Prayer

Nehemiah 1 verses 1‐11

Rebuilding with Prayer




During last year there was a programme to tell the history of the world in 100 objects.  You may have heard it on the radio.  People often make lists of the world’s most influential people, or histories most influential people.  If you get your face on the cover of Time magazine you are considered to be an important person.   The Sunday Times publishes a rich list each year, telling you who has lost money and who has gotten even richer.   So who influences history?  In the world in which we live it is pretty easy to feel, and believe, that ordinary people make absolutely no difference to history but as we look at the book of Nehemiah we shall see  that  the  very  opposite  is  in  fact  true.    Read Nehemiah chapter 1.Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book in many of the early Hebrew texts and they need to be read together to get the full round picture.   Historically they are set during the fourth century BC when the people of Israel are in Babylonian exile.  Artexerxes  is king of Persia and he allows, or rather sends, Nehemiah back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and gates of the city.   Nehemiah encounters fierce opposition to this task from other people and finds his own people in complete disunity and disarray.  Despite all of this he rebuilds the walls of Jerusalem.  When the people once again begin to fall into sin Ezra and Nehemiah read the Law of God to them and call them to repentance.
Verses 1‐3 serve as an introduction to the book and also put before us the necessary facts of the story.  We are told that Hanani, along with other men from Judah, came from Jerusalem and that Nehemiah asked them about Jerusalem and about the people of God there.

Their reply is given in verse 3 – read.  The reply sets the scene for the rest of the book.  Nehemiah is informed that Jerusalem lies in ruins  and  the  people  are  despairing  as  a  result.    The  walls  are broken down and the gates have been burned.  There is no means of protection and it is not a city that you would be proud to belong to.  Further to that the people themselves are in no better state.  In fact they tell Nehemiah that the people are in great trouble and shame.   Is that not a dreadful description of the people of God? What is to be done?

There are two possible reactions – ‘nothing to do with me...’ or
‘let’s get a recovery project/programme into place...’   Nehemiah does neither of these – turn to the following verse 4.

Verse 4 – this is the key verse of this passage, and in fact of the whole books.   Look at what Nehemiah does when he hears the disturbing news of the state of Jerusalem and the people of God there.  He sits down – he takes a seat.  Quite literally he stopped what he was doing and shut out all the distractions of his life in the palace.  He shut out all the riches and glamour of the royal court – he took a ‘sabbath.’   In the Hebrew ‘sabbath’ is ‘shabbath’ which meant ‘to stop’ and that is what he did.  Here is the first lesson we learn from Nehemiah – to stop what we are doing to concentrate on what God would have us do.  When we read on in verse 4 we read that he fasted and prayed – but he could do neither if he was still busying himself with the things of everyday life.   So the first thing he did was to stop all other activity in order to concentrate on being before God.   We all need to take that on board at the beginning of 2012.   Let me ask you what are all the distractions going on around you when you come to read your bible and to pray.   The radio on in the background, checking emails, or is the television still on?   That should never be – we are to stop – to shabbath – so that God gets our full attention.  I know what some of  you  are  thinking  right  at  this  moment  –  do  you  know  how difficult it is for me to get even five minutes spare time?  I want to be as gentle as I can with you about this but I do want to be honest with about it – if it is a priority you will find the time.  If you are serious about your relationship with God you will find the time. Some of you seriously need to examine your time management before God.  You cannot find time to be alone with God but you can spend hours on face book, hours playing Farmville and all those other pointless games on websites but you cannot stop and be before God in prayer?    You can read the newspapers, the latest novel,  surf the  internet,  bid on ebay, never miss  an episode of eastenders and you can make time for coffee in the local coffee house but you cannot make time to be alone before God.   Nehemiah immediately sat down, stopped, before God when news came of the disrepair of Jerusalem and the despair of the people of God.

He then fasted and prayed.  He didn’t do this for five minutes but for a number of days.  It was not a one off arrow prayer, prayed in the moment to salve his conscience.  Nehemiah was serious before God  in  prayer  for  Jerusalem  and  the  people  of  God.    Prayer mattered because prayer influences history, changes events, moves people and helps fulfil the will of God.   Throughout the book of Nehemiah we read of him praying:

1.4 he prays for a long time

2.4 he prays in an emergency

4.4 he prays when he is misunderstood instead of getting bitter

4.9 he prays when he is in danger

5.19 he prays when he is tested

6.9 he prays even when he is exhausted

7.3 he keeps on praying



Nehemiah is saturated in prayer.  He makes no decisions, takes no steps forward and does not begin a task without praying.  His life was a life of prayer.  When word comes of Jerusalem he prays – not just because it is the right thing to do but also because it is the only thing to do – there is no greater thing that you can do for someone or some situation than to bring it to God in prayer.  Do you believe that?  Do you really believe that?    If you do then prayer will be a priority in your life. So let us look at what Nehemiah prayed.



