Go a little deeper
Pastor Noah Stevenson, one of the pastors at Journey Church, greets the congregation and introduces his family, then briefly shares a personal reflection tied to prayer and fasting. He walks through the return from exile under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah and lands on Ezra 8:21-23, where Ezra proclaims a fast before the journey to Jerusalem to seek a safe path for the people and their children.
From that text Noah draws three principles: humble ourselves before God, seek God and make requests known to him, and remember his promise. He supports each point with passages he reads aloud, including Micah 6, James 4, 1 Peter 5, Proverbs 22, Psalm 14, Jeremiah 29, Luke 18, Matthew 7, Romans 8, and 2 Chronicles 15.
Noah stresses that fasting must be paired with prayer and is not a formula for securing an answer. He calls the church to humility, wholehearted seeking, and standing on God's promises. He then invites anyone without a relationship with God to respond, explaining the gospel through passages in 2 Corinthians, Philippians, John, and Ephesians, leads a prayer of commitment, and invites people to receive prayer from the prayer team as the service closes.
Take this with you
Humility is the starting posture of prayer and fasting
Ezra proclaimed the fast so the people might humble themselves before God. Noah treats humility as a command and an invitation, drawing on Micah 6, James 4, and 1 Peter 5: it leads to obedience and repentance and to receiving God's grace rather than shame.
Seek God with the whole heart
During prayer and fasting the goal is to seek God, while it is also acceptable to seek something from him, as Ezra sought protection for the travelers in Ezra 8:21-22. Noah connects wholehearted seeking to Psalm 14 and Jeremiah 29, describing a devotion that gives God the whole heart rather than a divided one.
Keep asking and knocking
Noah urges persistence in prayer from Jesus' parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 and the command in Matthew 7 to ask, seek, and knock. He grounds this confidence in Romans 8, saying God's hand is for good on all who seek him.
Remember the promise when answers seem slow
When fasting or prayer seems ineffective, Noah urges the church to remember God's character and stand on his word. Ezra's appeal rests on a promise recorded in 2 Chronicles 15, and Noah points to 2 Corinthians 1 and Hebrews 10 as reasons to keep holding fast to hope.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
guys thank you so much for being here it is truly an honor just to do what I get to do and love most um that is just sharing about Jesus and who he is and what he has done for me and I truly believe you guys are in the right place because I believe Journey Church is going to be the place where Revival happens I truly believe this is going to be the place where God's power in his presence is going to be so evident that nobody will be able to deny that he is God that all who are far off and walk in this place will know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior whoever needs healing will receive healing because we have that great of a God now Pastor Keith and Kara I do want to
give honor where honor is due to you and the elders I see your hard work and your prayers and I truly believe you're leading all of us into into a place of intimacy with just such gentle and Grace Just closer to the Lord and I I commend you and I love you guys I truly appreciate your leadership and I thank you for just com your commitment to invest in my personal growth as well as my families and every single person here as well I truly appreciate you and is an honor to be up here speaking today now for those who don't know who I am my name is Noah and I am one of the pastors here at journey and I have the pleasure of getting to oversee our Care Ministry
and our Prayer Ministry the people you see up front and behind the scenes who are praying for you as well as our prison ministry and last night I also just got the opportunity to spend the night with them as well just preaching this message now oh thank you that's cool too but now I will say there's a little bit about me I am married to to the most beautiful wom in the world and I will debate that until I am dead her name is Hannah Hannah can you give your put up your hand a little bit Ah there you go now together we do have a 2-year-old toddler and his name is Ezra he is the coolest dude on Earth come say hi if you see us I'm sure he'll do something funny but now we also have in just four weeks
a daughter that is coming and I am just so excited um we do not have name yet though so please stay tuned all right we are wrestling with that and actually we're about to make this transition into be from a family of three into a family of four and um I heard that transition might be a little rough and by God's grace We Will Survive by God's grace I will have patience by God's grace uh God is going to give me the wisdom to lead these kids but uh I am totally excited and actually a matter of fact we had the opportunity to practice being a family of four just a couple weeks ago um just recently we had a foster daughter come into our home and totally totally bless us and um man we got really attached
