I grew up doing musicals.
Without sharing my life story with you, let it suffice to say that memories
involving music, drama, or arts, always seem to stick with me. One of the musicals I was in at some point in
my childhood was called “O Me, O My, O Nehemiah!”. The first thing I thought of when I heard
about this Bible study was one of the predominant memories that remains of this
fun little children’s musical: Nehemiah rebuilt the wall (see what I mean here
if you are unfamiliar with what wall I'm talking about).
I say all of this to tell you one thing: the book of
Nehemiah is so much less about the rebuilding of a wall...
In fact, in all the peripheral research I did in personal
preparation for his week’s group study, almost every resource I came to
primarily talked of Nehemiah’s focus on prayer. Prayer.
He was no engineer, after all. He
was a trusted, faithful leader that relied heavily on prayer. For this reason, when we study Nehemiah, we
may have to throw away some of our cozy childhood memories of our Biblical
expertise and look at what the book really says. We’re only in week two of this study, and
still on the brief chapter one, but already we see a foundation Nehemiah builds
in his life that has little to do with cutting or moving stone and a lot to do
with relying on his communication with our Creator.
There are some very distinct truths that we can pull out of
these 11 verses about Nehemiah, about our lives, and about prayer.
We can pray with confidence!
As a God-follower (specifically now, a Christ-follower), we can have confidence in prayer. Nehemiah demonstrated this confidence in that he knew the God he was praying to when he made his requests. Nehemiah had a respect for God’s wonderfulness, he had a trust in God’s faithfulness, and he had a righteousness that taught him God was approachable. Our attitude about prayer is often shaped by our attitude about God. Nehemiah would have grown up learning about the attitudes toward prayer of Kings in his heritage, and one of them was Hezekiah.
Hezekiah prayed confidently to God in the same manner that we see Nehemiah doing so. (See 2 Kings 19:14-19). Hezekiah’s confidence was not just a boldness with the intent to flatter or manipulate God, but was to demonstrate his reliance on God’s faithfulness to keep His promises. We were reminded that prayer is not an opportunity for us to align God’s plan with our wishes, but as we seek God, our wishes are aligned to God’s plan.
Prayer brings
success!
Do you see? This is the answer to success in every area of life! Prayer changes our heart’s desires to God’s desires. God’s desires always match His great plan and purpose, and His purposes never fail. Therefore, prayer always leads to success when we are seeking to have the heart of God, rather than seeking to have our own way.
God’s answers are
immediate!
When we are praying for the plans and purposes of God to pan out, we can be confident that He has already answered those prayers. Here are some examples: In 2 Kings 20, the prophet Isaiah came to tell King Hezekiah that he was going to die. The King prayed as soon as the prophet left, and before Isaiah had passed through the courtyard of the temple (which was not very far at all-perhaps from your house to two doors down), God gave him the answer to Hezekiah’s prayer: “I’m giving you 15 more years to live.”
Wow! That's pretty immediate!
Consider also, Daniel and his prayer (see Daniel 10:1-14). Daniel started praying and immediately God sent out the answer. The angel sent to deliver the answer was held up for three weeks, though, and so Daniel kept praying. Come to find out, Daniel’s prayers weren't just for an answer from God – they were for the delivery of that answer. Do you get it? When we pray, God answers immediately! If we don’t see or know the answer immediately, we keep praying for the delivery of the answer! God’s ready to dish out answers to prayer. They are not as few and far between as they may seem, but we have a responsibility: act. Pray. Ask for what we need and then pray for a clear delivery of your answer while you praise God for what you can confidently trust that He has already done.
Prayer is valuable!
In verse 11 of Nehemiah chapter 1, we read that Nehemiah was praying with other people. His request of God was not just to hear his prayers, but to hear the prayers of all the faithful people who have been in prayer. Nehemiah was the spokesperson for his people at this time, but he was not the only person interceding through prayer for the Israelites and for the city of Jerusalem. Sometimes we are in a place in life where we are a “spokesperson” – we are in the position and have the ability to speak up for that which we and others are praying. But sometimes, we are the silent warrior, praying with other believers, expecting from our faithful God, but not necessarily writing a book about it or leading a movement for it. Each prayer is vital. Each prayer is valuable. And no prayer goes unheard.
That “circumstance”
in your life is your divine opportunity!
In fact, Nehemiah’s mentioning that he was a cup-bearer to the king wasn't necessarily as out-of-placed as it seems, initially. The assignment of cup-bearer was a high honor bestowed on people that were loyal leaders and whose character had been tested. This testing of character would have taken years, perhaps Nehemiah’s entire lifetime up to this point, but certainly before Nehemiah knew how God was going to use him. Instead, while this verse states a fact, it also states a history: God had been putting this plan into place for a very long time! His statement (in 444 B.C.) resembles the heart of what Mordecai spoke to Queen Esther approximately 40 years earlier (in 473 B.C.) – God has placed Nehemiah (like Esther) in the position and with the express ability to carry out a divine plan “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).
You can take heart from this, because it is a truth that runs like a thread through the entire Bible, through the ages, and into the timeline of your life today: God has placed you in a position, and has placed in you the ability, to carry out His plan “for such a time as this”. Your job is not a coincidence, your neighbors are not a coincidence, and your car troubles are not a coincidence. All these things that shape our lives – the “dailies” that we have to deal with – are all part of the plan that God has in mind – and they have been that way forever! Trusting, honoring, and following God during whatever you’re dealing with is your opportunity to jump into a divine plan and see restoration happen in your life and in the lives of those with whom you come in contact.
Logic can be our
biggest ally or our biggest enemy!
Often, we fall into “logic traps”, leading us to believe that an answer from God was really not from God at all, but was because “that’s just the way things naturally happen”. While this latter statement is true much of the time, the reasoning behind it is not true.
When you cut your finger and ask for healing, God may use a salve to heal your finger, but the salve was not the healer. The salve may have been the resource, and your application of the salve was perhaps the obedience required, but God is the one who did the healing, not the salve. This is what we mean by logic traps.
Nehemiah didn't succumb to these traps, though he was certainly a wise man. He chose to bring the details to God and let God work those details out. His prayer was desperate and brokenhearted for the heritage of which he had only heard stories. Even with these disjointed burdens, Nehemiah knew that God was big enough to ease his burden, in whichever way was suitable to His plan. Like the heart of Nehemiah, let’s be mindful to thank God for each and every answer to prayer – even those we don’t physically see. And let’s remember that while logic has its value, nothing surpasses the power or value that is held in the very being of God.
Questions for Reflection:
- Have you ever had an event in your life that has caused you such great sorrow that you have wept for days or weeks? What was it? Did you take time to seriously pray about it?
- How would you evaluate your current prayer life? Is there something you would want to change?
- Do you view prayer as a privilege, a job, or both?
- Knowing what we know about Nehemiah’s divine placement in history (like Esther, like Jesus, like Moses), can you see how God may be taking you through places and seasons that could bring Him glory and bring you long-term goodness? We cannot know which way the hand of God will move, but working to see our “hard times” through the eyes of eternity can give us hope in the short-term.
Nehemiah Bible Study
If you want to join my friends and I and dive into this FREE Bible study, click here! You can do it solo or start a group. The study is posted online each week along with a companion study guide. And if you do decide to jump into the fun, please email me with your thoughts on the lessons. I hope to hear form you!
Special thanks to Jillian Patch for her assistance on this
week’s study recap blog and for the practical application of all the ladies in
attendance this week! You’re stories and
thoughts are a blessing!
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