The Rebuilding Begins with Prayer

Today's Reading: Nehemiah 1

Last year around this time, God got a hold of me with the book of Nehemiah. I read it and studied it and even ended up teaching it in the fall to the Journey class. For some reason, God just wouldn't let me get out of Nehemiah. It was an amazing time as I studied every word and looked for every nuance and nugget that God wanted me to see. I'm certainly not a Nehemiah expert! It was just a wonderful time to spend in this rich book and hopefully over the next few weeks, through Jeff's sermons and through this blog, we can all learn some more.

Nehemiah opens describing a scene where he learns the fate of his fellow Israelites and is heartbroken over what he hears. It seems the walls of Jerusalem are broken down, its gates have been burned, and the people are in great distress. Verse 4 gives us great insight into Nehemiah's character as a leader, "When I heard these things, I sat down and wept." You see, the heart of a leader starts with concern and compassion for the people he or she is leading. Nehemiah could have become angry or fearful...instead, his heart turned towards compassion for his people and he sat down to weep.

Then in verses 5-11, we read Nehemiah's prayer. First it is filled with praise and then confession. Why confession on behalf of the Israelites? Because confession restores our relationship with God.

Nehemiah then reminds God of His promises to Moses, that "even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name." God's past promises give us hope for the future. 

He finally ends with an impassioned plea for God to save His people, and a request for God's favor to be on himself. God can, does, and will intervene in our lives in response to our prayers.

We have much to learn from this book and it is interesting to me that the story begins with a prayer. I suspect that Nehemiah knew that whatever rebuilding needed to be done would begin with favor from the Father.

Is that where we need to be today? On our knees in prayer for God's people, confessing our sins, reminding ourselves of His promises, and praying for God's holy intervention in our lives?

There is probably not any better place to be...

 - Holly Barrett