real fast but with my uh wife being eight months pregnant and almost due we knew we weren't able to keep her long term and so we really just wanted a Godly family that she would go to who would care for her who would protect her who would love her who would pray for her and um yeah we're really wrestling with this and um we don't have her right now but I'll say the day that we knew that she was be going to be placed into another home uh I was in my truck and we just dropped her off at daycare and I felt like the Lord had prompted me to do something I felt like he prompted me to fast [laughter] and to pray pray over this situation because we were really nervous we had no clue what was going to happen and I've
always had quirks in this area and for those who know me closely you may attest to this Hannah or Pastor David or some Steven Naomi one of the leaders up here you could totally attest to this I have this terrible habit of choosing to do a last minute fast with absolutely no plan to it I will hear of something and then I plan to do a last minute fast and then um I would kind of get in trouble from Hannah about it well let's rewind a little bit because I want to explain to those who may not know what a fast is um traditionally in throughout the Bible we see that the a fast is usually done with food it means to Asain uh abstain from food but um in most basic form I would say it's just to give up something that you love and you desire for and you're
going to replace that in prayer towards God you're going to replace that desire or that time in prayer instead of eating and so I would get myself into this bad habit of doing this last minute abstaining from food Hannah would say hey on like a Sunday morning or afternoon we're going out to lunch or I we have someone coming over for dinner and so now I got this battle in my mind of okay do I stay strong and do I fast and potentially be rude or do I just fast the next morning I I don't know what the rules are if I break it now Lord am I just not spiritually disciplined I I well how do we do this and so when God prompted me to fast and
to pray over this situation I began to look at what prayer and fasting is and what it looked like throughout the generations long ago when fasts and prayers were declared all the way from the old test Testament into the New Testament and I'll tell you Anyone who reads their Bible you'll notice that there are way too many examples of prayer and fasting in the Bible but there was one story that stuck out to me and one story that I want to share with you here today today we're actually going to be reading from the book of Ezra now when we study Ezra we're also going to study the book of Nehemiah this is
because they were originally written as one book by a single author but now what you'll find in most modern Bibles is that there are two separate books now the story of Ezra and Nehemiah take place after the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple and then took many people into Exile and then the book of Ezra though picks up 50 years later and tell tells about the return of some Israelites to Jerusalem it tells about what happened when they rebuilt their the city and their lives there but if we take a look at the outline or the the skeleton of this book we could focus on three key leaders
first one is a man named zerubabel the second is Ezra and then Nehemiah zerubabel leads a large wave of people back into Jerusalem and then later rebuilds the temple Ezra then comes in and starts teaching in the law or the Torah and rebuilding the community and then follows Nehemiah who leads the rebuilding efforts of Jerusalem's walls but the Story begins with a decree from Cyrus the King of Persia which is the Empire that overthrew Babylon we read that Cyrus was moved by God to allow the the people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple specifically in Ezra 1 verse 1 we read the word of the Lord
by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia or an other words we are told in order to fulfill God's promise the Lord awakened Cyrus's Spirit or he opened his eyes his spiritual eyes now this fulfillment should actually trigger are hopes for many other prophetic promises in the future hopes for a future Messianic King from the line of David hopes for God's spirit to dwell in the temple for his Blessing to be poured out on all nations as he promised Abraham I want to let you know if you were like them and you're waiting There's Hope
but it's here we look into the story of zerubabel his name means planted in Babylon and he represents a a generation born in Babylonian captivity and he leads a wave of people into Jerusalem and after they settle there they build the Altar for sacrificing to the Lord and then later the temple itself but this wasn't without opposition later letter was written to the King of Persia which was the Empire uh overthrew Babylon and then they were told to stop the work and so the king orders to stop the work and by power and force the work stops but now a new king comes into town it it's not until his second year of
this new king that two prophets arose and prophesied to the Jews these two prophets were Hagi and Zachariah and we're told in Ezra chapter 5 zerubabel and a man man named jeshua began to rebuild the Temple and during this time the prophets of God were with them and they supported them but then now a little bit more push back comes and then questions arise from the governors and they start asking hey who gave you permission and to build this but the eye of God was on the Jews and they built until a report came to the king at this time and this report says in my parh phrased version something like this