Verse 5   Nehemiah begins his prayer with adoration of God.   He begins with praise, declaring the greatness of Almighty God.   He describes   God   as   a   great   and   awesome   God.      It   is   this understanding of God that is the bedrock of his prayer – why else would you pray if you did not believe that God was in control? Nehemiah then states that God is faithful and loving.   It is God himself who has called the people into a covenant relationship with him.  Nehemiah uses the ‘name’ that God revealed to Moses when Moses asked to see God’s glory in Exodus 33.   ‘Steadfast love’ – covenant love – this is the glory of God.  God is His name – that is why it is not to be taken lightly, vainly or used as a swear word. Here Nehemiah reveals the glory of God and that this God of majesty, of power and might is the one who has called, and covenanted, His people into an intimate personal relationship with Himself – so that they can pray to Him.   Without a relationship there can be no communication and without communication there can be no relationship.  If you claim to follow Christ, to belong to God and are not praying then there is no relationship with God or a breakdown  in  your  relationship  with  God.     It  is  the  same  in marriage – the breakdown of the relationship is usually because of the breakdown in communication – no communication = no relationship – that is why scripture constantly uses marriage as an illustration of the relationship of God and His people.

Adoration also slows Nehemiah down – it is all part and parcel of the ‘shabbath.’  Nehemiah’s heart has been moved by the plight of Jerusalem and the people of God but his focus needs to be on God. Jerusalem is very obviously the issue on his heart that he wants to bring before God but prayer is not about a ‘heavenly shopping list’– it is about a relationship with God.  Adoration at the beginning of prayer  slows  him  down,  reminds  him  of  before  whom  he  now stands and to whom he is bringing his requests.  It reinforces the covenant relationship and his understanding that God is gracious, faithful, loving and awesome.  Remember to praise and adore God when you begin to pray – it focuses your heart and mind on God and not on self.
Verses 6‐7 – Confession.  The next part of Nehemiah’s prayer is a lesson in confession of sin.   Being in the presence of God he can only confess his sin because he is aware of his sinfulness before God’s holiness.  I hope and pray that the same is true of us.  When we come into the presence of God we become aware of our sinfulness in His presence.  I think it is important that we teach that to our children and to our teenagers.   In a world where there is little respect for anyone or anything we need to reinforce by our own actions, by our own prayers and by our teaching that God is holy, He is awesome and majestic and that we are sinners in His presence.  There are occasions  that I am horrified at the lack of reverence before God.  God is not you bosom buddy.  Nor is He your mate and should not be treated with such flippancy as often passes for worship.  He is your creator.  He sustains your life each day.  He decided the moment of your birth and He has already decided the moment of your death.  He sent His Son to die for your sin and He is holy, awesome, majestic and all powerful.  The least you can do is to show respect and reverence in His presence.

Nehemiah confesses that he, and the people of God, have not kept the word of God and in so doing they have sinned against God. They are at fault, not God.   They have broken the covenant, not God.  They have been unfaithful, not God.  Nehemiah is honest in his confession before God and he confesses because he knows that God is gracious and will forgive those who truly repent and turn from their sin.  It is the holiness of God that convicts him of his sin and it is the grace of God that brings him to confession.  There is wrath and mercy here.   There is both judgement and grace in confession of sin.   There is acknowledgement of who God is and who Nehemiah is before God.   Oh, that we would follow such an example of prayer.  At the beginning of 2012 is it not right that we should we confess like Nehemiah that we are sinners, that we have broken the covenant with God and that we have been unfaithful.

I think it is fair to say that confession of sin is one of the neglected areas  of  prayer  in  the  life  of  many.    I  am  not  talking  about confessing your sins to another person.  What passes for confession of sin in prayer?  Often we pray and ask God to forgive us our sin – one sentence – it has not involved self‐examination before God, it has caused us no pain, remorse or regret and there is certainly been  no  shame  or  embarrassment  about  it.     I  wonder,  truly wonder, how much genuine repentance and confession of sin actually happens in the life of many – the result is actually pretty easy to see.   The evidence of this lack of true repentance and confession  is seen in the number of those who claim to follow Christ who live lives of sin, who walk away from God and who are casual about the moral law of God.

If I have lied – do I ask God to forgive me because I am a liar?  If I have broken my marriage vows do I ask God to forgive me for adultery?   If I have cheated on expenses do I confess that I am a thief?  If I have gossiped and destroyed someone’s reputation do I confess that I am a murderer?  If I have claimed to follow Christ but lived as the world lives do I confess that I am a hypocrite?   True confession  leads  us  to  naming  sin  for  what  it  is,  to  confront  it openly and confess it specifically before God.  Nehemiah did, and he also said that the people of God in general were guilty of sin.
The result of such confession is that my guilt is assuaged, my conscience is seared by the Holy Spirit and purified by God and the burden of sin (which we used to confess to God was intolerable and that we were unable to bear it) is lifted from my shoulders and life. Don’t you want that?  I know that I do.



