Nehemiah Sermon 3-4
4. The Prayer Offered 1:4-11
A Man of Prayer
“When I heard these things I sat down and wept. For days I mourned and prayed and fasted before the God of heaven.
Then I said, ‘O Lord, God of heaven/ Look at me Lord and hear my prayer, as I pray day and night.”(1:4,5)
Give me success today before this man (The King-Ch.2) so he will have mercy on me.’” (1:11)
Four Months of Prayer
There are four months of praying between receiving the news and talking to the King. This, and nothing else, is the reason the Jerusalem wall was built; all opponents were defeated; and the people were revived by the preaching of Scripture.
Dr. R. G. Lee says,
If you trust in administration, you get what administration can do.
If your trust in hard work, you get what hard work can do.
If you trust in your sparkling personality, you get what your sparkling personality can do. But-
If you trust in prayer, you get what God can do.
The “Secret” Of Useable People
God uses all kinds of people in His work- mystics like Nathanael who sit under fig trees and meditate (Jn. 1); rugged farmers like Amos who leave their fig trees and put their fingers under the noses of sinners; statesmen like Isaiah; manly heroes like Nehemiah who punch backsliders (Ch. 13: and broken hearted men like Jeremiah; etc.
My Church History professor in seminary said John Calvin and Martin Luther, the two driving forces behind the birth of Protestants in the Protestant Reformation, once spent the night in the same town and they had so little in common that neither attempted to contact the other.
But Luther and Calvin and all God’s great men and women, vastly different in so many ways, had one thing in common. They would tell you that prayer was the secret to any success they had.
A. The Priority of Prayer
Nehemiah Maximizes Prayer
His book begins and ends in prayer and contains 12 prayers. Prayer is the rule of the kingdom and it is God’s rule. God will not do some things unless we work and he will not do some things unless we pray.
James says, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:2)
Jesus said in Luke 18, “Men ought always to pray.”
Paul said, I will pray.” (1 Cor. 14)
The Apostles said,
“We will give ourselves to prayer.” (Acts 6)
We Minimize Prayer
Prayer is the hardest work God asks us to do. To modern, impatient, proud people today- that was a long waste of time. For every 100 men God can get to work for Him He can find 1 who will wait on Him and pray.
This was not a waste of time; it was four months of preparation in the mind and soul of Nehemiah. This was four months of praying, weeping, studying Scripture and conversing with God. Prayer is the anvil upon which God fashions us into the kind of people He can trust with his power and use for his purposes.
In one Peanuts cartoon Lucy sets up her psychiatrist booth with the sign “Psychiatry 5 cents”. Snoopy come up, sits on the patient’s bench for awhile, says nothing, and leaves.” Lucy comments, “You cannot do much when a patient won’t talk.”
B. The Patience in Prayer
Four months is a long time when your heart is breaking and you are ready to do something. The most frustrating thing about God is that He never seems to get in a hurry.
Was it because Nehemiah’s turn as cupbearer took that long to come around? Was the King out of town? Was Nehemiah waiting upon God’s go-ahead? Was he discovering what God wanted from him? Was he getting up the nerve to put his head on the chopping block and approach the king about the matter?
Probably, the answer is “all of the above”. Waiting is painful work. The Bible says, “When hope is delayed, the heart is crushed.” (Prov. 13:12) In our fast paced society we want everything done yesterday. Our prayer is, “Lord, please give me patience; and give it to me today.” Our motto is “Lets’ roll!” But God’s servant must be willing to wait.
C. The Practice of Prayer
“Lord, give me success today”(1:11)
This was a short prayer hurled to God right before Nehemiah put his life on the line before the King. These are found all through this Book.
1) Nehemiah’s first response was four months of prayer (1:5f.)
2) The day he went to the King he prayed for success (1:11)
3) When the King asked him why he was sad he “prayed to the Lord of heaven” before he answered (2:4)
4) When Sanballat and Tobia laughed at his workman, Nehemiah prayed (4:4:4-5)
5) When they came a second time, he said, “We prayed.” (4: 9)
6) When Sanballat warned that the people would quit and give up, Nehemiah said, “I prayed, strengthen my hands.” (6:9)
7) When the people listened to the Word of God read and turned from their sins, Nehemiah prayer took 32 verses to record (9:6-37)
8) In the last chapter of this diary Nehemiah lifts up four short requests for God to “remember” him and his work. (13: 14; 22, 29, 31)
The Life of Prayer
Prayer is not so much what we “do” it is what we are.
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire/
Uttered or unexpressed/
The motion of a hidden fire /
That lies beneath the breast
To live a life of prayer we should begin, end and spend the day with God.