hey these guys are building without permits and they're doing it quick we asked who they were but all they said was they were Servants of the god of Heaven and Earth but later we angered him and then the temple was destroyed and the money was taken and then the king said heck yeah let's build this thing and then now the work stopped next in ezria chapter 6 we find that a search was made to find this decree and they find it the king at the time then tells the governors now to stay away and to allow them to build the temple and as a matter of fact allow them have access to the Royal treasury so they can make a pleasing sacrifice to their God and pray
for the king and his sons and this was all done pretty quickly and with diligence and they prospered the Jews prospered and built it through the pro prophesying of Hagi and Zechariah after they build the temple then they have a big old party and celebrate what we call the Passover now what we're going to do Journey Church is we're going to take a step forward we're going to zoom forward a little bit and now 60 years later we're introduced to Ezra we learn in Ezra chap 7 that he is a skilled leader among the Exiles in Babylon we are told that he's a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that God gave meaning that he was a scholar in this area and he what he would do is
actually he would make copies or preserve the law but we also read that the hand of God was on Ezra and that the king gave him all that he had asked later in verse 10 we see that he set his heart to study the law of the Lord and then do it to teach his statues in Israel Ezra then gets sent out by another king king Artis Xerxes of Persia to lead another wave of people into Jerusalem along with access to some Goods like wheat and wine and oil and salt but now once everyone is gathered together gathered together for this long journey to Jerusalem there's one thing Ezra does
there's one thing necessary before the action starts one thing in order for this mission to be successful and that is a time of prayer and fasting and it's here in Ezra 8 verse 21- 23 that we read an example set by Ezra about prayer and fasting so let's read our main text for today Ezra 8: 21-23 says then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Hava that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves and our children and all our goods for I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and Horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way
since we have told the king the hand of our God is for good on all who seek Him and the power of His wrath is against those who forsake Him so we fasted and we implored Our God for this and he listened to our intreaty as here in Ezra chapter 8 we see that before heading into the unknown a fast is proclaimed they begin the fast and pray for the long and treacherous journey ahead and I believe this is necessary because often times throughout the Bible we see whenever it's time to move or whenever it's time to act God is the only one we should be relying on God is the only one we should be Consulting
Journey Church I believe that the Lord has taken us to new places and I want to stress to you the importance of prayer and fasting we just started on this two-year Journey called more and I believe the time is now we need to prepare our hearts to fast and to pray it is here in Ezra 8 chap 21- 23 we actually get a glimpse to what prayer and fasting looks like we get a glimpse of what it looks like to fast and to pray for the journey ahead and I believe that there are actually three major points that we could apply
to our lives from this main text so let's go over those point one we are to Humble ourselves meaning when we PR fast and when we pray we need to Humble ourselves before God point two we are to seek God because when during the fasted the prayer we need to seek God and make our request known to him to seek Him and nothing else then point three we are to remember his proph promise because when it seems like the fast is not working we need to remember the promise declared by God to stand on his
word in faith so let's dive into these three principles so number one we are to Humble ourselves before God Ezra 8:21 says then I proclaim the fast there at the river ah Hava that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek for from him a safe journey for ourselves and our children and our Goods we see that we have this picture of Ezra leading a bunch of people into Jerusalem these are real people with real thoughts real thought processes and opinions that are different probably from his and I can only assume that some may be ready for this journey and some not so much and but if we concentrate on the first
part of this this verse here notice that the fast is proclaimed at the beginning but notice as as this fast is proclaimed so is the posture of humility whether you're ready or for the for the journey or not you have to humble yourself before God and I believe this is actually an invitation to know who he is I believe the humble oursel before God is actually a moment that leads us to obey his commands to repent to allow him to raise you up to Humble ourselves before God leads us to a place to obey his commands to repent to allow him to raise us up
