The Prayer of Nehemiah Nehemiah Pastor Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

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1 The Prayer of Nehemiah Nehemiah Pastor Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church I m excited for what we re going to do together with the Bible and in worship this year. Each month of 2017 we re going to focus on a different book of the Bible. I hope you will read that book on your own at least once during that month. If we hope to listen to God and hear from God in our lives, it helps to read the Bible on a regular basis. We re going to try and do that together in an organized and not overwhelming way. We ll read four books from the Hebrew Bible and eight books in the New Testament. We re going to begin with Nehemiah because he s one of the best leaders in the Bible. He demonstrates the behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and actions of a truly effective, spiritually mature, admirable, God-honoring leader. Nehemiah has a great deal to teach us about prayer, organization, work, responding to opposition and personal attacks, as well as about renewal and endurance, humility, servanthood, and the source of true joy. Here s a little background before I read the scripture so you can understand it a little better. Nehemiah was a Jew, part of a minority, living in Persia yet he had risen to a prominent position; he was the cupbearer to the Persian emperor Artaxerxes I, the most powerful ruler of the day (he reigned from BC). As the cupbearer it was his job to taste the wine from the king s cup before handing the cup personally to the king, a personal guarantee that the wine was not poisoned. So he was deeply trusted by the emperor. A similar role today would be a highest level member of the Secret Service protecting the President. Since the emperor s life and the stability of the Persian Empire depended on how well Nehemiah did his job, we can trust his appointment was only made after serious deliberation. He would ve been chosen for his unassailable and trustworthy character, keen eyes and mind, common sense, and attention to detail. What we call the book of Nehemiah was probably part of a longer book Ezra- Nehemiah. The first seven chapters of the book of Nehemiah are written by Nehemiah in the first person. The rest of the book with the exception of 13:4-31 was put together by someone else. The setting of the book of Nehemiah is the rebuilding of a nation. Almost a hundred and fifty years earlier (587 B.C.) the Babylonians had conquered the

2 2 city of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah and exiled its citizens. After the Persians defeated the Babylonians, King Cyrus reversed the Babylonian policy and allowed some Jewish groups to return to Jerusalem in 538 B.C. They built an altar and rebuilt a smaller version of the Temple (you can read about this in the first six chapters of Ezra). Decades passed and the city was still open and indefensible until in 445 B.C. God stirred the heart of Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of the city. This is how the story begins, a long time ago, in a country far, far away. Nehemiah , The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah (ha-kee-luh). In the month of Chislev (kiz-lev, December), in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capital, 2 one of my brothers, Hanani (hah-nay-nee), came with certain men from Judah; and I asked them about the Jews that survived, those who had escaped the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They replied, The survivors there in the province who escaped captivity are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. 4 When I heard these words I sat down and wept, and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 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; 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 your servants, the people of Israel, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Both I and my family have sinned. 7 We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place at which I have chosen to establish my name. 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great power and your strong hand. This prayer of Nehemiah is one of the classic prayers in the Bible. We quickly learn that Nehemiah s prayer life has been hugely influential in shaping him into a godly

3 3 leader. The book opens with Nehemiah s brother and some friends traveling hundreds of miles to see him. They bring him the news of the destroyed walls, burned gates, and the trouble and shame of the people. Attempts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem were met with opposition by their local enemies who didn t want to see the people and city in a position of strength. Notice how Nehemiah responds to this news (1:4): When I heard these words I sat down and wept, and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. When was the last time you wept and mourned, fasting and praying because you were so overwhelmed by a situation of suffering or need? If we ve never done that, why do you think that is? When have your prayers been especially emotional or does emotion have little or no place in your prayers? While I m not saying every time we pray we should respond as Nehemiah did, but, if we never see and feel and empathize with people who are hurting, suffering, and in need, we ll be less likely to pray for them with any passion or urgency. If we re never moved to tears by pain and heartache, we might have to ask ourselves why - because many of the great people we meet in the Bible and in Christian history were moved to weep, mourn, fast and pray in times of great national or personal trial. John White who wrote many books including one about Nehemiah, shares the following story about praying with urgency and emotion. Years ago in a daily prayer meeting missionary prayer-letter files were passes around. One morning my file contained a letter from a missionary in the Philippines. In it she described her hospitalization in Manila for spinal tuberculosis. Her condition was serious and at that time called for a prolonged period in a sanitarium in a body cast. Unexpectedly (for the woman was a stranger to me) I was not only profoundly shaken but found myself virtually insisting that God heal her right away. My prayer was remarkable in that I did not believe such healing was possible, and so I was astounded both by the content and the urgency of my own prayer. I suppose you could say that the Holy Spirit was allowing me to see two realities the need of the young missionary, and God s power to do something my theology and medical experience told me was impossible. To the

4 4 astonishment of her physician, this woman in the Philippines was miraculously healed that same day and soon after became my wife. 1 God opened Nehemiah s heart to the terrible situation the people in Jerusalem faced so that he could share God s concern and be used for God s purposes. This is what God wants for all of us. God wants us to be passionately concerned for the people and things God cares about deeply. In the Book of Revelation we re told one of the worst things a person can be is lukewarm about God s purposes and God s people. In Revelation 3:15-17, the risen Christ tells the church, I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing. You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. God detests lukewarmness. God loves people like Nehemiah who are passionate, caring, and empathetic. One hundred and forty-one years had passed since the final sack of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The people had been dragged away in chains to be captives in a foreign land and Nehemiah was a descendant of those captured Jews. When he hears about the situation he pours his heart out to God and opens himself up to be used by God to do something about it. To pray effectively requires faith that God exists and that God rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Nehemiah prays (1:5), 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. Nehemiah identifies two key attributes of God. The great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love. Nehemiah believed in God s power and God s kindness. He had faith that God could and would hear his prayer. Nehemiah begins his prayer by focusing on the character of God and that leads him to think about the difference between God and himself. Who among us can say we ve kept all of God s commandments? We think about the sin in our own hearts and how we ve fallen short and that leads us to confession. 1 John White, Excellence in Leadership: Reaching Goals with Prayer, Courage, & Determination, Intervarsity, 1986, page 19.

