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¹¹ Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.’ I was cupbearer to the king.NIV

Nehemiah had a special assignment:

‘’I was cupbearer to the king.’’

 As previously noted, Nehemiah had an influential role at court.

Warren Wiersbe writes: ‘That Nehemiah, a Jew, held such an important position in the palace speaks well of his character and ability (Dan.1:1-4). For nearly a century, the Jewish remnant had been back in their own land, and Nehemiah could have joined them, but he chose to remain in the palace. It turned out that God had a work for him to do there that he would not have accomplished elsewhere. God put Nehemiah in Susa just as He had put Esther there a generation before, and just as He had put Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. When God wants to accomplish a work, He always prepares His workers and puts them in the right place at the right time.’ Old Testament Commentary, p.752.

I read a quote from Oswald Chambers where he was saying, wherever God dumps you down, whether in a slum or a desert or wherever, He has a purpose for you. Wherever you find yourself, pray. You may or may not want to be where you are, but God certainly cannot use you where you are not!

In Persia, Nehemiah had a special assignment.

But in his heart he felt the call to another special assignment. It would take him back to Jerusalem, and an appointment with destiny.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord that I am not where I am by accident. Help me, here in this place, to pray to you, and see what assignment you have for me. As you led Nehemiah centuries ago, I pray you will lead me today.

^“8 ‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, ⁹ but if you return to me and obey my commands, then 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.”¹⁰ ‘They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. ¹¹ Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.’ NIV

‘We should deal much more successfully with men if, like Nehemiah, we dealt more largely with God.’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.205.

‘’In the LORD’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.’’ Proverbs 21:1.

Nehemiah’s request was clear and definite. He was to receive a specific answer

The idea of ‘’favour’’ comes up a number of times in the Bible. Think about the story of Joseph in Egypt. In Esther chapter 2 you can read about the ‘’favour’’ Esther found in the Persian court.

It was a big thing to ask: ‘’…favour in the presence of this man’’, because ‘’this man’’ – King Artaxerxes, had previously ordered the work on Jerusalem’s walls to stop (It is worth taking the time to read Ezra 4:8-23) You had to tread very carefully with despots like these!

Nehemiah needed a mountain moving, but he knew it was possible.

^“5 Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. ⁸ ‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, ⁹ but if you return to me and obey my commands, then 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.” ¹⁰ ‘They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. ¹¹ Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.’I was cupbearer to the king.”NIV UK

F.B. Meyer says of Nehemiah: ‘The secret of his efficiency lay in his constant bringing of all the problems before God…’ He goes on to say Nehemiah reveals ‘…the mighty power that can be exerted by one who has no purpose in life and no power that is not centred in God.’ ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.204.

There are other details in this prayer we haven’t spent time on. For example, Nehemiah reminds God that Israel is ‘’your people’’(10). The Lord bought them. He delivered them at great cost and with tremendous effort.

There is also the thought that he recognises other people are praying about the situation (11a – Maybe there were even other people joining him in prayer?)

But the prayer eventually arrives at this one one focussed request:

‘’Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.’’

 Someone said, ’Pray until you pray.’

I heard one preacher say something like this, ‘When you start out praying, it might take a little while to get a sense of direction, then suddenly ‘the gears mesh’ and you’re away.

I don’t know whether Nehemiah always knew he was going to pray this particular prayer, or whether it gradually dawned on him, or came to him in a flash of inspiration. But I do know that sometimes it is after a lengthy time of prayer that you get a strong sense of what it is you ought to pray. You seem to feel a special ‘anointing’ – a power, a conviction – on this particular request.

‘Pray until you pray.’

PRAYER: Lord, there is so much about prayer that is a mystery to me. Lord, please, teach me to pray

⁵ Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. ⁸ ‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, ⁹ but if you return to me and obey my commands, then 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.” ¹⁰ ‘They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. ¹¹ Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.’I was cupbearer to the king.NIV

Nehemiah recognised that the people of Israel were suffering the negative consequences of their sins. But he stands in the tradition of the great Biblical intercessors by confessing not only his own sins, and those of his family, but also the guilt of the entire nation. Was Nehemiah personally responsible for all these many other offences against God? Certainly not. But he had a sense of solidarity, of identification with his people. He confessed their sins as if his own.

The sins of our nation against God (and one another) are many and grievous. I regularly pray that God will ‘’heal’’ our land, and the many lands afflicted by the coronavirus (see 2 Chronicles 7:14). But I absolutely believe that I have a responsibility to sit with Nehemiah and confess not only my own sins, but the sins of my land.

PRAYER: ‘Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy; Lord have mercy.’

^“5 Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. ⁸ ‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, ⁹ but if you return to me and obey my commands, then 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.”¹⁰ ‘They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. ¹¹ Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.’I was cupbearer to the king.” NIV

Nehemiah’s prayer is soaked in Scripture.

In verse 6a there is an allusion to Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8:29)

In conjunction with verses 8,9 it’s good to keep in mind Leviticus 26:33, 36-39, 40-42 & Deuteronomy 30:1-5 (Also Deuteronomy 12:5 and 1 Kings 8:48).

Underlying the whole is the recognition that God is a covenant-keeping God (5). He is faithful; He is true to His Word. He will do what He says if we play our part.

I think it’s true to say that the greatest intercessors in the history of the church have been those men and women who have prayed, as it were, with an open Bible. They have taken what God says seriously, and they have dared to stand on it. Eugene Peterson has pointed out that prayer is answering speech. God has the first word, and we respond to Him in prayer.