did you know it's actually a command to humble yourself before you come to him it is a requirement let's read Micah 6 6-8 it says with what shall it come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high shall I come before him with burnt offerings with calves a year old will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams and 10 thousands of rivers of oil shall I give my firstborn in my transgression for the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul he has told you oh man what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do just Justice to love kindness to walk humbly with your God we are to walk humbly with God to
recognize that he is God and we are not that he is the only reason we have what we have [snorts] that we've all fallen short of his glory and I believe the Lord will actually begin to show you places in your life that are are not of him I believe it's like when you're driving your car in the morning and uh you're driving east and the windshield looks fine till you start driving and then the sun rises it's like when you turn right onto read Market you're driving to East and then all of the sudden this dust is on your windshield and you can't see when God exposes your sin in the light
of his glory don't just keep driving and ignore it but you should probably just pull over and wash it off we need to repent meaning we need to change the way we live change the way we think change the way we do things to allow the Redemptive work of Jesus to wash off the dust or the sin in our lives James 4 6-10 says but he gives more grace therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble submit yourselves therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to God and he'll draw near to you cleanse your hands you Sinners purify your hearts you double-minded
be wretched and mourn and weep let your laughter be turn the mourning and your joy to Gloom humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you I love to humble myself before God because I actually get to see his grace and I believe Satan has tried to pervert this idea of humbling ourselves before God is because where there is Grace involved guess what the enemy is going to be there and try to steal it and often times when we try to Humble ourselves the enemy is going to try to speak lies about who you are and and who God is he going to try to leave you with shame
instead of Grace some of these thoughts could be I'm evil I'm worthless I'm dirty I'm a screw up I'm unlovable I'm abandoned but please Journey when you humble yourself before the Lord when you humble yourself before the Lord do not let Satan and lies get in between God's grace God loves to give Grace he's not going to leave you off with shame and I believe this is because he cares for you that's his heart I wonder if
there's anyone in here right now that doesn't believe that but he needs you need to know that the Lord cares for you let's read 1 Peter 56-7 humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so at the proper time he may exalt you casting your anxieties on him because he cares for you God is going to build you up and raise you up he's not going to tear you down he's not going to shame you he's going to give you life because he's a giver when you come him and guess what there's actually a reward in humility when you come to him Proverbs 22:4 the reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches honor and life
I love to humble myself before the Lord because I know I have an opportunity to be obedient an opportunity to repent an opportunity to actually allow him to raise me up up an opportunity to know who he is an opportunity to draw close and ask him questions within his presence close enough so I know the Lord hears me 100% hears me this leads me in the point too we are to seek God because during prayer and fasting we are to seek God and make our requests known
to him not seek him or not seek others but to seek Him often when we say we need to seek God and seek his face but I also want to point out it's okay to seek something from him as well and we see this example set by Ezra in our main text Ezra 8: 21-22 let's read this again then I proclaim the fast there at the river ah Hava that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves and our children and our goods for I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and Horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way since we had told the king the hand of our God is for good on all
who seek Him and the power of His wrath is against those who forsake Him so here we have Ezra setting the example of what it could like to be seeking something from God in this case they're seeking from for protection over their kids and the adults and their children because they have no military escort or anything like that JY I want to let you know that when it's time to follow Jesus or God there will be moments in your life where there's no military escort or nobody around and you have to rely on God there will be moments where you felt like family was there but they weren't
and you will have to rely on God but I believe these moments are actually amazing opportunities they're opportunities to seek Him seek him even more and I believe is not actually out of God's character character to be looking for somebody who's going to seek Him looking for somebody who's going to seek him in the middle of a fallen and sinful World Psalm 14:2 says the Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand and seek after God who seek after God the Lord is looking for someone who has
