Text- Nehemiah 1
Title- Being Continually Connected To God
Nehemiah 1:1 - 2:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, "The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire." 4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 I said, "I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 "We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 "Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ’If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 10 "They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 "O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man." Now I was the cupbearer to the king.
Being Continually Connected to God involves…
I. A Heart of Compassion- 1-4
II. A Right View of God- 5-6a
III. A Clear Conscience- 6b-7
IV. A Clear Understanding of God’s Word- 8-9
V. A Fervent Plea- 10-11
Back about 10-11 years ago I heard a sermon series from the book of Nehemiah that changed the way I interacted with God significantly. Now, I’m like you, I’d heard a lot of sermons in my lifetime, but I couldn’t remember more than a handful of them. You remember the really, really good ones, and often you remember the really, really bad ones.
As a pastor I don’t expect you to memorize everything I say. That’s just not possible, or necessary. Sermons are a lot like meals. You might not remember what you had for lunch three weeks ago, but it still nourished you. You might not remember all the details of what I preach on, but hopefully it still nourishes you and you walk away either comforted or convicted, whichever is necessary.
Anyway, that sermon series from the book of Nehemiah is one of those that stuck with me. Because it was really the first time I was presented with this new way of praying.
I grew up in a very conservative church and I was always taught the importance of a daily pray time. It always seemed to be this very strict, very regimented thing. I should be spending an hour every morning in a prayer. But I always had a tough time doing it.
Henry talked a few weeks ago about seeing prayer as a “get-to” instead of a “have to”. Well I grew up seeing it as a have to. I was told when to do it, where to do it, for how long to do it. When I failed to stick to the rules I felt like scum. My prayer life was weak.
Some people are very organized and scheduled and thrive on routine. I just don’t have that type of personality.
Some people thrive with a regulated prayer time. I don’t want to make it sound like having a set schedule is a bad thing at all. It’s a great thing. But that way of communicating with God isn’t going to fit every personality type.
So when my pastor went through this book, something clicked with me. What I saw was a picture of a guy who was connected to God in a different way. What I saw gave me the freedom to realize that I can pray anywhere, anytime, and for anything.
This book really isn’t just about how to pray better, it’s an object lesson in how to be continually connected to God. It is so much more than prayer; it is practicing the presence of God. We will see this demonstrated time and time again all throughout the book; starting in chapter 1.
Follow along as I read the fist chapter of Nehemiah…
Let me give you a very brief review of the context for those who might not have been here last week. Nehemiah is really the last chapter in OT history. The people of God had disobeyed God and fallen into idolatry and so as punishment they were conquered and dragged into captivity. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the walls of the city were left in ruin.
After 70 years in captivity some of the people where allowed to return to Jerusalem. The book of Ezra tells the story of the rebuilding of the temple. And Nehemiah tells the story of the rebuilding of the walls. He is also a great example of a man who was connected to God.
Being connected to God begins with a heart of compassion.
The story starts with Nehemiah in the capitol city of Susa. Now Nehemiah was the official cupbearer to the king. That was a very important job. He would have had a lot of important responsibilities, and had a great deal of authority. He was most likely in the capitol city on business.
He gets a visit from Hanani, his brother. Probably an actual brother, and some other men from Judah. Nehemiah asks the men how things are going for the Jews who had survived captivity and had returned to Jerusalem.
The report he gets from them is shocking…
"The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire." 4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
When Nehemiah hears of the distress of his people in Jerusalem he is heartbroken. The question I had as I was reading this is why it took this report to move Nehemiah’s heart?
Jews had been back in Jerusalem for decades. He must have know something about the situation over there. Why had he never cared about them before? Maybe he was too busy with his governmental duties. Maybe he had never received a first person report of the situation. Maybe hearing about it from his own brother made things hit closer to home. Maybe it was just that God moved in his heart in a powerful way when he received this new report.
I think we can all relate with this. We all know that there are some scary and horrible things happening out there in the world. We hear about people struggling with cancer, we are concerned with the issue of abortion, we know that there are missionaries serving in hostile environment, we know that there are tragedies out there in the world. But often it takes the problem hitting closer to home before we really develop a heart of compassion.
Nehemiah’s heart broke because he no doubt loved his brother and loved his fellow Jews there in Jerusalem. He genuinely cared for them.
Connecting to God requires us to have that same kind of heart of compassion. We need to have a heart that has been softened by God. One that is concerned with the needs of others. A hear that is sensitive to the struggles and difficulties of this world.
Effective prayer starts with praying about those things that are the closest to our own heart. It should be easy to pray for your kids, and your spouse, and your family, and your friends. All day long as God places those people on your mind, pray for them. Ask God to bless them. Pray for God to guide and protect them.
Hopefully you also have a heart of compassion for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for the needs of this church body. Pray for this church. Pray for the spread of the gospel and the advancement of God’s kingdom.
It’s also important to pray for those social issue, government officials, and world events that need divine intervention.
Prayer won’t matter to us if we don’t have a real heart of compassion for others. When Nehemiah heard the bad news he wept and mourned and fasted. He took the situation very seriously.
I know that doing things like mourning and fasting aren’t all that popular in modern Christianity. But there are times when the situation might call for a little more than the usual prayer.
When we know of a particular problem, or hear of someone facing a difficult medical problem, the leadership of this church will go and pray with them and anoint them with oil in obedience to what we read In James 4.
