|
 |
The Prayer of
Nehemiah
Nehemiah 1: 1 - 2:5
In a
few weeks I am going on my yearly week of seclusion. A week where I will
go off to a secluded cabin and spend some time reading, praying, and
recharging. No TV, no Radio, No Computer, just me, books, and God.
I am going to take my Bible and I was looking through my stacks of books
to see what other books I wanted to read over the few days that I will
get alone. Some of the books I am taking were recommended by friends of
mine, some are books that I have picked up and not gotten around to
reading and then there are those books that I have read before and I am
looking forward to reading again.
In my searching I came across a very short book that was on the top of
the best seller list for months, about three years ago. I don’t know if
any one here has read this little book from Bruce Wilkerson entitled,
The Prayer Of Jabez, but it touches on a subject that intrigues me. I
love the idea of looking at and reading the prayers of those hero’s in
the Old Testament and seeing what I can add to my prayer life.
As I look through the scriptures I am reminded how prayerful our first
century brethren were. Did you know that while Jesus hung on the cross,
He prayed the 22 Psalm? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
When James wanted to teach his readers about the power of prayer he
pointed them to Elijah. In James 5 we read The prayer of a righteous
person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature
like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three
years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again,
and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
I have always been amazed at how the heroes of the New Testament looked
to the heroes of the Old Testament for instruction in prayer. So for the
next few weeks I us to go through a series entitled, Heroic Prayer, I
want us to learn what we can by looking at the prayers of great heroes
and heroines of the Bible.
Today Let’s start by looking at the prayer of Nehemiah to discover some
of the secrets of praying heroically. Open your Bibles to Nehemiah 1 and
we are going to read a while until we get all the way down to 2:8.
Read text, pray
This particular prayer of Nehemiah is in response to a situation over
which he had no control. He's just gotten the news about how things are
back home and back home, things are not good. People he loves are in
great distress and trouble. The walls of Jerusalem, the last line of
defense in ancient cities, are broken down and the gates have been
burned to ash. His people are distressed and defenseless. And there
isn't a thing in the world Nehemiah can do about it.
Have you faced a situation like that? You care about someone in trouble,
but you lack either the power to help or they are so far away your
resources can’t do them any good. Powerlessness coupled with compassion
is a frustrating combination.
You hear that your friends marriage is on the rocks. A member of the
church's child is sick with a deadly disease. Your brother's business is
going under. A classmate is living in an abusive home. A friend has
turned to drugs and alcohol. We hear of a situation like that and we
want to do what Nehemiah does in vs. 4; "When I heard these things I sat
down and wept."
Here is the first thing I want you to understand about heroic prayer: It
isn't ashamed of emotion.
Nehemiah says, "For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed."
It is interesting to me that he doesn't specify exactly how many days he
fasted and mourned. He's very time conscious everywhere else.
In vs. 1 he tells us the month and year he received the news about
Jerusalem. Kislev, or the ninth month in the Jewish calendar.
In 2: 1 he tells us the month and year he asked the king for help in
rebuilding the walls. Nisan, the first month in the Jewish calendar.
In 2:11, which we didn't read, he tells us how many days he stayed in
Jerusalem (3) and even what time of day he went out to survey the damage
to the walls. So why doesn't he tell us how long he fasted and mourned?
Maybe he didn't know. Given the depth of his feeling and the devastating
news he'd received, I think it's possible that Nehemiah lost all track
of time. His spirit was crushed. Those days are a confusing blur in his
memory. All he can say is, "I was overwhelmed with grief for ... well,
for some days."
Heroic prayer isn't afraid to be emotional with God. Jesus prayed
through tears in the garden. So did Hannah in 1 Samuel. The disciples in
the upper room prayed on knees shaking with fear. In the Psalms, there
are dozens of prayers prayed through teeth clinched in anger. David,
prayed in embarrassed shame in Psalm 51. God can handle any emotion you
feel. And if you are numb -- if you
feel nothing at all, God can handle that, too.
But all to often we are. We have become the definition of Dysfunction in
the church. Don’t ask, Don’t tell, and Don’t feel.
It has become a sign of weakness in our churches today to show any
emotion. Or we claim that the person is just playing on our emotions.
And we have separated ourselves from it that when the dam bursts and the
emotions flow we don’t know how to handle it.
Last Wednesday I was speaking at a Summer Series where a woman responded
to the invitation. She was crying as she stepped out into the aisle and
in a full-blown wail by the time she made it to me. I thought it was
very interesting that the congregation did not know how to deal with
her. It was a loving church, and the Elders seemed to want to help this
sister in Christ but no one knew what to do with her emotion.
Church Heroic prayer isn't ashamed of emotion.
The second secret to heroic prayer is found in vs. 6. " let your ear be
attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I
now pray before you day and night."
Heroic prayer isn't worried about duration.
While Nehemiah lost track of how long he'd mourned and fasted after
first hearing the news of Jerusalem's devastation, he new exactly how
long he'd been praying to God to do something about it.
