The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:4–11 (day three)

“O Lord, I beseech you, may your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant…”

When you call out to God, do you experience him as someone who pays attention and responds in a way that feels like he cares? You might bristle and claim that feelings aren’t to be trusted – only facts. But emotions are the guidance and safety system of every sentient being. Trust, mistrust, anger, joy, surprise, sorrow, shame, grief – these and other emotions move one toward another or away from another. God of course knows this, which is why he deals with a person’s fear in the Bible before anything can get done: “Do not be afraid, it is I.” God will take as long as it takes to help you move from negative to positive feelings, just as he did with Nehemiah.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:4–11 (day two)

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. v. 4

We will discover over the course of the next several weeks that Nehemiah was a man of action. He was true to his word, and he followed through on his task. That is not to say, however, that Nehemiah was hasty. He was deliberate and thoughtful about the incredible work that had to be done. He was humbled, and he was heart broken. Rather than spring in to action. He took time to grieve and wait. How often have we done the exact opposite? If you are anxious to get something done, your first instinct may be to get to work immediately. If you are emotionally distressed, you may make rash choices about your situation. We can learn from Nehemiah in these times of great decisions. Wait, process, and pray.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1–3, 11 (day seven)

“and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.”  vs 3b

The wall was everything for an ancient city. Protection, fortification, economy, identity. A broken wall meant that the city was vulnerable, just waiting to be attacked. Could you imagine trying to sleep at night knowing the enemy could walk right through the gates and destroy your home? Could you imagine trying to build anything of significance or beauty, only for it to be stolen and destroyed the next day? Could you imagine trying to raise your children, plant your fields, or go to work, all the while knowing that at any moment, all of it could be taken away? This was what broke Nehemiahs heart. God’s people had lost their hope. 

Does it break your heart to see people with broken walls? Does it break your heart to see people with no hope? Does it break your heart to watch the news and see a world where the enemy is preying on the vulnerable and exploiting the hopeless? If your heart is not broken by brokenness of the world, maybe your wall is the one that has been broken.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1–3, 11 (day six)

¹¹ So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. Matthew 7:11

Most of the Jewish exiles chose to remain in Babylon. Nehemiah was one of them. Born in exile, he held a prominent position in the Persian court and likely belonged to a well-established community. Yet Nehemiah 1:1-3 shows that his heart remained connected to Jerusalem and to the people who had returned. When news came of Jerusalem’s continued ruin, Nehemiah grieved deeply. And without hesitation, he turned to God in prayer.

Nehemiah cared. He longed for renewal.

But pause for a moment: if Nehemiah, a faithful yet sinful man, could care that deeply, how much more does God?

God’s longing for renewal is infinitely greater than Nehemiah’s. His desire isn’t reactive; it’s redemptive. It flows from His eternal purpose to restore all things. While Nehemiah’s reforms, noble as they were, would ultimately fall short, God’s restoration does not. His work is lasting, complete, and fulfilled in Jesus.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1–3, 11 (day five)

If you have read the book of Nehemiah before, you know that the task to which Nehemiah was called to was not an easy one. At every step of the way, the challenges multiplied or got more difficult. Even after finishing the wall, the task did not get easier. The city had to be rebuilt. People needed to come back. Defenses had to be strategized and raised again. Life was not easy.

Most of us find ourselves in situations like these. Challenges keep coming. Things do not get easier at each step of life. Rather, new difficulties arise and make us long for those stages to be “finished.” We wait for things to get easier, but they sometimes never do. Raising kids is a good example of this. The sleepless nights of infancy are tough. Then come the difficulties of diapering and the toddler years. Then school years bring challenges of their own. Those are followed up by the teenage years, and then our kids are grown. Each stage is difficult to get through and makes us long for that stage to be over. Then, we find ourselves in a whole new challenging stage.

I’m sure Nehemiah felt this weight as they got further in to rebuilding. We will discuss these difficulties over the next three months during this study. But through every difficulty and challenge, we will see that the Lord was with Nehemiah and with His people. Nehemiah kept his eyes up, focusing on God as the only way to get through each challenge. He remembered the hope (proactive hope as Megan called it) the Lord brings. We can be assured that the Lord is with us, too, as we go through our difficulties and challenges. Whatever difficulties and challenges you are facing now, keep your eyes up and focus on the Lord.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1–3, 11 (day four)

Though there was celebration at the end of the exile, there was just as much, if not more, grieving. Families had been scattered and homes destroyed, and the city of Jerusalem itself sat in ruin. I’m sure many saw the rubble and considered it a lost cause – Jerusalem could never be restored, the kingdom of Israel could never return to what it once was.

Nehemiah grieved with and for his people, but he allowed that grief to turn into proactive hope. He could have allowed this grief to swallow him up, talking only of what could have been and “what-if,” lamenting over the state of things for decades. Instead, he allowed his grief to bring him to the Lord, who instilled a confident hope of better days to come. Not only would they rebuild the city, but they would rebuild their faith, and experience a collective spiritual milestone that would build the faith of generations to come.

When we observe the rubble around us, may it lead us to a prayerful, proactive hope.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1–3, 11 (day three)

“The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.”

From the time David made Jerusalem the center of his kingdom until this news reached Nehemiah’s ears, a whole world had come and gone. The uniting of Israel, the return of the Ark, the expansion of territory, the building of the temple, the pilgrimages of the nations to the holy city to hear storied wisdom, the dark hours, the secession of ten tribes, the fall of the northern kingdom, the revivals, the faltering, the persecutions, reduction to vassal state, the destruction of the temple, deportation and captivity. By order of Cyrus, Jerusalem began to be rebuilt from the ashes, and hope had sprung to life. Now, in the bitterest turn of events, this nascent hope had died. Bad news comes. Even to those whom God loves.

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1–3, 11 (day two)  

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. v. 11

You have to start somewhere. The fall of the people of Israel was a long and painful one. Leader after leader had the opportunity to course correct a nation that had given up its birthright for what was quick, easy, and new. Prophet after prophet spoke words of warning to anyone who would hear. The damage was done. Jerusalem was in ruins and the people were dispersed. This was a place of loss and hopelessness. However, Nehemiah grieved for his people and for Jerusalem. He knew the project would be immense, but he recognized it would be God and God alone to accomplish this task, so he began with prayer. Nehemiah began with prayer. As we work through this book and marvel at what happens in the city and for the people, may we never forget the humility of Nehemiah in seeking the Lord. May this be a lesson for all of us.