Women’s Ministries
ARP Women’s Ministry: Prayer Emphasis 2024
By Emily Woodard, Women’s Ministries Spiritual Life
Family Bible Conference last summer, it is good to note that “minor” re- fers only to the length of the books in comparison to the longer “major” prophets, and not to the importance of the content. Unfortunately, though, “minor” may also refer to the attention given to the books in our own per- sonal study. And, for Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, this relative neglect is perhaps compounded by the books’ location within a period of Old Tes- tament history with which we often are not well acquainted: the very end. The post-exilic era, or the restoration period, refers to the years after the Babylonian exile for the people of God had ended, when Persia, as the new world-power, allowed the Jews to return to Judah and begin to restore Je- rusalem. The historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah (along with portions of our three prophets. They also provide some wonderful studies in prayer. For example, as Ezra prepares to lead a second group of returnees to Jeru- salem, he decrees a special time of fasting and prayer for the safety of their journey (Ezra 8:21-23). Though he sensed the call of God on him to teach that “the hand of God [was] for good on” his group for their mission (8:22), he still humbly and wisely sought protection from the Lord. Do we remember to pray for the hand of God to be on us as we carry out his purposes in the world? After arriving in Jerusalem, Ezra is approached by the leaders of the com- munity with a report of widespread sin among the people (intermarriage shame at this revelation (9:1-5), leads the people in a remarkable prayer of corporate confession and repentance (9:6-15). In it he walks through the history of the people’s (and their fathers’) iniquity (v.7) and God’s steadfast love (v.9). Of note, Ezra is not just summarizing the documented relation- ship between a faithful God and his unfaithful people, but highlighting the fact that the people have just experienced a moment of favor and revival in the freedom from captivity and the salvation of a remnant, yet they have already forsaken the commandments of the Lord (vv. 8-10, 13-14). While seriousness with which Ezra takes the sin and guilt of the people and the need for corporate humbling and repentance is a good reminder to us of the importance of confession and of thinking biblically about our sin. Many
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he ARP Women’s Ministry annual study for 2024 is in Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, collectively referred to as the post-exilic minor prophets. As Dr. Michael Barrett reminded the attendees of
of us likely participate in a corpo- rate confession of sin each Sunday, but do we take time to truly mourn over sin? Jesus tells us that those who do are blessed, “for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). And perhaps an equally poignant ques- tion: how many of us make confession a regular part of our individual prayer time? As John reminds us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive our- selves, and the truth is not in us… [but] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all un- righteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). A decade or so after Ezra trav- eled to Jerusalem, Nehemiah fol- lowed to continue the work of re- building the city. He, too, displays fasting and mourning over the sin of his people and pleading with the Lord in confession (Neh. 1:4-11). His plea for God’s mercy, like Dan- iel’s near the end of the Babylonian exile, relies on the fact that the peo- ple are the Lord’s possession and their city is where He has chosen to make His name dwell (Daniel 9:18- 19, Nehemiah 1:9-10). In reminding the Lord of His promises of faith- fulness to His people, Nehemiah people, but for the ultimate glory of the Lord. He asks the Lord to be at- tentive to the prayer of his servants who delight to fear his name (Neh. 1:11). When we pray, do we seek the our personal requests to Him? Shortly after the description of his extended season of prayer in chapter 1, readers are given a dif- ferent type of prayer example from Nehemiah as he appears before King Artaxerxes to ask permission to travel to Judah. Having already requested the Lord’s mercy before the king in his unhurried and re- corded prayer (1:11), Nehemiah
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