The Power of Short Prayers Part 2
Nehemiah’s short prayer
Introduction
A. We are continuing our sermon series on “Powerful Short Prayers.” There are so many of these prayers that are recorded in the Bible. They are recorded for our benefit that we might learn something from them. One thing we can clearly learn from all of these short prayers is that they really count! They are important and they actually are the essence of what a real relationship is all about. Short prayers are thought prayers that are prayed throughout our days. They are the evidence that we have a relationship with our Creator and that relationship is not some formal relationship that is only expressed in special quiet times every so often.
B. There is a lot of confusion among Christians when it comes to prayer. There is a place for devotional prayers. There is a place to set aside long periods of time to pray. Jesus said in one place that there was a need for much prayer and fasting in order to cast out certain demons. (Mark 9:14-29) Also we read about a certain lady who spent her time every day in the Temple praying and fasting (Luke 2:36-38). There were times in Jesus life where we read He went off to pray in the wilderness or when He prayed all night (Luke 6:12) But this was not every day experiences. Everyone is not called to be a prayer warrior, but everyone can have a living daily relationship with God through their short thought prayers throughout the day. Short prayers are just as important as special times of devotional prayer and maybe even MORE IMPORTANT. My hope is that this sermon series will help clear some of it up.
C. Before we take a look at another short prayer we are going to take a look at what Jesus had to say about prayer in Matthew 6 and then we shall look at the short prayer prayed by Nehemiah.
What makes a good prayer? Matt 6:7
“For when you pray do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” NIV says “do not keep on babbling.” The Message reads, “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense.” This must have been happening a lot or Jesus would not have addressed it. It must have been common practice among the religious people.
A. Jesus warned about prayers being TOO LONG, especially if they were just filled with FLUFF! I don’t know about you but sometimes I think Christians actually do pray with a lot of fluff! You have probably heard those kinds of prayers, people praying in the King James language, “Dear Lord, I knowest that Thou seest all things, and Thine Hand blah blah blah” Or then there are the prayers, where people get all weird, and just keep saying, “Jesus, Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, Jesus, Jesus blah blah blah.” I think maybe this is what Jesus was talking about. Praying just to hear ourselves be heard. Praying to sound good. Praying is supposed to be talking to God almost like you talk to your best friend or your spouse. It is REAL CONVERSATION, not religious talk! Much of what is called ‘prayer’ by Christians is really ‘religious talk!’
B. Now to be clear here, Jesus is NOT SAYING, that you cannot repeat the same words in your prayers. You can repeat words, Jesus repeated the same words THREE TIMES when He prayed in the garden. “Father if it be Your will let this cup pass from Me.” (Matt 26:36-46) I don’t think anyone would call those words ‘vain repetitions. They were from His heart. He talking about making sure our hearts and minds are there when we are praying. Jesus, at other times, praises repetition in prayer in the parable of the unjust judge. The angels pray repetitiously. Revelation 4:8: "...and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” So Jesus is not saying we cannot repeat our words. He is just saying make sure our prayers are real and meaningful!
C. When I was a Catholic I prayed lots of prayers that would fall into this category of “vain repetitions.” I remember praying lots of prayers that I had memorized. I could say them fast and without any thought. I believe these are the kind of prayers that Jesus was talking about. I could pray the Lord’s prayer in about 10 seconds. I could pray the Rosary in about less than ten minutes. It was just something I did, sort of like paying my dues, saying my prayers and getting over with as soon as possible.
D. So what makes a good prayer? Is it the length and eloquence or is it a heart that trusts in a mighty God? How long does a prayer have to be in order to be heard? God did not forbid long legitimate prayers but vain repetitions and heartless babblings. Some of the answered prayers of the saints like Solomon were long (I Kgs. 8:12-53) but some were short.
E. There is a difference between short prayers and times of devotion. They are both important but there is a tendency for Christians to think that ‘short prayers’ or thought prayers really don’t count! Well let’s take a look at another short prayer recorded in the Bible and see what God thinks about it. Let’s turn to the Book of Nehemiah chapter 1.
Tell story of Nehemiah Chapter 1-2
A. Nehemiah had been taken captive and was working for the king of the Medes and the Persians (Iran/Iraq today).
B. “Cupbearer” Being the king’s cupbearer, one of Nehemiah’s duties was to taste the food before the king. So, if there was something wrong with it, Nehemiah would obviously know first. For Artaxerxes, this was personal. He knew betrayal, for his father had been poisoned by a trusted servant.