Verses 8‐9 make harrowing reading for the people of God, in the day of Nehemiah and today.  Look at the consequences of sin and blessing of confession.  Sin scatters people because its sole purpose is the breakdown and death of relationships.  The sole purpose of sin is to break your relationship with God and to lead to your death– both physical and spiritual.   If only we would understand that about sin.  If only we had eyes that would see the consequences of our sinful actions before we took the next step.   Adam and Eve could not see the death of their relationship with God and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the gracious provision of God – and so they ate the forbidden fruit and brought death into their relationship with God, with each other and with the earth. Nehemiah knows this and confesses that the people of God cannot claim to be ignorant of this because God had told them of such consequences  through  His word –  you  cannot  be  ignorant  of  it either.   The death of their relationship with God, the removal of God’s protection and the scattering of the people (all of which has happened and is pictured in the broken walls and burned gates of Jerusalem) are because the people have been unfaithful to the covenant relationship with God.  Friends, there are no blessings to be found in unfaithfulness but there is always death and scattering.


Yet there is hope, yet there is grace and yet there is blessing.  If the people return to God, repent of their sin and are faithful to the covenant that God has established with them – Nehemiah says no matter how far apart they are, no matter how far they have been scattered God will gather them together to the place where He has chosen to dwell and to make His name known.   At the time of Nehemiah that place was Jerusalem – God choose the place and He choose that His name would dwell there – in the Temple.  What a wonderful picture – which finds its ultimate fulfilment in the book of Revelation – when God’s people, a gathering which no man can number, gather for the banquet of the Lamb.   God is not about scattering people – throughout His Word He gathers His people together – around His word, around His throne of grace, a place where He dwells with and amongst His people.  Nehemiah knows that this is God’s will – to gather His people and to dwell amongst them.   God has not changed.   God’s desire is still to gather His people and to dwell amongst them.

Verse 10 – Redemption of God’s people by the hand of God. Jerusalem may lie in ruins and the people of God may be despairing but God is the God of redemption.   By His hand the people are redeemed and in that redemption they are declared the people of God.   As you read this you  may feel that your life is in ruins and the walls of your life are broken down and the gates are burned.  You may feel despairing because of your past and the past of others which has brought you to this place.   NOW God whispers into your life that He is the God of redemption – the one who redeems, who has paid for all the consequences of your sin and the sins of others.  He has taken all the punishment for your unfaithfulness and the unfaithfulness of others and this morning by His mighty power and His strong arm He will redeem you.   He wants you to know that redemption NOW.  He wants you to know the redeeming love of the saviour, not just to know it in your head but to feel it in the depth of your soul – to know you are redeemed this NOW.



Verse 11 – now Nehemiah is in a place to ask of God.  Look at this verse closely.  He does not immediately launch into a list of requests concerning Jerusalem.   Having taken a ‘shabbath’, having adored God, confessed his sin and praised God for His faithfulness and redemption he asks that God would turn His ear to his request – not because of who Nehemiah is but because Nehemiah fears the name of the Lord.  Look at what he asks of God– give me success before this man – the king.

I want you to note that Nehemiah does not tell God or ask God about Jerusalem and what needs to be done there – no he asks simply that God gives him success in the next step – before king Artexerxes.   There is no racing to the end of this project, there is only prayer for the next step of the journey.  Too often we pray for the end of the journey without having asked God for success for taking the first footsteps of that journey.  Remember that in prayer. Pray for the next step



 I asked who influences history?   You do by your prayers.  your prayers have a greater influence, impact and consequences  for  your  life,  for  the  life  of  your  family,  for  YOUR church and for YOUR community  Do you believe that?  As the people of God I want to encourage you to keep on praying and to take prayer seriously. As your Brother in Christ I want to say to you that over the past few years there  were  times  when  only  prayer,  only  prayer,  carried  me through many situations.  There were times when knowing that other people  were praying for me quite literally gave me the strength, the courage and the determination to keep following Christ in very dark and difficult situations.  Thank you for those prayers because they sustained my life, they changed my life and they have changed the lives of others. So keep praying.

Make the time – take a shabbath each day.   Quite literally stop whatever you are doing and come before God – use the pattern of Nehemiah 1‐11 for your prayer pattern.   Don’t go through the motions.      Turn   off   the   computer,   switch   off   facebook,   the television, whatever and go before God in prayer.   You want to influence  your  children,  you  want  to  enrich  your  marriage,  you want the blessings of God in your life – it won’t happen unless you are before Him in prayer.  Start somewhere – but you need to start. You need to keep going, be persistent because satan will through everything at you, including the kitchen sink, to stop you praying.

  Thank you for those prayers in the past and I thank you for those prayers in the future.

Amen.