Pray the Scriptures, June 25

Sovereign Lord,

We praise you, Yahweh, the great God, and lift our hands to you. We bow down and worship you with our faces to the ground.

In the name of Jesus, I pray this day for myself and for ______________________ . I pray that we will imitate the example we are given here by your people in Nehemiah’s day. May we too assemble as one man, along with others, to listen attentively to the book of truth. Give us hearts and minds that are able to understand when others open the Scriptures to us.

Grant us gifted teachers who will be able to instruct us in your Word, making it clear and giving us its meaning so that we can understand your truth. I pray that we will give attention to the words of the Scripture and obey what we find written there. Use us to proclaim your word and spread it throughout our city and throughout our nation.

I pray that you will raise up political leaders like Nehemiah at every level in our land, men who will seize the initiative as public servants to turn the heart of our people back to you and to your word.

We read here that the day on which Ezra opened the Book of the Law was a sacred day. It was not to be a day of mourning or weeping, but a day of celebration and feasting. I pray that understanding your Word will cause us to celebrate with great joy, as it did for these Israelites. May our joy be very great, and may your joy, the joy of the Lord, be our strength this day.

I pray in the name of Jesus, amen.