Beginning the Day- Our Lord got up before daylight to pray (Mk. 1:35). David said, “In the morning you will hear my voice. At sunrise I will offer my prayer and wait for your reply.” (Ps. 5:3) As you put on your shoes, put on one as faith and the other as repentance. Sing,
Trust and obey for there’s no other way/ To be happy (and holy) in Jesus, Than to trust and obey
As you put on your clothes, put on Christ (Col.2:10), which means to put on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control (Gal. 5:22). Whisper the prayer,
“Lord I thank you there is nothing I will face today that you and I together cannot handle.”
“This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24).
Ending the day- Let us go to bed grateful for the blessings that us joy and the burdens that are make us strong, saying, “For we know that all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purposes.” (Rom. 8:28) Living in perpetual repentance and faith; and confessing every sin (I Jn. 1:8-10); let us sleep in the peace that, “If I die before I wake, I thank the Lord, He, my soul will take.”
Spending the Day- Nehemiah prayed night and day for four months (1:4) and in all kinds of situations his natural response was “missile” praying. He, more than anyone in the OT, obeyed the NT commands to, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Th. 5:17) and “Be constant in prayer.” (Rom. 12:12)2
Spurgeon says that like the hunting dog we are never to leave the trail or lose the scent of God’s nearness. The angry man, with a split second prayer can keep himself from doing that which makes him a fool and a fiend. The lonely man, by merely looking up, can feel as though he is surrounded by angels, for he is (2 Kn. 6:17). The sinning child of God, can be made clean and pure in an instant (1Jn. 1:7-10). The sympathetic man can lift up the need of the hurting and send angels of mercy to the person after he passes by; or, like the good Samaritan, find himself involved in ministry (Lk. 10). The confused can find wisdom (James 1). The hopeless can find hope. The man facing an impossible task, with a glance to heaven can find the strength of Samson.
“He who knows the power of prayer,
Wishes to be always there.”
The Puritan Preacher, Rowland Hill, was known for his perpetual spirit of prayer. On one occasion he attended a preaching conference and his coachman found him alone in the church after everyone left. He found him walking up and down the aisles singing to himself,
“When I die, receive me I cry/
For Jesus loves me, I do not know why/
But we are so joined this day I find
He won’t be in heaven and leave me behind.”
The Prayer “Time”- Daniel had three set times of prayer (Dan. 6:10); David had seven (Ps. 119:164)); so let us at least have one.
Spurgeon told of a lady who said she would keep her time of prayer if the Apostle Paul was preaching and the other eleven disciples were there to hear him.
Either in the morning or in the evening, or some time chosen in between, we need a set “time” of prayer where Scripture is read; where we talk to God about where we are in our walk with Him; and where we lift up names from a prayer list.
The quick prayers in the morning and evening and the “missile” prayers during the day are not enough. They can be “evasions” of meaningful time with God.
E.M. Bounds says, “God’s acquaintance is not made with pop calls.” (Power Through Prayer- P.35)
D. The Purpose of Prayer
“Lord, give me success today before this man so he will show mercy to me.” (1:11)
“I had not yet told anyone what God put on my heart to do for Jerusalem.” (2: 12)
The purpose of prayer is for God’s will to be done. The “success” was not for Nehemiah, but for Jerusalem. The “blessing” was for the church of God, not for the one praying.
In this book we see a lot of prayer answers because this man’s priorities are right. James 4:2-3 says,
“You want something-you should pray for it. But even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered because you pray just for selfish reasons.” (CEV)
One reason our prayers are not answered; and God is not a big part of our lives, and why he have so many problems; is our selfishness. God offers crosses but we want couches. God is interested in our holiness; we are interested in our happiness. God’s priority is spiritual, ours is material.
If you ask God for a new job, ill you inject Christian principles naturally into the workplace and pray for all those you work with regularly? – a new baby, will you bring it up in church and put away things like alcohol and bad language? – a husband or wife, will you seek only those committed to the Lord and seek to love them more than you love yourselves? Will you pray:
“I’ll go where you want me to go dear Lord, real service is what I desire, I’ll say what you want me to say dear Lord, I’ll even sing in the choir.” (And give up my Wednesday golf game to go to choir practice. Ouch!!)
Sermon 4
E. The Price of Prayer (1:11; 2:12)
1. Our Individual Assignment
“Give me success today before this man” (1:11)
“I hadn’t told anyone what God had put in my heart to do.” (2:12)
In prayer Nehemiah discovered two things God wanted him to do: to go to the King for permission to leave, and to go to Jerusalem and start building. Later, he discovered a third- to remain there as Governor for 12 years. When we pray God will reveal our assignment. There were many problems in Judah that needed addressing but Nehemiah was given the ones God wanted him to address.