a genuine heart a genuine heart that longs for his presence pres that longs for his righteousness that longs to the Align their desires with his Desires in his heart longs for healing from him not seeking future healing or uh healing through raiki healers or crystals not seeking a future in a hope through Palm readers or tarot cards not seeking false pleasure through sexual immorality or maybe substance abuse he is seeking for someone who's going to want him with their whole entire heart fully surrender to him Jeremiah 29:1 12-13 says then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you you will seek me and
find me when you seek me with all your heart so what does this truly look like what does it truly look like to seek God with all of our heart does it mean we just come to church regularly on a Sunday but not every other day of the week and help people and love them and pray for them does it mean I can follow Jesus and walk in my habitual sin no it doesn't God wants your whole heart not half not 10% the whole entire thing we need to seek him with everything we have not just our mind and our spirit but also with our body and our
possessions this is called a posture of devotion because maybe some of you know this scripture but we are called to love the Lord Our God with all of our heart all of our soul all of our mind and all of our strength so when we fast and we pray guess what you're doing you're choosing to seek God with a heart posture that is willing to exchange everything that you rely on for his presence everything you rely on for him they exchange my sin for his righteousness and you must seek his righteousness but not only that you need to seek his presence continually do not stop be persistent seek when it
seems like there's no answer or no end get annoying with it it's okay seek ask knock never give up but press in some of you need a miracle press in some of you need a breakthrough press in keep asking if you don't believe me let's read what Jesus said here real quick Luke 18 1-8 and he told them a parable to the effect that they ought to always pray and not lose heart he said in a certain city there was was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man and there was a widow in that City who kept coming to him saying give me Justice for my adversary for a while he refused but afterward he said to himself though I neither fear God nor respect man yet because of this Widow Bo
is bothering me I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming and the Lord said hear what the unrighteous judge says and will not God give Justice to his elect to who cry to him day and night will he delay long over them I tell you he will give them Justice to them speedily nevertheless when the son of man comes will he find faith on Earth Matthew 7 7-8 says ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and the door will be open to you for everyone who asks receives to the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks it will be opened
now remember this the hand of God is on good for all who seek Him Romans 8:28 says and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good who are called according to his purpose when the going gets tough when you get tired of praying when you get tired of the fast when it seems like there's no answer or end or when this seems like there's no hope no hope for your child no hope for your spouse do not lose hope God's hand is for good on all who seek him now let's review our principles for prayer and fasting one we are to Humble ourselves meaning when we humble ourselves we need to Humble ourselves before God when
we're prayer and fasting point two we are to to seek God because during prayer and fasting we need to seek God and make our request known to seek Him and nothing else now lastly point three we are to remember his promise because when it seems like prayer and fasting is not working we need to remember the promise declared by God to remember his character and to remember his heart to stand on his word Ezra 8: 21-23 let read the whole thing again now then I proclaimed a fast there at the river ah Hava that we might humble ourselves before God to seek from
him a safe journey for ourselves and our children and our goods for I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and Horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way since we have told the king the hand of our God is on is for good on all who seek him in the power of His wrath is against all who forsake Him so we fasted and we implored Our God for this and he listened to our ENT treaty earlier when I studied this text I had totally missed the significance of what Ezra had just said in verse 22 as I began to ask the Holy Spirit what he wanted me to see or wanted me to know
he immediately Focus my attention to the quotes on verse 22 it says the hand of our God is for good on all who seek Him and the power of His wrath is against all who forsake Him what Ezra is quoting here is actually a promise from God spoken in the book of 2 Chronicles long before this moment it was a pro prophetic promise for God's people let's read 2 Chronicles 15 1-5 4 it says the spirit of God Came Upon Azariah the son of Odin and he went out to measa and said to him hear me ASA and all Judah and Benjamin
the Lord is with you while you are with him if you seek him he would be found by you but if you forsake Him He will forsake you for a long time Israel was without a true God and without a teaching priest and without law but when in their distress they turned to the Lord the god of Israel and sought him he was found by them not only is This Promise found here but it's also found in 1 Chronicles 289 and Jeremiah 29:13 we see that God's promises always remain 2 Chronicle or Corinthians 1:20 says for we all the promises of God find their yes in him that is why it is through him
