Pastor Paul R. Bawden Nehemiah 2:1-9 When God Answers The story is told about a little fellow who had been sent to his room because he had been bad. A short time later he came out and said to his mother, "I've been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer." "That's fine," she said, "if you ask God to make you good, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me be good," replied the boy. "I asked Him to help you put up with me." I m sure we appreciate the honesty of children. At the same time, this little fellow s answer reminds us that prayer can be very self motivated, self centered. But the key in prayer is asking not in our will but in God s will. If we ask anything in His will, He hears us..... pens the apostle John in his first letter chapter 5. In fact in the pattern for prayer, which is commonly known as the Lord s Prayer, our Lord opened His prayer with these words, Our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. At a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bobby Richardson, former New York Yankee second baseman, offered a prayer that is a classic in brevity and poignancy: "Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen." Bobby Richardson understood that prayer must be made in the will of God and that through prayer one discerns the will of God. That is what is going on this morning in our text read from Nehemiah 2:1-9. Nehemiah prayed in the will of God and God answered. Nehemiah, was a Jew living in Persia. His occupation was cupbearer to the king of Persia, Artaxerxes. The cupbearer tasted the wine of the king to be sure it wasn t poisoned. Due to his personal relationship to the king, he was a trusted servant of the king and was privy to many matters that concerned the king and his kingdom. The events recorded in Nehemiah took place around 445 B.C. In chapter one of Nehemiah, we saw Nehemiah receiving the devastating news about the people in his homeland and the city of Jerusalem. As it says in Nehemiah 1:3, the people were in distress and reproach and the city walls were broken down and its gates were burned. Due to Nehemiah s great love for God, his people and the city of God, Jerusalem, his heart was broken when he received the awful news. No, he didn t blame God for the awful circumstance in his homeland. Rather, he turned to God. He wept, fasted, and prayed. In that amazing prayer, Nehemiah worshipped the true and living God (1:5), he confessed the sin of the people (1:6-7), and he petitioned God to somehow intervene on behalf of his people. In that petition, he claimed the promise of God, to restore His people if they would return to him in faith and do His will. And as he ended his prayer in Nehemiah 1:11, it became obvious that he realized that he was the answer to his own prayer. From chapter 2:1 it becomes quickly apparent that Nehemiah had been praying to God about the devastating condition in Jerusalem for about 4 months. Note that Nehemiah received the news concerning Jerusalem in the month Chislev or November/December and now it was the month of Nisan or March/April., about four months later. On the day recorded here, Nehemiah took the wine to the king, but on this day, Nehemiah had a different look on his face, his countenance was sad, and the king recognized it immediately. He knew Nehemiah wasn t sick, but he saw his sad face and knew he was sad in heart. For Nehemiah to show sadness in the presence of the king was against protocol in the king s court. Those serving the king were to be supremely happy when looking on the face of the king. It could mean severe punishment if sadness were evident.
It s no wonder, then, that Nehemiah was afraid. He was afraid of what the king could do to him with such a sad countenance. He was also about to make a request for permission to leave the king and depart to another place. That was unheard of and dangerous. Nehemiah s very life was on the line here for his own people. He had every reason to be afraid. But what did Nehemiah do? He answered the king directly and honestly as to why he was sad (Nehemiah 2:3) - The city of my fathers lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire, were the words of Nehemiah. Then the king asked Nehemiah, What would you request? This is an amazing question by King Artaxerxes. He could have told Nehemiah that he was making too much over this news. He should get over it, and not come into his court with a sad face any more. For didn t he know such was worthy of punishment. But the king was sensitive to Nehemiah s sadness and the information that Nehemiah gave him. Why? Certainly, Nehemiah had demonstrated sterling character in the presence of the king. In serving the king, it would seem that Nehemiah would have become a personal friend of the king. They probably had different times to talk about certain issues and decisions. But along with this, Nehemiah had been praying to the Lord for about four months, and on this particular day, Nehemiah could hold back his sadness no longer. His sad heart became obvious to the king. Now the king asked Nehemiah what was troubling him, and Nehemiah told him, and now asked Nehemiah what was his request. What did Nehemiah do? Nehemiah 2:4 tells us, I (Nehemiah) prayed to the God of heaven. We are not told what Nehemiah prayed, but it was probably one of the shortest prayers in his mind to the LORD. Perhaps, as one writer suggested, the words at the end of verse 11 in chapter one. Make your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man. Let s pause here and note what is happening in Nehemiah s life. Notice what we see. 1. Nehemiah s unwavering faith (2:1-4). (1) Nehemiah kept on believing in God s sovereignty in spite of the prolonged delay in God s answer. Why did Nehemiah do so? **Negatively - He did not base his faith on what he thought God should do. Many times we pray expecting God to operate just as we think. God, of course, is not tied to our wishes, but only to His will, which is really God s best for us. His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). **Positively - He based his faith upon who God was (1:5) - His holiness, majesty, faithfulness, grace, who God was in His person. He based his faith upon God s promises (1:8-9). Having this unchanging basis for his faith, whether or not God answered the way he thought did not affect his faith negatively. Nehemiah believed that God knew best, and regardless of what happened, God was still in control, and His will would ultimately be accomplished. This is true raw confidence in the will of God. This principle is taught in Daniel 3:15-18, where the incident of the three Hebrew men is recorded. The three men would not bow down to the image Nebuchadnezzar had constructed 90 feet high and 9 feet wide, probably including the pedestal. Their response was this, Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. That s belief in the sovereignty of God. May that be our trust as well, when we are waiting on God to accomplish His will for us.