C. In chapter one we read that Nehemiah had just heard some very bad news. Jerusalem was in a bad situation. The walls were torn down and its enemies were causing havoc. So Nehemiah had begun praying about that situation.
Nehemiah’s short prayer 2:1-6
A. “Sad in his presence” Then we get to chapter two and we read that Nehemiah was ‘sad in the king’s presence” Nehemiah was Jewish and the news of trouble in Jerusalem affected him deeply, even emotionally. Everyone has their limits and it seems like this was Nehemiah’s limit or it was just a day that he really felt the weight of his burden for Jerusalem and was beginning to wonder if God was ever going to work this out. Apparently his grief showed on his face and the king simply says, “What’s the matter? You are not sick.”
B. “I became dreadfully afraid” I appreciate his honesty. He feared for his life. Nehemiah could have been in a heap of trouble. His gloomy face could be considered more than just bad manners. It was against the law. No one was allowed to be sad in the king’s presence. It was a bad reflection on the king’s goodwill, and so, could be punishable by death. To be sad in the king's presence a person could be killed for “raining on his parade” Would the king be displeased, refuse his request, dismiss him from his post, cast him in prison or pardon his rudeness and allow his request?
C. Some of you can probably relate to this in your work place with the employee and employer relationship. When you want to talk to your boss about a pay raise or some changes on the job. When there is a need for confrontation or a need to make request for something to change. It is not easy, and could be costly, yet if we offer up a short prayer before we open our mouth we might be as bold as Nehemiah.
D. We read in verse 4 that “Nehemiah prayed to God of heaven and answered the king.” He didn’t have time for a long prayer meeting. He just asked God to help him with the right answer. And in fact God did. God honored Nehemiah’s short prayer. I would imagine it went something like this, “Oh God, please help me say the right words!” Or maybe it was even shorter, something like, “Help!” This kind of prayer might be referred to as the “Pause Principle” The idea is that before you say something that could be very important, even life changing a short PAUSE and a short prayer could be very helpful!
E. Learning to wait for a second before you answer to give God a chance to ‘tell you what to say” can save you a lot of trouble. Often there are times when we are faced with making a decision or we are expected to say something and there just isn’t any time for extended prayer. We can’t say, “Wait a few days. I need to pray about this.” Sometimes we have to act, but rather than act on our own, if we understand the power of short prayers and learn to live by the pause principle, we are more likely to act like Nehemiah. We listen to the Holy Spirit. He will tell us what to say. The Holy Spirit gave Nehemiah the words to say, and they were the right words. What he said, and how he said it, touched the king’s heart and he sent Nehemiah back to rebuild Jerusalem and the king even paid for all the supplies.
F. Now it is interesting to notice in chapter 1 that Nehemiah had been praying to God about this for almost four months. So this was not the first time that he prayed. Four months of praying and nothing was happening. Ever had this disillusioning experience? You heard a study on prayer last week and went home, prayed effectively and nothing happened! This was Nehemiah's experience. But he didn't give up, he persisted.
G. This again just shows us that our times are in God’s hands. He answers prayers when it is the right time. Our job is to talk to Him about it and stay in touch with His Holy Spirit.
The power of short prayers vs. 8 “The good hand of the Lord…”
A. “And the good hand of the Lord was upon me.” When we learn the power of short prayers we are more likely to make good decisions, say the right thing and experience what Nehemiah did here in verse 8. When we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit we will experience the “good hand of the Lord upon our lives.”
B. In Acts 11:21 we read the phrase “The hand of the Lord was upon them and many believed.” The story is about the early disciples going out all over the world and preaching the gospel and knowing that God's hand was upon their lives.
C. Ezra when he was sent back to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, said the “good hand of the Lord was upon him.”
D. What does this mean, “The good hand of the Lord was upon me?” It means that God is blessing what you are doing. It means that God is giving you the go ahead. It means that God wants you to do what you are doing. It means that you are in God’s will. This is the result of ‘short prayers. Thought prayers prayed throughout our day as we go about making decisions, solving problems, interacting with difficult people.
E. How important is this for us to be able to say this when we are going about our daily lives? It is very important. It is vital to whatever we do, that we know we are in God’s will. No matter what it is that we have set our hands to do, we want to be able to say, “The good hand of the Lord is upon my life.”
F. You can know that the “Good hand of the Lord is upon you” when you get confirmation vs. 6-8.
1. “King granted them” He gave both permission and finances. God guides, God provides. It appears from verse 9 that the king gave even more than Nehemiah requested even provided an escort of soldiers!