we utter our Amen to God for his glory after having read this it dawned on me that when we fast and when we pray we need to stand firm in the promise of God verse 23 we see that Ezra implored God for this he is petitioning God on his promise and in the same way we could choose to say we are going to stand on God's word and believe that he will do what he said he will do that when we fast and when we pray we're going to come to the father in humility and we're going to seek Him and we're going to remember his promise saying God you said your hand is for good on all who seek
you you said I no longer have to struggle with my sin your word says in John who the son set free is free indeed in John it is finished in Isaiah by your stripes we are healed in Hebrews you will never leave us nor forsake us in Proverbs how about this if we turn at your reproof then you'll pour your spirit out or how about even better in Mali test me in this and see if I will not pour out the floodgates of Heaven the fact that I could fast and I could pray and petition heaven with the very promise of God gave gives me hope it gives me a fire in my heart that I just want to keep on praying keep on asking
and keep on seeking and keep on knocking because I know my God is faithful I don't know about you Hebrews 10:23 says let us hold fast to the confession of Our Hope without wavering for he who promised is say it Church faithful he is faithful to heal he is faithful to restore he is faithful to protect he is faithful to deliver he is faithful to give Justice he is faithful to give Mercy he is faithful to open the wombs of barren mothers he is faithful the open doors that seem like they were shut he was faithful to fulfill his promise and unite families together [applause]
he is faithful now if we go back to the story I I shared earlier it it's at this moment when sitting in my truck the Holy Spirit revealed this to me I was to remember the promise God had given me in my distress in my fast I was to remember the promise God had given me when we first received our foster daughter that he would protect that he would raise her up that he put her in a place in a household that would pray for her care for her that he would bring her holy calling in the past later that day um when we knew she was
going to be placed into a different family I was sitting in my office upstairs on the desk and um there's only about like an hour left and uh there a good friend of mine comes up and she she asks me are you are you ready to to give her up I said no I have no clue where she's going I don't know what family she's going to I'm sitting there all sad and then she tells me she's like oh Hannah didn't tell you we're taking her wait what [applause]
yeah o odhs called us we're taking her we accepted guys I just started prayer and fasting this morning what the heck that was fast but it wasn't until on my on my way home I realized it wasn't because of what I did that kept our foster daughter in a Godly safe home it wasn't because I chose to abstain from food because that's the formula for answered prayer prayer and fasting is not about twisting God's arm into what we want him to do but it's about coming under his hand and aligning our heart with his heart it's not a fact it's not a formula and it's not something that's so spiritually Next
Level we have to do it in order for our voice to be heard by God it actually has to be paired with prayer it's not about the food it has to be paired with prayer prayer you want to know why because guess what a fast is without prayer that's just a diet but if you pair prayer with fasting that has enough power to change the trajectory of families sons and daughters mothers and fathers that has enough power to change eternity I want to let you know if there's some unanswered prayer here today or you feel like the Lord doesn't hear you he sees
all of it and he would love to talk to you I believe now is the time Journey that it's time to Humble ourselves before God to seek his face and to remember his promise that nothing is too big or nothing is too small for him now is the time to fast and to pray and to dive deeper to know who are great God is to know who our God is because he is the miracle working God the creator of Heaven and Earth can you guys say amen amen yeah now I do want to speak to those in the room who don't have a relationship with God
who have maybe never prayed or never talked to him before maybe you're here because you're invited maybe you're here because I just want to know a little bit more about who God is maybe you actually don't know why the heck you're here maybe you're here because you're giving Jesus one last chance to speak to you I want to let you know that he sees you and he would love to speak to you he knows everything about you he knows everything that you've ever done everything that's ever been done to you every hurt and Trauma and sin done unto you he saw all of it and he said I love you and I paid the price for you he came down in the form of a servant
100% God and 100% man he lived a perfect and sinless life so you could become the righteousness of God so you can have this direct relationship and live eternity with him 2 Corinthians 5:21 says for for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God Philippians 26-11 who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God to be a thing to be grasp but he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death even death on a cross therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on Earth and guess what under the Earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father it is because of Jesus we can now come to the father that we could get to know who this great God is is it's because of the sacrifice that was made for you and me
