The word that is heavy in my mind this morning is “prayer”. Jerusalem was in ruins. Nehemiah, along with many others, was in captivity and he was serving as cup bearer to the king of the nation that was in control. When he heard news of the condition of his beloved Jerusalem, he was distraught. He didn’t just go to the king and tell him he would need to find another cup bearer because he, Nehemiah, was going to go back to Jerusalem to restore the gates and walls. His life could have been taken from him for even thinking such a thing. Long before the ask, Nehemiah began to pray and fast. He talked to God about the situation, but more than that, he talked to God about the condition of his heart and the heart of his people. He praised God for his awesome power and faithfulness. He confessed his sin and the sin of his people. He reminded God that the covenant between Him and His people declared that if they returned to Him, He would restore them to the land He had brought them to. He asked for favor from the king. This went on for several months and it effected his countenance. Apparently, he had a good relationship with the king because the king took notice that he wasn’t his usual happy self and inquired about it. In his journal, Nehemiah confesses he was terrified to answer the king. As he prayed and fasted, God had been giving him a strategy, but it was huge and unheard of to ask a king to help him rebuild the gates and walls of a city that had been conquered.
Yet, as we read Nehemiah’s journal, we see that he was not only released to go, provisions were made for him and for the rebuilding of the wall and the gates. In his prayers, he had asked God for the king’s favor and he was granted huge favor from the king!
But it was not easy. There was a lot of resistance. And the people were constantly being intimidated by the opposition. False prophets appeared to discourage them. How was Nehemiah able to discern the false prophets from the true ones? I don’t imagine he quit praying once the building was underway.
People came to him saying they were in need. They were having to sell their daughters as slaves to have enough food to eat. They had already mortgaged their houses and land and had nothing else to mortgage. Apparently, it was mortgaged to a few wealthy leaders in the community and Nehemiah was angry! That was not God’s way. They were not to be taxing the people, but rather helping them. He accused the leaders of selling their people into slavery after he had been doing all he could to redeem them from slavery to foreigners. To avoid being mocked by enemy nations, he asked the wealthy to restore the property and homes to the rightful owners and quit charging interest. Nehemiah knew that justice for the oppressed was very close to God’s heart. What is amazing is that the wealthy agreed and did restore property and homes to the people.
Nehemiah did not tax the people in order to provide for his own table that fed 150 Jewish officials and visitors to the land on a daily basis. He led by example and people followed.
He was successful in rebuilding the wall. His success came not through his own genius and wealth. It came through a humble spirit committed to prayer and fasting to the God who had the power to make it happen.
Many years later, Jesus would sit with his disciples and teach them the power of prayer through His own example and words. Jesus was in the habit of going up on the mountain to pray each morning. He taught the disciples that God would do anything they asked if they would “remain or abide in Him.” They were to love each other. And through that, they would glorify the Father and produce “lasting fruit.”
So I wonder, what does it mean to “remain or abide in Him?” And what is “lasting fruit?”
And I begin to imagine. If one man, Nehemiah, could pray and fast and receive the king’s favor for a big ask and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, what could I, one person, accomplish if I began to pray and fast about the injustices around me. First would God reveal to me the particular injustices (for there are many) that He would want me to address? Would He give me strategy to begin to address them? And what if several believers would meet together and pray and fast? What desires and strategies would God place in their hearts to do? And if His Church would be united in fasting and praying, what then might be accomplished that would be “unheard of” and would bring great glory to the Father? What if we stopped protecting our own interests and “loved each other” as Christ loved us – even being willing to give His life for us? What then might our nation and our world look like?
Holy Father, you are an awesome God, full of power, mercy and grace. You have been faithful to us even when we have been less than faithful to you. We confess that we have not loved each other as you have asked us to do, but have trampled on each other trying to get more for ourselves. We repent and ask you to forgive us and restore us to being the children you have called us to be – children who seek your face and carry out your mission to reconcile the world to yourself. Give us strategy and favor Lord, that we might serve you by serving each other and bring glory and honor to your name, the name above every other name. It is in the powerful name of Jesus we ask these things. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment