is in you. We pray all of these things according to Ezra 2:1. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