not by our own works but because of Grace is by Grace we are saved through faith it's through him that there's no other mediator between God now it's just Jesus John 14:6 says Jesus said to him I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me Jesus is the only way of Salvation we are saved by grace through faith Ephesians 289 says this very thing and it reads for by Grace you have been saved through faith and is not by your own doing is a gift of God not a result
of works so that no one can boast today if you want to know who this great God is the great protector the great deliverer and healer if you want to know the one who created in Heaven and Earth and now made a way so you can have eternal life you can right now you don't have to to be perfect it's just about humbling yourself seeking him is by his grace so in just a moment I want to provide you with that opportunity to know who this great God is to receive eternal life
but before I do so I want to bring a couple of beliefs into the light as we just read here it's not by your own doing a lot of us try to go through life doing it on our own none of us can we've all fallen short of his glory it's not because you grew up in a religious household your mom your dad your sister your brother it's not because of their faith you're saved this is about a personal belief in Jesus as the Messiah as the only one as God [music] that he's done what what God's word says he has done so if that is you right now
and you want to make this decision to follow Jesus what I'm going to ask you to do is you're going to raise your hand on the count of three but can I ask that everyone just close your eyes and bow their heads real quick the reason for this is so we can get rid of distractions that you know that somebody's not just staring at you expecting you to raise your hand no this is this is between you and God get all distractions out this is between you and God right now on the count of [music] three if you want to make the decision to follow Jesus for the first time one
choose Jesus now before it's too late we all know tomorrow is not guaranteed we're all going to have to face this at some point tomorrow is not guaranteed choose him now two out of all of the decisions in life I know this is one that is 110% sure I am 110% sure you will never regret I never regret it he took a rebellious teenager lost in all his ways and now he made us somebody standing up here telling you the story of the Gospel the Redemption story of Jesus you will never regret it just ask anyone who's followed Jesus
on three will you please raise your hand if you chose to follow Jesus just keep those hands up it's you the lord loves you he sees you now is the day that life changes praying that the Lord would bless you he sees the struggle he sees the heartache he sees the accusation he sees what's been told over you
that's not your identity your identity is now in him you guys can put your hands down but now for those who in the room um would just keep your eyes closed for a second who just made the decision to follow Jesus I'm going to ask that everyone repeat a prayer after me this is because those who had just made that decision can do this with comfort and they can do it with confidence that being said would you repeat this after me Jesus I believe you are my Lord and Savior I believe that God has raised you from the dead that you defeated sin and death forever
please forgive me of my sins I commit my spirit and my life to you amen now guys give a hand clap shout because heaven said Heaven has a party when people come home Heaven has a party like a Lost Child Jesus cannot wait cuz he wants to hug you and love you now Journey Church can you please stand up here for a moment [snorts] now it's time to act now it's time to take a step of Faith prayer team I'm going to invite you up to the side of the stage here real quick cuz I believe the Lord wants to meet with some people now now is time to Humble ourselves now is time to seek his face now is time to remember his
promise some of you here need to repent that's [music] okay come up receive prayer some of you need a breakthrough and healing come up receive prayer some of you just need to wait and remember his promise petition heaven with his promise let's give Jesus [music] one last praise Praise Him amen
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Humble yourselves before God
Ezra proclaimed a fast so the people would humble themselves and seek a safe journey. Noah describes humility as the beginning posture of prayer and fasting, turning to Micah 6, James 4, 1 Peter 5, and Proverbs 22. He says humility leads to obedience and repentance, and he warns that the enemy tries to replace grace with shame.
Ezra 8:21-23 · Micah 6:6-8 · James 4:6-10 · 1 Peter 5:6-7 · Proverbs 22:4
- When you hear the call to humble yourself before God, what feelings or resistance come up for you?
- Noah describes the enemy speaking lies about our identity when we humble ourselves. How might you distinguish shame from God's grace in your own life?
- How does Noah explain repentance as changing the way we think and live, and what does that mean for you?