(2) Nehemiah didn t jump ahead of the Lord and take the situation into his own hands. One would assume that Nehemiah could have done something during the four months to help his people back in Jerusalem. Perhaps, he could have made contact through his brother to get something organized to get the work done on the city. But Nehemiah knew that the situation in Jerusalem was such that more than man s strength and wisdom were needed. His strong faith in God s person and promises caused him to believe in God s timing, not his own -- that s unwavering faith. He knew that God is in no hurry, but He is always on time. (3) Nehemiah believed in different kinds of praying. **Persistent consistent prayer over a long period of time. Regardless of what was happening, he kept on praying that somehow God would intervene on his behalf during the four month period of time. He may have also prayed that God would keep him happy in the presence of the king even though he was sad in his heart, for he knew the consequences of not being happy in the presence of the king. But the burden of his people evidently kept weighing down Nehemiah, to such an extent that, as the text tells us, one day when he brought the wine to the king, Nehemiah could not help himself. The burden was just too great, and his face was sad. God intervened and used Nehemiah s sadness to get the attention of the king to ask Nehemiah what was his trouble, Nehemiah answered, and the king asked him what his request was. What did Nehemiah do? Start telling the king what he desired? No. first he prayed. **A short quick prayer was offered to the Lord (4:4). Perhaps only a few seconds, but Nehemiah acknowledged immediately that God was in control and He was trusting that this was God s will for him to make his request to the Lord. We see this kind of praying again in Nehemiah 4:4-6 & 9, when the building of the walls was in process. J. Oswald Sanders in his little book, Effective Prayer calls this Ejaculatory Prayer. Prayer that s made quickly, short, and to the point, directly to God, but it is made in the midst of seeking to follow God and do His will. It s made right in the heat of battle. It s not made in the closet, but in life where one is serving the Lord. In fact J. Oswald writes about --- Creative Praying, Unceasing Prayer, Unanswered Prayer, Praying with Authority, Praying for Missionaries, Audacious Praying, Why United Prayer? Importunate Praying, Strenuous Praying, Prayer and the Promises, Prayer is Warfare, and other aspects of prayer. AND NOTE WELL Nehemiah asked the eternal King for His help, before he asked the earthly king for his help. Nehemiah prayed before he acted. Do we do that? Let s thank the Lord that He is only a thought away, regardless of where we are and the time of day. Along with Nehemiah s faith in his persistent and consistent praying to God over four months, and his short praying in front of the king of Persia, we see secondly, God s direct involvement in Nehemiah s prayer to Him. 2. God s Abundant Answer (Nehemiah 2:5-9). (1) It involved God taking the initiative - (2:8). The good hand of the Lord was on me **Nehemiah s burden finally became evident to the king. **The king noticed Nehemiah s sadness. **The king asked Nehemiah what his request would be. Through Nehemiah s praying, God had softened the heart of the king, and now with Nehemiah s sadness obvious to the king, the king was open to what was on Nehemiah s heart. What does the writer of Proverbs say? The king s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes (Proverbs 21:1). God used Nehemiah s persistent and consistent prayer to do
just that!! (2) It involved Nehemiah s direct request. **2:5 - Nehemiah wanted to be directly involved in helping to rebuild the walls of his home city, Jerusalem. Now it seems we begin to see what Nehemiah had been praying for in the four months that had passed. He asked that if it be the Lord s will he would be used to help his people. He prayed to be the answer to his own prayer, and God was answering that prayer. Do we have that kind of burden for changes in our personal lives, our family lives, our church life, for our neighbors and friends? **2:5- We also see that Nehemiah was probably praying that the king would be gracious to send him to do the task. Nehemiah wanted to have the proper authority to go back to Jerusalem. **2:7 - Nehemiah wanted to have the proper credentials to get to Jerusalem. This would be for travel authority and safety, another part of his prayer during the four months. **2:8 - Nehemiah wanted to have the proper material to undertake and finish the rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem when he arrived. A final piece to Nehemiah s prayer for four months. Nehemiah knew that unless he had the backing of the king and the material for rebuilding, nothing would bet accomplished on his arrival. Nehemiah knew that God was interested in the physical and spiritual world. Later our Lord taught us to pray for our daily bread. He also taught us to pray that we not yield to temptation. God is interested in every area of our lives. God s answer also had one more dimension for Nehemiah. (3). It involved the kings affirmative reply. **2:6 - It pleased the king to send me (Nehemiah gave a definite time). **2:8 - The king granted the request for the materials. **2:9 - The king granted credentials with his signature. **2:9 - The king sent along protection for Nehemiah - the king s officers of the army and horsemen. God provided everything that Nehemiah asked for because he waited on the sovereign Lord and didn t take things into his own hands. He continued to pray specifically for the things he thought were need for returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Above all, he was willing to be the answer to his own prayers. He knew that God was in no hurry, but that He was always on time. What are the lessons in Nehemiah s life for you and me today? 