When I finished, we had looked at 2 of the three reactions Nehemiah had for what had happened to the walls of Jerusalem: Grief before God and fasting. Now I want to look at his Prayer. The most important thing about this prayer- it was targeted. But does he go right to the target? No. Nehemiah's great skill, in my opinion, was that he knew that every work required laying the groundwork. He had to start in himself- he had to achieve a state of "weeping and bemoaning" the problem. Then, once his emotional/mental state was addressed, he worked on the physical state- he fasted. Only then was he ready for the prayer.
The prayer itself also was structured- and all good, deep prayers should be. By this, I don't mean every prayer- if you are just lifting a momentary thought about someone, or facing a sudden crisis. But an effective prayer, with time aforethought, should go through certain steps. And for me, I need to make sure that daily, targeted prayer on my issues go this way.
Neh 1:5 And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
First, establishing God in His identity and His Power. But more- bringing to mind His record of faithfulness, as well as the requirement of us to receive that faithfulness. This reminded me of our recent look at Ephesians, and the part where Paul finally got to what he was asking God for them:
Eph 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
Eph 1:18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Eph 1:20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Simpling down what Paul prayed in detail: He had just went through that God's promises began with the Plan He was already carrying out- through the greatness of His Power; how we were adopted into that Promise, by Jesus's death and resurrection- the riches of which that in timeless Heaven we were already experiencing; and the sealing of that adoption by the presence of the Holy Spirit- which was their firm hope. Given all that, he prayed for their eyes and minds to be open to understand that. All of what that means is contained in the far shorter, God who keeps covenant and steadfast love.
Still, there was the problem of "keeping His commandments":
Neh 1:6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned.
Neh 1:7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
He had to reflect on how they had fallen short- his nation, his bloodline, himself. I have found again this phrase "very corruptly", having seen its like in our recent look at God In Proverbs. It literally means "To wind tightly"- we don't just bend the Law ( as I like to justify myself with), we twist it beyond comprehension. In God's eyes, there is no "little sin", and Nehemiah had a bunch to confess. The next interesting word is "kept". Did you realize this comes from "to hedge about", "to guard"? Keeping His Word is PROTECTING OURSELVES. And when we don't protect ourselves, we end up with- you guessed it- broken walls. And note, Nehemiah, who had nothing to do with the physical falling of the wall, and presumably nothing to do with the sins (committed before he was born) that brought the fall- he didn't leave himself out. He humbled himself to realize even in his good points there were flaws- his righteousness, too, was filthy rags.
After place and praise, after power and faithfulness, after confession and humility, he was ready to remind God of His promises:
Neh 1:8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,
Neh 1:9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.'
And this part had been accomplished over the last hundred years or so- including Ezra's wave, some 13 years before. And Nehemiah then gives praise again, for what God had already done:
Neh 1:10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
That brought his prayer "up to date", so to speak; it was now time to get to the target:
Neh 1:11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." Now I was cupbearer to the king.
The target: Giving Nehemiah the ear of Artaxerxes. Because amidst the grieving and fasting, he was thinking: What will it take to rebuild these walls? And the answer was plain:
He COULD NOT do it alone. He needed help- help far more powerful than himself. He would need permissions, logistical support, political clout, a friend on the inside. How do these needs apply to you and I; that will be what we analyse next time.
