Tuesday, June 17

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The first chapter of Nehemiah is the story of how word came to him about the desperate condition of God’s people in Jerusalem and how he responded.  We have already discussed how Nehemiah responded with tears and brokenness over the condition of the city and its people, the rest of the chapter is a recording of Nehemiah’s prayer.  One of the critical aspects of Nehemiah’s prayer is how long it was.  

This is very easy to miss...

Nehemiah 1:1 - The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa.

Nehemiah 2:1 - In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king.

The Hebrew month of Kislev is between late November and mid-December.  The month of Nisan is late April to early May.  This is a period of 4-5 months between the time Nehemiah heard the news about the condition of Jerusalem and the time when he took action and went to the king.  

What was Nehemiah doing for those 4-5 months?  He was praying!  He was praying, fasting, and seeking God.  It is tempting to read the first chapter of Nehemiah and think that he cried for awhile, fasted for a few hours, prayed a great prayer, and then got busy with his plan of action, but this is not at all how it happened.  

Martin Luther is reported to have said, "I have so much to do that if I don't spend at least three hours a day in prayer I will never get it all done."  How different from the way most contemporary Christians think!  We are so quick to rush into our ideas and our plans and we often treat prayer as a means of getting God’s blessing for what we think needs to be done.  In fact, I think if we are honest, many of us feel (even if we don’t like to admit it) that spending too much time praying rather than doing something is actually a waste of time.  Luther again - “Prayer does not simply prepare us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.”  

In prayer, our hearts are aligned with the will of God.  

In prayer, we begin to see things the way God sees them and we begin to feel the way God feels about people and circumstances.  

In prayer, our biases, fears and anxieties are removed.  

In prayer, our faith and trust in God’s provision is bolstered.

In prayer, our courage and resolve to be faithful and obedient to God’s will is strengthened.

1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

God wants to change the world through the prayers of His people, but too many of us are not willing to be patient and persistent enough to have our wills aligned with the will of God.

I think Nehemiah knew in his heart that this need was so great that it was not going to be his leadership skill, nor his natural intelligence, nor his experience in the palace, nor his business sense, nor his charisma and persuasive powers that would accomplish the task...it was going to have to be an act of God!  Of course, God would use the gifts and abilities of Nehemiah to accomplish His purposes, but ultimately, this was beyond mere human capacity to accomplish.  

The most powerful resource we have as Christians, is not ourselves, it is our God! 

Oh Lord God, You alone are our strength and our shield.  Forgive us for trusting in our own strength and wisdom to deal with the problems we face.  May Your Holy Spirit move in our hearts so that our first response is to fall to our knees and cry out to You for whatever we need - Amen.

Jeff Frazier