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Fall Week of Prayer: Renewal

September 22-26, 2025

A Week of Prayer for Renewal

September 22-26, 2025

To renew means to restore to freshness or vigor; to begin again.

This week we will be praying for renewal in ourselves, in our church, and in our community. That renewal is not primarily about learning more about something new, but leaning more on someone True. It is about going deeper into the faithfulness, goodness, and graciousness of God. That is the lesson that the people of God learned after the exile. Remarkably, the people never return to idolatry after coming back from Babylon.

It is in the book of Ezra that they finally believed that in God they have everything they need for life and godliness. Ezra is a story of the people of God being brought to new life and hope by God’s grace. It is profoundly God centered. God stirred up their hearts to be recommitted to the word, people, and worship of God. It is profoundly hopeful. From an earthly perspective, the exiles are vulnerable and face many obstacles. Yet, throughout the book, God answers the prayers of His people and restores them. Renewal and new life start with our faithful God and lead to greater confidence in God’s faithfulness in our future.

Our prayers will be based on the aspects of renewal found in Ezra. Each morning you will get a text with a link to a short reflection and prayer prompts. The week will start by considering the grace of God, which is the starting place of all renewal. Then on Tuesday, our prayers will be guided by the humility and repentance expressed vividly in Ezra. The last three days will be invitations to devote ourselves to God’s people, God’s word, and God’s worship. Friday will culminate in an evening of worship and prayer at 7:00pm on September 26th. 

Christians have often found it fruitful to periodically step back and examine their faith. To deliberately make space for God to work in our hearts. It is often in these moments that the Spirit prods us to turn away from other hopes and once again turn towards loving God. May this week will be an opportunity for each of us to renew our devotion to God.

FRIDAY

Renewal Through Worship

“And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful.” – Ezra 6:22a

If you were in charge of the Jerusalem rebuilding project where would you start?

Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah are the three key leaders in the story of the return to exile. They rebuild the temple, the spiritual community, and the city walls respectively and in that order. Note, the temple was built first. In fact, the altar was built and worship started even before the temple was finished.

Remarkably, they prioritized right worship over a functioning government or national security. This wasn’t because there weren’t any dangers. As we heard last week, the altar was built precisely because of the fear of the peoples. They saw right worship as the cornerstone of personal and community renewal. Nothing else could happen before worship was restored.

If you get a chance, read through the book of Ezra and look for examples of worship. Make a note of every time a prayer, offering, or feast is mentioned. Notice how the rebuilding of the temple, and restoration of the priesthood is central. Not only will you see worship jump right off the page, you will also see that God initiated and fueled their worship. The sang with joy because the Lord had made them joyful.

This evening we will conclude our week of prayer with worship and prayer. We’ll meet at 7pm in the Edwards room. Weather permitting, there will be smores and firepits in the parking lot afterwards. All are welcome!

PRAYER PROMPTS:

  • Reflect on God’s providence and grace in restoring His people out of exile. Consider how God has restored you. Praise the Lord for His sovereign love and mercy.
  • Pray for the joy of the Lord to lead to an overflow of praise from your heart.
  • Consider praying through a Psalm of praise such as Psalm 40, 95, 100, 145, or 150.
  • Ask God to stir in our hearts so that God glorifying worship to be a priority and cornerstone in our community.

THURSDAY

Renewal Through the Word

But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

The book of Ezra has several recurring characters. First, there are leaders of the people such as Ezra, Jeshua, and Zerubbabel. They are leading “the people” who function collectively as the second character. Third, there are kings in Persia such as Cyrus and Artaxerxes, who direct events from afar. Fourth, there are local opponents to the restoration work. Lastly, there is one more recurring character that may not be as obvious. The Word of God is the driving force that moves the story along. 

The book starts with the fulfillment of prophecies found in Jeremiah 29 and Deuteronomy 30 that the exiles will return. Then in Chapter 3 the people “built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.” The temple dedication, observance of Passover, and selection of priests all likewise draw on passages in the bible. In chapter 7, Ezra is sent to teach the people and appoint judges who know the Scriptures. “The good hand of his God was upon him, for he had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel” Ezra 7:10.

Lastly, there is a covenant renewal ceremony which includes repentance according to God's word. It is an echo of covenant renewals in Exodus 24 and Joshua 24. In short, the book of Ezra is an illustration of Isaiah 66:2 –"God looks to those that are humble and contrite in heart, who tremble at his word."

The returning exiles were living for the glory of God. They understood what we must understand; glorifying God starts with listening to and obeying His Word. Those who fear the Lord wisely attune their ears to “every word that comes the mouth of the Lord.”

