You believe in God, but do you believe God? God says His hand will rest on us, He will protect us and provide for us. When have you had an opportunity to put your faith into practice?

Ezra writes in chapter 8 verses 22-23, “I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”

Why was he ashamed – because he had just got through telling the king that God would be with him, but he wanted to ask the king for help! What was Ezra’s solution – fast and pray.

I can identify with Ezra. It is easy to get excited about what God is doing and then find yourself out there wondering, wondering if this is really where God wants you. The same thing happened to Peter. He jumped out of the boat and started walking toward Jesus, then got distracted and started to sink.

Ezra’s solution was to fast and pray. Fasting and prayer has a tendency to keep us focused on Christ, and so I thought this might be a good thing to do as we head into our journey of faith this fall!

I know God will go before us, and I pray that He will keep our church focused on Him. Let us not be distracted from the vision God has given our church.