Nehemiah Sermon 3
1:4-11 (Part1)
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 1:1) and talking to the King (2:1). Prayer,above all 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 GIVEN
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 PRACTICED
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 REVEALED
“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.
ILLUSTRATION
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.”
SPENDINGthe 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 SEEN
“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)
SUBMISSION- GOD’S WILL BE DONE 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.
SELFISHNESS- MY WILL BE DONE (Js. 4:2-3) 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.
APPLICATION: 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!!)
