I want to get into this.

Could we turn our Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 9?

Nehemiah chapter 9.

If you do not have a tangible Bible, it will be projected for you on the screen.

The reason I want to read this passage of scripture is because we are currently as a local

assembly fasting and we're praying.

However, I think oftentimes we don't fully understand the power of the prayer part.

And so I just want us to read this passage. It may be a new passage of scripture for you, depending on where you are in your Christian

journey.

Nehemiah chapter 9, verse 1, if you're there, would just shout him there.

If you're not, say, hold up.

All of y'all said, hold up, look up.

All right.

So it says on the 24th day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together

fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. This is a sign of repentance.

Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners.

They stood in the place and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.

So before we go keep reading, we'll just touch that.

Why did they not just confess their sins, but they're also

praying for the sins that have been in their bloodline? Because I think that one of the fundamental

things that we've forgotten or gone away from, especially in Western Christianity, is the idea

of corporate activity. That when we go to God, we often are confessing our sins, right?

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