In 1: 1 he says he began in the month of, Kislev, the 9th month. In 2:1,
he ended that long season of prayer in the month of Nisan. That's our
January. Nehemiah prayed for three months on one issue.
That requires a lot of patience. Praying every day, praying emotionally
for three months! Have you ever had a problem like that? One that just
wouldn't seem to go away. Like God wasn't listening? Often, in the
Psalms, the writers will cry out, "How long, O Lord? How Long? Will you
hide your face forever?"
Heroic prayer isn't blind to the calendar. It is aware of how long God
is taking and sometimes takes Him to task for it. Nehemiah was painfully
aware. He knew the month, day and year he began praying. But even though
we're aware of the duration, we keep on praying, because we seek after
the end result.
But there is another angle here. Sometimes we think the only kinds of
prayers that matter, are the long, Monk-like, ashes on your fore-head,
robes-rent-asunder prayers. That in order to be considered a truly
heroic prayer warrior you must pray night and day for months on end.
That’s not true look at Nehemiah 2: 1 - 5. (Read).
Reckon how long that prayer was? The one in between the King's question,
"What is it you want?," and Nehemiah's answer? Oh, maybe 3 seconds.
You don’t think that he said to the King "Excuse me, your excellency,
while I go inquire of the Lord for another three months."
No! He just said, "Okay, Lord here we go." Or "It's now or never God."
Or "Time to do your thing."
Who knows? All I can tell you is that Nehemiah had seconds to pray one
more mini-prayer and it was showtime. I didn't say that right. There is
no such thing as a mini-prayer when you are addressing the mighty God.
God doesn't get into time very much. Long or short, God hears you. In
the months of tearful, angry wrestling, he hears. In the seconds of
terror, he hears. Heroic prayer isn't worried about duration.
Thirdly Heroic prayer is serious about confession.
Go back to Nehemiah 1:6-9 for a moment. let your ear be attentive and
your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray
before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants,
confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned
against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted
very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the
statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember
the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are
unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to
me and keep my commandments and do them, though your dispersed be under
the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the
place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
It will help to remember what we said about emotion a moment ago.
There's no sense in praying a happy, blue-skies-and-rainbows prayer when
your heart is breaking. God already knows you are sad.
There's no sense in praying a sweet, sweet spirit prayer when you are
mad as all get out. God already knows you are angry. And there’s no
sense in pretending you're not guilty when you ought to be praying like
David in Psalm 51. "My sin is ever before me," God knows you're guilty.
That's why
you haven't been praying much anyway.
God already knows the evil you think, the despicable options you
consider, the shameful plans you are making, and the weakness that
cripples your walk. So just tell him. He won't be surprised. I like the
way Nehemiah puts it. "I confess the sins we Israelites, including
myself ... have committed against you."
When you pray it's a good idea to start by confessing your own sins
first. But it's not a bad thing to confess sins you didn't commit. Look
at what Nehemiah says next. "I confess the sins we Israelites, including
myself and my fathers house have committed against you."
He includes all Israel and even his own ancestors. Why would he confess
the sins of the dead? Some of you really aren't going to like this next
part.
Look in Deuteronomy 5: 8-10 You shall not make for yourself a carved
image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is
on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall
not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third
and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love
to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Sin has consequences that ripple down through the years. Nehemiah knew
that. He and his contemporaries were living in slavery because of the
sins of their fathers. So he confessed that sin to God. There are a
couple of things we can learn here.
Decisions you make now won't just affect you. They will affect you and
your children and your children’s children. God himself says that sin
has far reaching consequences, reaching down through the generations.
Ask people who grew up in alcoholic or abusive families if that isn't
true.
He also tells us that God honoring decisions have such far reaching
consequences that generations thousands of years removed will be
blessed.
The fourth thing we can learn about Heroic prayer is that it is bold in
its petitions.
Verse 11. " O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your
servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your
name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the
sight of this man.”
Nehemiah adds this crucial note in his story. "I was cupbearer to the
king."
Nehemiah wasn't afraid to pray for success. That's what heroic prayer
seeks. God's blessing for godly goals. We often settle for so little,
when God wants to give us the world.
It’s like the story of Arnold Palmer who is said to have traveled to
play golf with a wealthy Arab prince. The prince was so impressed with
Palmer's demonstration that he asked what gift he might bestow upon the
famous golfer to thank him. Palmer was embarrassed by the attention and
was about to decline. One of his associates warned him, "If you deny the
prince's gift, he'll be greatly offended." So Palmer said, "Well, if you
must, a golf club would be an appropriate gift and much appreciated."
Palmer flew home and resumed training. Later that month an envelope
arrived. In it was the gift from the prince -- a golf club – but not a
driver or an iron – the letter contained a deed to an entire golf club.
Don't be afraid to ask big when you ask God. He's already given you the
most expensive gift anyone could ever want -- he's adopted you as his
son, his daughter. Everything else is little stuff to him. So ask.
|
