Fasting and humility

“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.” - Ezra 8v21
Ezra was now ready to move forward, but he knew that there would be opposition. He was ashamed to ask the king for protection because he had already told the king that God would take care of them and protect them. There were protected by God’s almighty hand.

Instead of asking for help Ezra called for a fast with two purposes. One was to humble themselves, the other was to seek God’s way for them. Fasting was certainly not only an Old Testament practice. When teaching on fasting Jesus just assumed people were doing it, “When you fast…” He said. For Ezra fasting was a chance for the people to show their humility and to seek God’s way for the nation.

At the end of the fasting and prayer time they could rejoice for He heard their prayer. There is great benefit to be gained through fasting and prayer. The next time we face a situation where we do not know what to do, instead of running and asking someone for help, perhaps we should follow Ezra’s example and humble ourselves in fasting and prayer as we seek His direction.