Prayer

Nehemiah, when you think of him, do you think of his prayers and how they affected his life? I usually don't. But, his prayers were how his life played out. His prayers were how he began his mission. His prayers were what gave him the strength to fight the opposition and the courage to finish his job.

Nehemiah 1:4-7, "When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: 'O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and obey His commands, let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer Your servant is praying before You day and night for Your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against You. We have acted very wickedly toward You. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws You gave Your servant Moses.'"

Nehemiah starts his prayer with the awareness of God's sovereignty and His holy awesomeness. Then before he complains and tells God all that is gone wrong, he first looks at himself and sees the sins that have been committed against God. He starts by looking at God and after he looks at how wonderful God is, he can then see clearly how he has failed himself.

After Nehemiah had spent many days in prayer to God, he was ready for what was to come next. (2:4), "The king said to me, 'What is it you want?' Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king...." Nehemiah was ready and waiting for God to show him the right timing and when he was presented with his opportunity to visit with the king he did not jump right in and give the king his answer, but he took the problem to God before he answered the king with his own words.

While they were working hard to rebuild the wall, they were greeted with opposition. But instead of taking the insults personally, Nehemiah knew the one they were really insulting was God, and he asked God to deal with them. (4:4-5), "Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart."

(4:9), "But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." They believed God. They knew God was in control. They relied on God, but this did not mean that they did not take the necessary precautions while they they were working out God's plan for their life.

(6:9), "They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, 'Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.' But I prayed, 'Now strengthen my hands.'" While they were working, he prayed that God would give them the strength to continue. Nehemiah knew where the strength came from. He knew that without God's help, they would not be able to complete the task.

While Nehemiah was working he kept his focus. (13:29), "Remember them, O my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites." It would have been so easy for him to get bitter against the people and to take out his own revenge, but he knew whose right it was to keep justice. He kept his focus on God and his role with his relationship with God.

(5:19), "Remember me with favor, O my God..." (13:14), "Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services." (13:22), "Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to Your great love." (13:31), "Remember me with favor, O my God." In asking God to remember him, Nehemiah kept his mind clear and kept him focused on why he was doing all of this.

As we walk through life, do we take all of what we do before God? When we first see something that is broken, do we begin with asking God to forgive us of our own sins? We are often faced with a task. Can we keep our focus on God and allow Him to deal with the opposition in front of us? Do we think that we do not need to take action to protect ourselves, or do we think that it is showing more faith by being passive? Can we keep our focus on God, while we are working for Him? These are all lessons in prayer that we can learn from the life of Nehemiah. Have we begun our day in pray to God this day? Do we take every issue, everything to God throughout the day?