‘This prayer of Nehemiah’s is very beautiful, saturated as it is with quotations from Scripture, and so effective with God because based on his own Word.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.205

Just recently something has ‘clicked’ for me. I’ve come to see that you can pretty much take any text of the Bible and turn it into prayer. I find it helpful to think:

• What does this verse (or passage) command? (State? Promise? Etc);
• How does it provoke thanksgiving?;
• What do I need to confess in the light of it?;
• What does it move me to pray?

PRAYER: Lord, please teach me the mighty power of praying your Word.

^“4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,” NIV

Over the next few days we will be looking at Nehemiah’s prayer as recorded in the rest of this chapter. The first thing to note is that it’s a prayer grounded in the greatness of God.

Jesus said this is how we should pray:

‘’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…’’ Matthew 6:9. Remember, God is great, and to be revered.

We read in Acts 4:24, that in a time of persecution, the early Christians prayed along these lines:

‘…they raised their voices together in prayer to God. ‘’Sovereign Lord,’’ they said, ‘’you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them…’’ ‘

 That was their starting point. They had a profound awareness of the greatness of the God to Whom they prayed.

Many years ago, J.B. Phillips wrote a book entitled, ‘Your God is too small.’

Probably more than a couple of decades on from that publication, Canon John Young wrote, ‘Your God is still too small.’

I suppose our grasp of God’s greatness will always lie somewhere in the valleys of understanding, rather than on the heights. At best, we know ‘’in part’’. But what becomes clear as you read through Nehemiah’s prayer is that he was soaked in the Bible as he knew it at the time. I believe the more we meditate on God’s Word and turn it into prayer, the more aware we will become of ‘How great is our God.’ Such an understanding is foundational to all believing prayer.

PRAYER: Almighty God, I know you will always be infinitely greater than my limited understanding. But I pray you will open the eyes of my heart that I may see you more clearly. I want to grow in the knowledge of my God.

^“4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,” NIV

Intercession:

‘There is too much working before men and too little waiting before God.’ Alan Redpath.

We will be taking time, over the next week or so, to study Nehemiah’s prayer in the remainder of chapter 1. It is one of the major examples of intercession recorded in the Bible.

Matthew Henry famously said, ‘When God intends a great mercy for a people, first He sets them a praying.’

This is the first of 12 instances of prayer found in Nehemiah. The book opens and closes with prayer. The man epitomises the principle of prayer without ceasing. We see him shooting ‘arrow prayers’ in the midst of his days and his work. I believe we can also say of Nehemiah that he prayed like it all depended on God, but worked as though it all depended on him. He didn’t merely pray, and he didn’t merely work. In him, these two things God has joined together were not put asunder. Prayer and work were married, and had a fruitful partnership.

‘In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably, or succeed more miserably.’ George McDonald.

PRAYER: Lord, please pour the Spirit of prayer upon your whole church. May we be like Nehemiah, willing to work hard and to do all that is required of us, but always looking to you and your strength.

^“3 They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’ ⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” NIV

Intensity:

‘When God puts a burden on your heart, don’t try to escape it, for if you do, you may miss the blessing He has planned for you. The book of Nehemiah begins with ‘’great affliction’’ (Neh.1:3), but before it closes, there is great joy (8:12, 17). ‘’Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning’’ (Ps.30:5)’ Warren Wiersbe OT Commentary, p.753.

Nehemiah’s heart was stirred and moved and burdened by the facts he heard. He showed a spiritual intensity that, I believe, would also be entirely appropriate for the situation we face in the world right now. Pentecostal Christians are regularly caricatured as ‘happy-clappy’. That’s probably an unfair designation. But as well as being a people who are very much in favour of overwhelming joy in the Holy Spirit, we also need to understand that there is a proper place for lament.

Fasting was required of the Jews only once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29), but Nehemiah’s fasting (and mourning) went on ‘For some days…’

You don’t need me to tell you that our nation, and the world at large, is facing a monumental crisis. Look the facts of our situation squarely in the face, and then tell me that we don’t need to join in Nehemiah in mourning, weeping, fasting and repentance!

PRAYER: ‘Break my heart for what breaks yours.’

“The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.   ³ They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’” NIV

Intelligence:

‘Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored’ Aldous Huxley.

We sometimes talk about praying ‘intelligently’. Nehemiah certainly could after he heard this news.

We saw yesterday that Nehemiah was profoundly interested in the state of his fellow Jews who had returned from exile in Persia. (It seems his job had kept him there). He says in (2), ‘’…I questioned them…’’ (I.e. the men from Judah, including Nehemiah’s brother), which seems to infer more than a mere superficial interest. He really wanted to know.

The news he received was not good, but it was to shape his destiny.

They say ‘facts are your friends.’ We may not always feel comfortable around these ‘friends’ but we need them.The facts about Jerusalem’s walls and gates meant that the city was open to ridicule and attack. This was not welcome information.

But information can lead to transformation, if we refuse to be mere consumers of news. I remember a member of our church, David Dowson, encouraging us to lift what we see on the news in prayer to God. That’s a great idea, although it’s not always easy to remember. However, information can be translated into intercession. This is what happened in Nehemiah’s case.

In Warren Wiersbe’s Old Testament Commentary, I was struck by these words:

‘Some people prefer not to know what’s going on, because information might bring obligation…Are we like Nehemiah, anxious to know the truth even about the worst situations? Is our interest born of concern or idle curiosity? When we read missionary prayer letters, the news in religious periodicals, or even our church’s ministry reports, do we want the facts, and do the facts burden us? Are we the kind of people who care enough to ask?’ (Pages 752/753)