3. The lessons for you and me. (1) Let the burdens that God allows in our lives to cause us to go to Him in prayer not to turn away from the Lord. It s easy to pray when things are going well in our personal lives, in our families, in our church, at work, at school, and in our neighborhoods. But when the going gets tough, it s sometimes harder to pray for we may feel that God has let us down, has forgotten us, or that he even may be punishing us. God doesn t, however operate that way. Followers of Christ are not exempt from the physical and spiritual challenges of life. God makes no promise to us that life will be easy and without challenges. What He does promise us, as He did to the Apostle Paul, that His grace is sufficient for what we are experiencing. In fact, what the Lord wants each of us to grasp, regardless of what we are going through, is that He is all we need. Read Psalm 73 sometime and see how the Psalmist tells God that the wicked person is receiving all the blessing. But then when he goes into the sanctuary, he begins to realize how out of whack his thinking is. The wicked person really has nothing, because he doesn t have God. But the Psalmist has God and he realizes that He is all that He needs in this life and the life hereafter. Psalm 73:25-26 - Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (2) Be specific in your praying. Nehemiah prayed that God would work and supply in specific ways. God did just that as he provided the king s authority, and needed supplies for building, and protection for him on the trip from Persia to Jerusalem. Bless Ma and Pa Kettle and all the kids isn t really going to get God s attention. We need to be specific in our praying. (3) Never give up in prayer. We tend to forget in praying that we are in a battle against the forces of the evil one, the old nature, and the sirens of the world. To take the devil s turf will not be accomplished by now I lay me down to sleep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Real effective prayer takes work and time. In fact, we may not even see the answer in our life time in some situations. (3) Be available to be a part of the answer in praying. That s kind of scary isn t it. Perhaps that s why our praying is so general, our praying is so far removed from where we are. We can pray, Use our missionaries, Lord, to reach the natives for Christ. Lord give them wisdom and strength in bringing the gospel to those who need to know you personally. But do we pray, Lord give me an opportunity today to share your love with someone. Lord give me wisdom in how to reach out to my neighbors. That kind of praying means that you are going to have to be alert. You can t just sit by the fire and hope that God sends an angel to be a witness for you. (4) True prayer issues in true service for the Lord. **Use the authority of God - His Person (Matthew 28:19-20, the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). **Use the credentials of God - His Word (II Timothy 3:16). **Use the equipment God supplies us - For spiritual warfare - the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-20), the spiritual gifts God gives us for service (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:14; Ephesians 4:7-16). Prayer to the Lord and service for the Lord go hand in hand. You can t have one without the other. That s what the Lord is challenging us to do at Grace. We must be people of prayer. That s why we meet for prayer twice a month to pray collectively for Grace church. I would encourage you to join us. We all need to be reminded that corporate prayer has power. I believe that there is power in numbers, particularly when we pray. Those of you who are in small groups, please take time to pray for your neighbors and for those needing to know the Lord. Prayer evangelism is where its at today. God uses programs. But I encourage you to start praying for those around you where you live. If you walk in the neighborhood, pray for the homes that you walk by. As you leave this morning, you will be given a pamphlet on Prayer Walking, and other items regarding prayer. Folks, if we don t take prayer seriously as Nehemiah did, our church will only be want we think it should be, rather than what God wants it to be. God wants to do great things through us because He is a great God. But it only happens through prayer. God wants us to pray and serve, with our time, talent, energy, spiritual gifts and money that He has given us. Unless we are willing to sacrifice ourselves, and adjust our schedules to His schedule we will only spin our wheels. That s what this table is all about this morning.