Spiritual Gifts- God has not fitted us to do everything. That is why the church is a body with many members, and a team with many positions to play. We simply cannot do everything and do it well. That is why the NT talks about our spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12)
Talents and Opportunities- Most of the time God puts us to work where we feel best suited to work, doing something we enjoy. In God’s will we are prone to look at the unpleasant task as always being from God to test our resolve. Most of what God asks us to do however is what he has given us a confidence and a joy in doing.
The US Army will take a cook from Alabama and send him to California to drive heavy equipment. It will send a heavy equipment driver from California to Alabama to cook. Thank God, God is not that foolish.
There are exceptions. Moses did not want to leave his rocking chair to Pastor people who didn’t like him for forty years in the desert (Ex. 1-3). But I believe when he got to heaven, if God allowed him to watch Joshua and the Hebrews walk through the Jordan on dry ground, he turned around and thanked God for letting him have a part in it.
We need to discover our God given abilities, dedicate them, develop them, and do them.
2. Our Joyful Attitude
Nehemiah was sad and the King said to him, “You are not sick, so why is your face so sad? This has to be sadness of heart.” (2:2) This sadness was in the midst of his prosperity, his powerful position, and his preeminence in the kingdom. His joy was found only in seeing God’s kingdom prosper. The successful worker for God must be joyful in the work.
Nehemiah 8:10 says,
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The Psalmist says,
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
There is not a note of indecision, sadness or constraint in this whole Book. Enlisting workers, building walls, answering opponents, governing the city, and throwing a sorry man out of the Temple; Nehemiah looks like he as doing what he was born to do. And he was.
3. Our Faithful Actions
The time finally came for prayer to turn into action. By “success and mercy” Nehemiah was pleading, for one thing, that the King would not suspect him of treason and have him executed. There is no need to pray unless we are willing to pay the price for the answer.
“Thy will be done!” is the most dangerous sentence known to man. Jesus prayed them and ended up on a cross. Paul prayed them and ended up beheaded.
Henry Martyn (1781-1812) went to this same land as a missionary. When doctors told him because of his poor health the heat was killing him, he refused to leave. After translating the NT into Persian (Iran) he traveled 700 miles to get the Shaw’s permission to circulate it. Unable to see him he rode in the heat 400 miles to another official. With no help again he went back to the Shaw again and got permission.
Donald Campbell relates a prayer he prayed before he went to the mission field,
“Lord, send me away from all that is called comfort and even to death itself in Thy will.”
Five days after seeing the Shaw, Henry Martyn died at age 31. The Persian NT was in the hands of the people and God may have said, “Mission Accomplished!” and called him home.
F. The Pattern of Prayer (1:4-11)
What we have here in 7 short verses is the written, specific result of four months of conversations with the Lord. Outside of The Lord’s Prayer in Mt. 6 and Lk.11, this is perhaps the best model of effective praying in the Word of God. It was very similar to the prayer of Ezra (Ez.9) and Daniel (Dan. 9), two men he must have known well.
1. Composition (1:4-11)
Writing prayers- This is a specific prayer written down in Nehemiah’s diary. Writing down of prayers is frowned upon by Baptists. This is strange because many of the Psalms are written prayers. It would help our prayer life immensely if we carefully worded our prayers; filled them with promises from God in Scripture; laid them before God regularly; and reworded them as His Spirit directs.
2) Adoration
The first step in powerful prayer is to set the Lord before us; to put Him right in the middle of our situation. Then we look at everything not from the perspective of our weakness but of His strength. Nehemiah’s God was addressed as:
Personal
-He called Him by His personal name “Lord”. V 5 We need to see God as the One who knows the very hairs of our head and as our heavenly Father who wants only what is best for us.
Powerful and Faithful
He called him, “the God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant.” V5
We build our faith and bring our challenges down to size when we affirm that God will keep His word to us.
Scriptural
He sees Him as the author of Scripture Who gave Moses his Word v8
Involved
He says it was His “great strength and mighty hand” that delivered Israel from Egypt. V10
In prayer we need to get historical. Recount all the answered prayers of the past; the personal touches; the miracles in your life.
Holy
He sees Him as one whose name should be “revered” v11
Thinking of God as personal and helpful to us, we are never to slip into irreverence or to taking God for granted. Never will he condone an unworthy act or motive in us. We say with David, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his names’sake” (Ps. 23)
If we don’t know set God up in our lives as exactly what we need at that moment, we are only worrying on our knees.