5 5 The amazing thing about Nehemiah s confession is that he confesses other people s sins as if they were his own (1:6-7), confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Both I and my family have sinned. 7 We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded. Nehemiah has a sense of collective and corporate responsibility which many people lack today. He identifies with his people and his nation historically in a way that we often don t identify with the church and our own nation. We don t confess the failure of the church or of our nation as if we are the ones who have sinned, failed, or fallen short. We re more likely to say, It s not my fault. I didn t do it. I wasn t even there. Nehemiah doesn t pray forgive them, he prays, forgive us. Nehemiah pleads with God in the same way that Moses did (see Deuteronomy 30:1-4, and 9:29). He reminds God (1:10), They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed. When we see people pleading with God like Moses, Nehemiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, and others they often pray reminding God who God is and what God has promised. They do this out of deep love for God and for people and with little regard for themselves and their own life. If I was Nehemiah, or if you were, I wonder what our prayer would have been like? I m guessing it might have been something like, Lord, please help those poor people suffering in Jerusalem. Help them not to be discouraged because the walls have been broken down again and they have no safety or security. Help them remember that you are stronger than their enemies. Maybe that s even where Nehemiah started in his praying. Maybe he got a response from God, If I m as strong and powerful as you think, why don t you go to the king and ask for permission to go rebuild the walls yourself? It s nice of you to pray, but it would be nicer if you did something about it. Next month I ll be preaching from Ecclesiastes and 1:9 says, What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, there is nothing new under sun. Here we are more than 2,400 years after Nehemiah and the issues he faced related to refugees, the rebuilding of war damaged areas, communities living in hopelessness leading to poverty, corruption, and economic, political, and spiritual oppression, are still issues we face today. Nehemiah is a man of faith and prayer and

6 6 he embodies the relationship between personal spiritual integrity and effective public influence. In Nehemiah 1 we learn how Nehemiah inquired about the situation in Jerusalem (verses 2-3), empathized with those who were hurting (verse 4), humbled himself before God (verse 4) and prayed (verses 5-11) expressing adoration to God (v. 5), confessing and sharing his nation s sin to the Lord (verses 6-7), and petitioning God for help (verses 8-11). Nehemiah s name means Yahweh comforts. His name revealed his destiny. God would use him to bring comfort to his people. We ll see how that unfolds next week. Prayer: Holy God we hear these ancient words from Nehemiah that describe a time of war, deprivation, struggle, and challenge in Jerusalem and the surrounding area and we think how little has changed in all these years. Like Nehemiah we hear the news of the dead and the wounded and the homes and infrastructure being destroyed in that part of the world, as well as in many other places but we aren t necessarily moved as deeply as he was to sit, weep, mourn, fast and pray before you the God of heaven. As Nehemiah confessed the sins of the people of Israel in his day, we pray for a similar spirit of humility and brokenness before you in our time on our part as well as among leaders and nations. All of us have sinned and fallen short of your glory. We have offended you deeply. We pray against indifference and ask for an increase in love, wisdom, and compassion. In a world filled with so much destruction and hate, help us, like Nehemiah to be prayerful builders of hope, and community. Amen.

7 7 Blessing May God bless you and keep you May God make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26) When you are struggling to make ends meet, may God provide for all of your needs, blessing you abundantly with every good & perfect gift (Philippians 4:19, James 1:17) May you fall in love with God more and more, finding delight in the Lord and His Word, and may you prosper in everything that you do (Psalm 1:1-3) May Yahweh fill you with hope, grant the desires of your heart, and make your plans succeed (Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 20:4) May you taste and see that the Lord is good every single day (Psalm 34:8) When you are overwhelmed, may the Good Shepherd lead you beside still waters, restoring your soul (Psalm 23:2-3) May the Light of the world shine into any areas of darkness in your life, and may you trade your fear for faith. (John 8:12) May you grow the fruit of the spirit in your life this year love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) May you choose to trust and give your life and its outcomes completely to the Lord, even when you don t understand, (Proverbs 3:5-6) May you push aside the comparison, doubt, vanity, and attacks of the world and root your worth in Christ alone (Colossians 2:6-7) May you treat your body gently, like the temple that it is, and may you listen to the nudgings of the Holy Spirit in your life (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) May you be generous in your giving, grateful in your receiving, faithful in your serving, and may you overflow with joy. (Deuteronomy 15:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:18)

8 8 Questions for Discussion or Reflection 1. What unfinished or not yet started projects at home most disturb you? 2. Why is Nehemiah so concerned about the condition of Jerusalem (verses 2-4)? 3. How does Nehemiah respond to the news about Jerusalem? What does that say about his relationship with God? 4. What do we see about the nature of God in Nehemiah s prayer? What does he remember as he persists in prayer (verses 8-10)? 5. How grieved are you about the condition of God s people? Enough to pray? Fast? Act? 6. When you hear news from across our country and around the world of victims of violence, exiled people, refugees, the broken, or the hungry, do you respond like Nehemiah? Why or why not? 7. Do you tend to despair over what is? Accept what is? Or pray for what could be? Why is that? How can you be more like Nehemiah?