2. Look for the confirmation. It helps if you set some guidelines, some parameters, so you know what to look for. We need to see something to confirm that God is in this. In this case, Nehemiah was asking that His boss would be agreeable to his plan and would provide the necessary supplies. No doubt about this, Nehemiah thought big!
3. If your boss, your pastor or care group leader, or your spouse agrees with you that is a good sign. Just because your buddy agrees with you is NOT A SIGN.
4. When we get this confirmation this is what we often refer to as “an open door.” The green light is on; we got the go ahead from God.
5. God will bring people to join up with you. People who catch the vision or God will bring people to support you with finances and encouragement. Until we have this we should go no further. The supplies are provided or at least some of them.
6. “I set him a time” I love this. Nehemiah had done his homework! I get upset with people who call it “faith” when they can't tell you their plans. In reality, it is laziness. Faith does not imply absence of organization. It is sad to see people take up the Lord's work without planning. Now I know planning is hard, thinking isn't as exciting as doing, but without it, confusion is inevitable. Good servers do their homework. Apparently during these four months, Nehemiah was formulating a tentative game plan during his prayer time.
7. “So it pleased the king” God touched the king's heart. He touches people's hearts to help out; this is usually a good confirmation. It is possible to move men through God by prayer alone. This is true of your boss. Oh, how we need to believe this. Do you have an insensitive boss, change him through prayer.
8. “How long will your journey be?” The king didn't want to lose Nehemiah. He was obviously doing a good job and the king would miss him. Too bad this is not always the case with Christian employees today. What is beautiful to see is that Nehemiah was heavenly minded but not so much that he was no earthly good. He was burdened about Jerusalem, yet he was diligent at work. The king didn't think, “Man, I've been looking for a way to get rid of him. Now's my chance. Go on to Jerusalem, good riddance!!” Instead he wanted to know, “When will you come back?” Sometimes we hinder the work of God, by being a bad witness at work. It makes it difficult for God to perform His will in our lives.
9. “queen beside him” This was probably Queen Esther.
G. When you recognize that the hand of God is in something, SAY SO. Confess it out loud at least to yourself. vs. 8
1. “According to good hand of God” Nehemiah is here recognizing his prayers being answered. This is very important to do, not only to glorify God and show respect, but this confirmation will be useful in the future when the inevitable testings and trials come. It is important to know God has sent you out else it is too easy to turn back.
2. We need to know that God's hand is upon us when we are making the decision. When John wrote the Book of Revelations he said, “He was in the spirit” 1:10. This becomes an important reference point. As we move forward this will often be challenged. Too often this is neglected when we are making decisions about doing a work for God. This is usually a costly mistake.
How does the Holy Spirit “tell you what to say?” Nehemiah 7:5
A. “God put in my heart” This is how God often speaks to us. He puts a thought in our minds, we recognize it's from Him, grab hold of it meditate on it and do it.
B. In Vineyard Community Church we believe passionately that God can be known and experienced in a personal way. We believe that this experience is for the average person and is not reserved only for special holy people. We believe any person who is searching can experience God and have a real relationship with Him. The Scriptures are full of references that say, “And God said to Abraham, and God said to Moses, etc.” Also in the N.T. we have many references like these, “And the Spirit said to Philip.” Acts 8:29. Wouldn’t you like to hear, “And God said to ... (Mike, Dave, John, Mary, etc.)
C. It is different for everyone, and even with the same person the Holy Spirit speaks in different ways. I think the most common way He speaks is by putting impressions on your heart or mind after you ask Him to tell you what to say. It takes faith to believe that the Holy Spirit just put that impression there, but He does.
D. Sometimes it just comes out as ‘automatic speech.’ You don’t think it up, it just comes out. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will give you solutions to fixing a problem. The answer will just come into your mind.
E. I believe that the Holy Spirit also often speaks to us through God’s Word as we read it. We just have to give Him a chance and believe it when He is speaking to us instead of talking ourselves out of it. He also speaks to us when we sing spiritual songs, take communion, and even through the fellowship of Christians.
F. It is usually a still small voice that is inside of us. It is sort of like radio waves. We can’t see them but they are there. We can’t hear the voice of the Holy Spirit with our ears, but we can hear His voice with our spiritual ears. We just need to keep them open.
Summary
A. You don’t have to pray very long in order to pray with power and get results. Staying in touch and learning to live by the Pause Principle can save you a lot of bad decisions and can prevent you from saying things you wish you didn’t.
B. Learning the power of short prayers can help each of us live a life that we can see “the good hand of the Lord upon us.”
C. His answers to our prayers often comes as impressions upon our minds. It takes faith to believe it is God’s Holy Spirit but that is a common way He answers our short prayers.