Why do we have the privilege to remember what our Lord did for us in His death and bodily resurrection and what He does for us as our living High Priest and coming Savior? Why is this table here? This table is here because Jesus Christ prayed. He was a person of prayer. For what did He do in the Garden many years ago? He encountered the greatest battle He had ever experienced - - Satan seeking to keep Him from going to the cross to be your Savior and mine. How did Christ win over Satan. He prayed three times to His heavenly Father, Not my will but yours be done. While praying, He sweat as it were great drops of blood. But through that prayer, He struggled immensely, yet He submitted to the Father s will, defeating Satan. Then, He suffered the likes of hell for us, and became our sin bearer, the perfect sacrifice roasted on the old rugged Christ for you and me. He was buried, and He arose bodily from the grave to provide for us forgiveness and eternal life. We need to accept Him as Savior and live for Him. Don t miss who He is and what He has done for you!! But Christ set the example. Prayer opens for us not only what the will of God is but the power to do the will of God - - Yes, the will and power of God to lay down our lives for others so they might come to know Him personally as we do. But the supernatural movement of God among us only comes through prayer. May we be people of prayer. Not just talk about it, but do it. Persistent consistent prayer, and short prayers, all kinds of prayer. May Grace Church be known as a people of prayer. A man who exhibited that he was a person of prayer was GEORGE MUELLER who lived from 1805-1898. God raised up George Mueller, to develop an incredible ministry to orphans in Bristol, England, and support missionaries through the ministry of prayer. This has been written about George Mueller. George Mueller was a man of faith and miracles. Certainly he was one of the greatest prayer warriors of the past century. His ministry was prospered because he trusted fully in God and he started a work that was born in his heart. During his ministry of 63 years, he supported missionaries, established the Scriptural Knowledge Institute in England, taught Sunday schools as well as day schools where teachers were Christian, distributed Bibles and religious tracts, and cared for orphans. He was directly involved in the Christian instruction of 121,683 pupils. He distributed 281,652 Bibles, 1,448,662 New Testaments, 21,343 copies of the Book of Psalms, and 222,196 other portions of the Holy Scriptures. He financially supported missionary operations in 26 different countries. He distributed 111,489,067 tracts/booklets/pamphlets, and was directly involved in the conversion of 2,813 orphans. He mastered 6 languages: French, German, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and English. There was no detail too insignificant to take to the Lord in prayer. He lived literally according to the passage, "In all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." "Real trust in God is above circumstances and appearances," he affirmed. The Mueller's set off for the United States in August 1877 aboard the Sardian Off Newfoundland the weather turned cold and the ship's progress was seriously retarded by fog. The captain had been on the bridge for 24 hours when something happened which was to revolutionize his life. George Mueller appeared on the bridge. "Captain, I have come to tell you I must be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon." "It is impossible," said the captain. "Very well, " said Mueller, "if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way--i have never broken an engagement for 52 years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray." The Captain wondered which lunatic asylum Mueller had come from.
"Mr. Mueller," he said, "do you know how dense this fog is?" "No, my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life." Mueller then knelt down and prayed simply. When he had finished the captain was about to pray, but Mueller put his hand on his shoulder, and told him not to. "First, you do not believe He will' and second, I believe He has, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it." The captain looked at Mueller in amazement. "Captain," he continued, I have known my Lord for 52 years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog is gone." The captain walked across to the door and opened it. The fog had lifted. It was the captain himself, who later told the story of this incident, and who was subsequently described by a His victories came through prayer, trust in the Lord's unfailing promises and a faith that God's truth would not fail. "It is not enough to begin to pray," he advises us, "nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly continue in prayer, until we obtain an answer; and further, we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing." During the last year of Mr. Mueller's life, among the gifts (for the feeding of the orphans) recorded were 7, 203 loaves of bread; 5,222 buns; 20 boxes of soap; 9 tons of coal; 26 haunches of venison; 112 rabbits; 312 pheasants; 5 bags of oatmeal; 26 cases of oranges; 5 boxes of dates and 4,013 pounds of meat along with hundreds of other items. Additionally he had prayed for the financial needs of the orphan houses and had during the course of his lifetime received over 2 1/2 million dollars--always making his requests known only to God. All of these gifts were needed to help care for and feed the thousands of orphans under his careful wing. George Mueller was a living demonstration of the reality of the Scripture, "But my God shall supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19). May we also be a living example of a person of prayer, and our church be known as a HOUSE OF PRAYER.