PRAYER PROMPTS:

  • Thank our Father in heaven, who has spoken to us “at many times and in many ways” through His scripture. Thank him for speaking to us finally and fully in His Son, Jesus Christ. 
  • Pray for a renewed love and reverence for God’s word. Consider reading sections of Psalm 119 to inform your prayer. 
  • Ask God to give you a humble and faithful spirit that both trembles at his word, and also becomes a doer of the word. 
  • Pray for the “good hand of God to be upon” those who teach the bible in our church as it was with Ezra. 

WEDNESDAY

Renewal Through Community

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." - Ephesians 2:19-22

Ezra isn’t just a story of God restoring individuals. It is a story of God recreating the community of God. After listing the names of the individuals that returned from exile, chapter 3 begins with “all the people together as one man in Jerusalem.” Throughout the book, God’s people not only gather in worship, but also cooperate to rebuild the temple. They assemble to hear the law read aloud. At the end of the book, they corporately confess and repent of sins. It's hard to find anything in the book that doesn’t have a community dimension. Below are a few examples.

- Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. Ezra 1:5-6

- When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. Ezra 3:1

- And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. Ezra 6:16

- While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. Ezra 10:1

Ephesians 2 says that Jesus is building His people into a dwelling place of God. Each of us is a stone that is placed alongside of others to build this living temple. Each stone in a building is indispensable and irreplaceable. It rests on others and is relied upon. One of the roots and fruits of renewal is the people of God dedicating themselves to each other. We stir one another up to love and good deeds, bear each other's burdens, teach each other, and worship together. It's hard to find anything in our spiritual lives that doesn’t have a community dimension. 

PRAYER PROMPTS:

  • Pray for the Christians that are in your life. Be specific as you thank God for those that have helped to “build you up.” 
  • Ask God to guide you to care for, encourage, and spur on other believers. 
  • If you have strained relationships with other Christians, pray for renewed unity with them. Confess and repent of ways you have contributed to division. Forgive those that have sinned against you as Christ has forgiven you.  
  • The community of God’s people in Ezra’s day united in worship and worked together on mission. Pray for that same unity in our church. Pray for it to move us forward on mission as well. 

TUESDAY

Renewal Through Humility

"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” - James 4:6 

A few days ago on a radio program, I heard a man say that the upheaval in the nation was leading him to double his effort to be devout. He concluded, “[Christianity] isn’t for the weak.” Unfortunately, the radio host agreed with him. 

The truth couldn’t be more opposite. The quickest way to derail spiritual renewal is to start with pride and self-reliance. As the people returning from Babylon knew, we are spiritually weak and hopeless apart from God’s grace. The Kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in Spirit. Listen to how Ezra expresses humility in prayer, fasting, and confession. 

- Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. Ezra 8:21

- O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. Ezra 9:6

- Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this. Ezra 9:15b

God heard their prayers, forgave them of their sins, and restored them individually and together as a people. Renewal does not begin on the mountain tops, but rather on our knees before the Lord in prayer. As those in Christ, we can be fearless in bringing our sins to our Savior who bore every sin for us. 

PRAYER PROMPTS:

  • Confess any sin that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind
  • Acknowledge your need and dependence upon God
  • Ask for the transforming grace of God to change you
  • Pray for clarity and courage to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance”
  • Praise the Lord for the confidence we have through Christ that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!

MONDAY

Renewal Through Grace

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26

The book of Ezra comes at one of the lowest moments in the history of God’s people. They had experienced the consequences of generations of idolatry and rebellion. The kingdom was gone. The temple was destroyed. The people were in exile. And yet into that hopelessness, God gave more grace. He was faithful to His promises and stirred in the hearts of kings and commoners alike to restore the people of God. 

No matter how low of a situation you find yourself in, God is faithful and gives more grace. Our hope for spiritual renewal is not in our circumstances or our strength, but in our gracious God. The whole book of Ezra is a story of God’s face shining upon his people, and being gracious to them. He had promised that we would restore his people, and he was faithful to that promise. 

PRAYER PROMPTS:

  • Thank the Lord for fulfilling the blessing in Numbers 6 through Jesus Christ. He has made His face shine upon you, been gracious to you, and given you peace. 
  • If you are in a particularly low moment, cry out to the Lord for help and mercy. There is more grace for you before the throne of God. If you know of someone in a situation that seems hopeless, pray for God to be gracious to them as well. 
  • Ezra 1:5 says that God stirred the spirits of people to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord. Ask God to stir up your spirit to live for the glory of God. Pray that God would stir in hearts across our church and our community to live for God. 

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