3. Quotation
The best way to set God before us is to use Scripture pictures of God. Nehemiah’s whole prayer is based on Scripture. In verses 8-9 Nehemiah lifts up his Bible and prays God’s own promises in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. He reminds God of his promise to punish and his promise to pardon and restore His people to their land where His “name” would make its home.
He quoted God’s Promise of Retribution (v8)
“If you transgress I will scatter you among the nations.” (Lev. 26:31ff)
He quoted God’s Promise of a Return
“But if you return to me and keep my commandments, I will gather them and bring them back to the phace where I have chosen to set my name. (Dt. 30: 1- 5. etc)
Power and peace come when we quote Scripture and see God from that vantage point; as One who will keep His word we lay before him.
Are you lonely? See him as your friend and quote 2 Tim. 4, “At my first defense no one stood with me; they all deserted me; but the Lord was by my side and gave me strength.” (v 16,17) Are you tired? See Him as your energy and quote Isaiah 40:28-31,
“Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. The will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary; and they will walk and not faint.”
In my tenth year of ministry I dropped into deep depression and could not get out. I could not pray, or think clearly, or read Scripture. My doctors all told me to leave the ministry. In that dark hour I found Isa. 40 and realized the one thing I could do was wait on the Lord.
Every morning I got up praying these words and every night I went to bed praying these words. And whenever despair came during the day I prayed these words. This lasted for six months and just about the time I felt God would not come through and I was making plans to enter another career- God touched by spirit and healed it. With the use of Scripture I set the Lord before me and had peace.
Another thing I learned was not to trust in feelings, but in God’s unshakable promises. I learned the words to the great song should not be,
“My God is real for I can feel Him in my soul”, but, “My God is real even when I can’t feel Him in my soul.”
4. Requesting the Presence (6, 11)
With tremendous humility and reverence he says, “Look at me, hear my prayer/ Listen now to my prayers.” (6,11). We must balance intimacy with God with reverence for God. We must know that we are never good enough or faithful enough to barge into His presence and start quoting verses for Him to obey.
He answers us when we crawl in unworthy to be answered and look for him to answer, not because of who we are but whose we are; not because of our worthiness but because of His undeserved grace.
James 4:16 says, “Come boldly to the throne of Grace” (Heb.), yes, but remember it is a throne of grace, which means we don’t deserve to come.
5. Confession (6-8)
Like his friend Daniel he confesses the sins of his people, himself and his family. Not until we have set God before us in the full glory of his love should we confess sins. Jesus leads us to pray, “Our Father” before praying, “Forgive us our sins” (Mt.6)
Good Christians don’t have to fake this. When we compare ourselves with others we may come up looking good in our sight. But we know we don’t know their hearts or their struggles; or where we would be if we walked in their shoes.
And when we compare ourselves to fine Christians we know; and to Jesus; we have no trouble confessing.
Wiersbie says,
A growing Christian sins less and less and confesses more and more.
Pastor Tony Evans says,
If we feel more sinful this year than we did last year it might be because we know more of God this year than we did last year.
6. Petition (10b)
Finally there was success requested (10b). Since the Jews were prone to rebel and since it may have been King Artaxerxes himself who stopped the first attempt at construction (Ez.4:6), this request seemed impossible.
Jesus says “with God all things are possible”. The song says, “Thou art coming to a king, large petitions with thee bring.”
7. Action (v 11)
Nehemiah prayed for success “this day”. The test of our prayers comes when we leave the closet and go into the world ready to act. With God with us we have confidence.
When young Robert Morrison was on a train headed to India as missionary, a man said to him, “You don’t think you are going to have an impact on India do you? Morrison answered, “No I don’t. But I believe God will.
Going with God we have courage. The next stop for Nehemiah was the King’s throne where he could easily lose his life. He tells us later he was scared (2:2b), but he saw it through.
When our Lord went to Jerusalem for the last time, He knew there was a price on his head and waiting for him was horrible pain and a terrible death. Would he go? Barclay says he could not help but go and said,
“The Christian does not fear the consequences of doing the right thing; he fears the consequences of not doing the right thing.”
Martin Luther was just one man, and to the Pope he was a “drunk monk”. But Luther stood his ground against the powerful church and when told by his friends not to go to Worms and face their charges, he said, “I will go if there are as many devils in red caps as there are tiles on the rooftops.”
Conclusion
Jesus tells us God doesn’t hear us because of our “many words”. (Mt. 6) Instead of spraying heaven with empty words and worn out phrases, let us do some thinking, some Bible studying, some discussing, some praying while driving, and some reading of good books on the subject we pray for. Like Nehemiah, let us lay out the fruit of our work before the Lord, and knock on His door and if we pray for rain- carry our umbrellas.
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