Seek God with your whole heart
Noah notes that during prayer and fasting we seek God and make our requests known to him, following Ezra's example of asking for protection on the journey. He connects wholehearted seeking with Psalm 14 and Jeremiah 29 and describes a posture of devotion that gives God the whole heart, not a divided one.
Ezra 8:21-22 · Psalm 14:2 · Jeremiah 29:12-13
- Noah asks whether seeking God means only attending church on Sunday. How would you describe the difference between your Sunday devotion and the rest of your week?
- How does Noah describe wholehearted devotion and a life that relies on God rather than holding back part of the heart?
Keep asking and knocking
Noah urges persistence in prayer, citing Jesus' parable of the persistent widow and the command to ask, seek, and knock. He says God is looking for people who seek him in a fallen world, and that the hand of God is for good on all who seek him, pointing to Romans 8.
Luke 18:1-8 · Matthew 7:7-8 · Romans 8:28
- What prayer have you stopped praying because you grew tired or discouraged?
- How does Jesus' parable of the persistent widow shape the way you understand unanswered prayer?
- What would it look like for you to press in rather than give up when the answer seems slow?
Stand on the promises of God
Noah says the third principle is to remember God's promise when prayer and fasting feel ineffective. Ezra's words rest on a promise recorded in 2 Chronicles 15, and Noah points to 2 Corinthians 1 and Hebrews 10 as grounds for holding fast to hope without wavering.
2 Chronicles 15:1-4 · 2 Corinthians 1:20 · Hebrews 10:23
- Which promise of God do you most need to remember in this season?
- Noah says God's promises always remain. What makes it difficult for you to stand on a promise when circumstances seem to contradict it?
- How might remembering God's character change the way you pray this week?
Salvation is by grace through faith
Toward the end Noah explains the gospel to those without a relationship with God, turning to 2 Corinthians 5, Philippians 2, John 14, and Ephesians 2. He says salvation is by grace through faith, not by works, so no one can boast, and he identifies Jesus as the only way to the Father.
2 Corinthians 5:21 · Philippians 2:6-11 · John 14:6 · Ephesians 2:8-9
- How does Noah describe what Jesus did so that people could become the righteousness of God?
- Noah says salvation is not by our own doing but a gift of God. How does that reshape the way you think about your own effort?
- Why does Noah insist that Jesus is the only way of salvation rather than one option among many?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What three principles does the message draw from Ezra 8?+
Noah names three principles from Ezra 8:21-23: humble ourselves before God, seek God and make our requests known to him, and remember his promise. He connects humility with obedience and repentance, seeking with wholehearted devotion, and remembering with standing on God's word in faith. Each point is anchored in the text about Ezra proclaiming a fast before the journey to Jerusalem, and each is supported with additional passages Noah reads aloud.
Which of the three do you most need to practice this week?
Why does Noah connect fasting with humility?+
Noah points to Ezra 8:21, where the fast is proclaimed so the people might humble themselves before God. He says humility is the posture in which prayer and fasting begins, whether a person feels ready or not. Drawing on Micah 6 and James 4, he describes humility as recognizing that God is God and we are not, and says it leads to obedience and repentance. He warns that when we humble ourselves, the enemy may try to replace grace with shame, but God gives grace to the humble.
What would humility look like in your next prayer?
What does the message say about persistence in prayer?+
From Jesus' parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8 and the command to ask, seek, and knock in Matthew 7:7-8, Noah urges the church to keep praying and not lose heart. He says believers should not give up when there seems to be no answer, and he grounds that persistence in Romans 8:28, that God's hand is for good on all who seek him.
Where have you grown tired of praying?
How does the message connect prayer and fasting to the gospel?+
Toward the end, Noah turns to those without a relationship with God and explains the gospel from 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Philippians 2:6-11, that Christ was made sin for us and humbled himself to the cross, and from John 14:6 and Ephesians 2:8-9, that Jesus is the only way and salvation is by grace through faith, not by works. He then leads a prayer of commitment for those who respond, framing humility and seeking as a response to God's grace.
What would it mean for you to respond to God's grace this week?