When you are faced with something heart-wrenching, maybe what is needed is a day when you refrain from eating, so that you can focus you attention on prayer. We are often so hard and calloused. We as Americans are programmed to always put on a happy face.
A heart of compassion will keep us connected to God. But that is only true if we have the right view of God. Look at verses 5-6…
5 I said, "I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now,
Being constantly connected to God happens when we realize that God is always there. It isn’t like talking to your grandpa who lives in Arizona. God doesn’t go away when we say “amen” (no matter how much we might want Him to sometimes).
Nehemiah starts by recognizing that God is the Lord God of Heaven. He is a great and awesome God. He is able to accomplish anything we might ask. Do we have a mental image of God that is a little too small? Do we really worship the great and awesome God of heaven?
He is also a God who preserves his covenant keeps His promises. He is a God who stays true to His word. He showers love and blessings on those who keep His commandments.
It is so easy to stay connected to God all day long when we realize that He is always right there with us. I love the fact that I can pray at any time, in any situation, and know that He hears me. I don’t have to wait till later, or save it till morning, I can shoot up a prayer to God right where I’m standing.
I mean I multi-task all day long. If I can watch TV, read a magazine, talk on the phone, hold a baby, check my E-mail, and eat a cheeseburger all at the same time, I should be able to pray and chew gum at the same time, right?
We’ll see Nehemiah do this all throughout this book. It’s like he views God as standing right there next to him.
Do you need to adjust you view of God? He isn’t far off, HE is always right there with us, every step of the way.
Thirdly, being connected to God is so much easier when we have a clear conscience. Look at 6-7…
“…day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 "We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.
In this heartfelt prayer to God one of the things that Nehemiah does is confess the sins of the people. Notices how he doesn’t say, “Forgive all those jerks who sinned and messed things up for the rest of us.” He says, forgive us. It was me, and my father’s house, and my relatives, who was to blame for the exile.
We didn’t keep your commandments, or follow your ordinances. We deserve the punishment that we received. Nehemiah owns up to his own sin.
Have you noticed how lingering sin in our lives has a way of getting in the way of our prayer life? God’s grace through Jesus Christ wipes our slate clean. It makes it so that we are seen as holy in God’s eyes. Not because we are, but because Jesus Christ is. So forgiveness of our sin is one of the great benefits of faith in Christ.
However, God desires an ongoing relationship with us. He wants to help keep us on track. When we sin as believers it puts a strain on our relationship with God. Just like how getting arrested might put a strain on your relationship with your parents, or your spouse. They don’t stop loving you, but there might be some work you have to do to restore the relationship.
One aspect of the Lord’s Prayer is to ask God to forgive us our trespasses. Over in James where it talks about having the elders come and pray over someone who is sick, it also mentions the importance of confessing our sins to God. It is important to clean the slate, not so that we can regain our salvation, but so that we have a clear and open line of communication with God.
Just like Henry taught us a few weeks ago from Hebrews, we can approach the throne of Grace with confidence and receive mercy and grace in our time of need.
Next, a constant connection to God comes from understanding God’s word. Look at verses 8-9 again…
How can we know what God expects from us, unless we read His word? How can we know what God is like unless we look and see? How can we grow closer to Him without being in His word?
The Bible isn’t just a rulebook full of do’s and don’ts. It gives us so much hope and confidence. Here, Nehemiah has great confidence in going before the great and awesome God of heaven and asking Him for help, because he knows that God has promised to bless His people and return them to the land.
Listen to Deuteronomy…
Deuteronomy 4:25-31 25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time-- if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.
Do you think Nehemiah knew the scriptures? Is there any doubt that he had read these words of Moses? When we are in God’s word it is so much easier to be in God’s will. We know what to pray for because we know the heart of God.
God didn’t just create us and then abandon us, He has made Himself known. When we are regularly reading and hearing God’s word it will strengthen and deepen that connection we have to Him.
Finally, being connected to God will involve a fervent plea. When all these other pieces are in place it will be so much easier for us to pour our hearts out to God.
10 "They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 "O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man."
Nehemiah beseeches God. Pleads with God to listen and find favor. What Nehemiah was praying for specifically was a chance to do something about the problem. We will read more about that next week in chapter 2.
Our prayer life needs to filled with fervent pleas. Probably the best illustration of this comes from a parable that Jesus told…
Luke 18:1-7 Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ’Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ’Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’" 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
What a great story. Here is this wicked, unjust judge who ignores the pleas for justice from this lady. But she keeps coming to him every day. Finally he relents and agrees to grant her justice just to get her off his back.
God isn’t unjust or wicked, He is fair and loving. How much more will He listen and respond to our cries for help?
Don’t give up, keep praying. God doesn’t always act on our timeline.
Many of you know Dixie Cowen. She attended church here for years and years. And all during that time she fervently prayed for the salvation of her husband Warren. It wasn’t until the end of his life that he finally accepted Christ. Dixie’s love for her husband drew her to pray for him day in and day out.
This is just the intro to the book. As we continue to work our way through it you will see again and again how this close connection to God sustained Nehemiah all throughout his work. It’s the kind of close connection to God that I want to have. It’s the kind of close connection to God that I want each and every one of us to have.
Nehemiah accomplished some great things for God. And God has some great thing he wants to accomplish through us as well.
