Praying Big Prayers

Nehemiah 1:5–11 NASB95

5 I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 “We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 “Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 10 “They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 “O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.” Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

INTRO: How important is prayer in your life?

Surveys from BARNA and PEW research show that less people pray in cities than in rural areas and there appears to be a correlation between higher education and prayer- college graduates are less likely to pray than those without college degrees.

This confirms Cyril J. Barber’s analysis. In a commentary on Nehemiah, he says:

Nehemiah: An Expositional Commentary The First Dynamic

“The self-sufficient do not pray; they merely talk to themselves. The self-satisfied will not pray; they have no knowledge of their need. The self-righteous cannot pray; they have no basis on which to approach God.

Of course, there are also some misapplications in prayer:

Sometimes I think people ‘pray’ like God is a genie who is here to do their bidding.

Other times people pray only vague and small prayers. These are prayers that would be difficult to know if they were answered or not.

Some prayers don’t even make sense. Take for instance a prayer that was offered for Queen Adelaide (UK 1830-37):

“O Lord, save thy servant, our Sovereign Lady, the Queen. Grant that as she grows an old woman, she may become a new man. Strengthen her with Thy blessing that she may live a pure virgin, bringing her sons and daughters to the glory of God. And give her grace that she may go before her people like a he-goat upon the mountains.”

I think most of us here today would acknowledge the importance of prayer. Many of you likely pray at some point each day; maybe you pray over your meals, giving thanks for God’s provision. Perhaps you pray for the health of loved ones or the health of our nation. Maybe you pray for missionaries and their endeavors to share the Gospel in hard-to-reach places.

If we understand prayer correctly, it is key to our fellowship with God. It is not simply talking to God, but also listening and receiving from God. Prayer can be about things we need, but it should also be about repentance, thanksgiving, aligning our will to God’s, and engaging in His plan.

And at the same time, we have to realize that when we pray, we enter into a supernatural conversation where we admit our limitations and trust God to intervene. This truth challenges me in my prayers.

Jesus said, in John 14:12

John 14:12 NASB95

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

Greater works require a supernatural intervention. If our prayers, at some point do not require something supernatural, then both our vision and our perception of God are too small.

What kind of prayers are you praying?

Today, we pick up in Nehemiah 1:5-11, which is a record of Nehemiah’s prayer. The reality is that this is not a single prayer, but rather a summary of his consistent prayers over a period of time. So, I don’t believe he recited this exact prayer word for word every time he prayed, but instead this record captures the heart of his prayers before God.

Context helps us come to that conclusion. If we look around this section of verses, about 4-5 months pass between the beginning of chapter 1 (Nov/ Dec), where Nehemiah learns of the state of Jerusalem and is convicted about his necessary involvement, and chapter 2 (Mar/ April), where he goes before the king to ask for his help.

In this period of time, I believe that Nehemiah prayed earnestly and regularly. I’m sure he prayed other prayers as well, but this is beyond the normal circumstances of ordinary life. The crisis presented earlier, which we talked about last week, called for a step outside of Nehemiah’s comfort zone into the impossible. Indeed, this called for a big prayer.

And so in our time together this morning, we will look at 3 components of Nehemiah’s prayer, all the while asking questions like:

What vision does God have for us? or What big prayer are we praying?

In what area of prayer do we need to grow?

Are we ignoring God’s call to greater things?

The sermon is titled “Praying Big Prayers.” I invite you to use the sermon guide in your bulletin and follow along.

If you are watching online, thank you for tuning in. Please consider joining us in person next time; there really is no substitute for gathering with the body of Christ.

Let us begin. In order to pray big prayers, we must first adopt an:

Attitude of Humility (5-7)

(READ)

Nehemiah’s prayer really captures this humble attitude. Let me point out a couple things: An attitude of humility acknowledges:

The greatness of God (5)

Nehemiah called upon Yahweh, the God of heaven. He alone is supreme and sovereign.

He didn’t just say “god” for there are many who claim to pray to “god” but no god of man’s imagination can match the power and might of Yahweh.

I’ve seen people pray to the god of golf or the god of sex, etc. These ‘little g’ gods, if you notice, are attributed some power, but no sovereignty. But the God of heaven has all authority. When we pray to our God, we pray to the one to whom all creation is subject… even golf.

An attitude of humility acknowledges:

The faithfulness of God (5b)

Nehemiah calls to God with the understanding that it is He alone who preserves the covenant. His compassion and loving-kindness is the only reason that man could approach Him.

Folks, God does not owe us anything. He does not have to listen to us. We are not owed any favors, healings, or provision from God. Rather, because of His loving compassion for us and His faithful, unchanging character that we are invited to come to Him.

An attitude of humility acknowledges:

The right view of self (6-7)

Nehemiah recognized that he was the one in need of God, not the other way around. He used the word servant, IOW confessing his surrender to the God of heaven.

Even though Nehemiah was in a high office of the Persian king, he came to God with the attitude and acknowledgment that only Yahweh reigns supreme and his devotion would first be to God.

Further, Nehemiah takes responsibility for his sin and even interceded on behalf of his fellow Jews.

He didn’t point fingers and say, ‘these people have sinned against you- If only they all were like me...’

No, look at his words: (Read 7) IOW- We, me included, have ignored your word to us.

We have not taken seriously the command to be a holy people, set apart to give glory to God alone.

We have not accepted the responsibility to be a light unto the nations as God has commanded.

We have not respected the ordinances of God, excusing the defilement of marriage, cheapening the offerings we bring to the Lord, and living as hypocrites.

Folks, if we expect to pray big prayers before God, we must approach Him with an attitude of humility. Jesus said in Matthew 5:3

Matthew 5:3 (NASB95)

3 “Blessed are the poor (humble) in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The next component necessary to pray big prayers is:

Foundation in Truth (8-10)

Why should God hear or help Nehemiah?

(READ 8-9)

Nehemiah appealed to God’s Word. God made a covenant, which was conditional (8-9) - you can find that in Deuteronomy 30 if you are interested. Basically, there are two sides to this covenant- judgment and blessing.

Nehemiah was able to see the situation clearly. The Jews were experiencing a bit of the judgment. Babylon, Assyria, and Persia were all agents in this judgment, scattering the Jews from their land.

But, he also understood that the grief and sorrow, even his own heavy heart over the condition of Jerusalem was the pull of the Lord saying “Return to Me”

That had been the cry of so many prophets of God. It was the call of Jesus, who said, “Come to Me, you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” It is the message of the parable of the prodigal son that God desires His people to return. It is the message that Peter preached in Acts 2, to repent (return to God- agree with Him) and believe!

And so as Nehemiah prayed the Word of the Lord, his heart was aligned with the Will of the Lord.

You see, the vision and the basis for what Nehemiah would ask and set out to accomplish came from praying persistently on the foundation of God’s Word. This becomes evident especially in v.10 (READ)

You can almost hear the conviction in this sentence- God, I know that You alone have redeemed these people. You called our fathers out of Egypt, you alone did great things for us, intervening in miraculous and spectacular ways! You, by your mercy set us apart and I know that you desire for us to return to you.

Why should God hear Nehemiah in his prayer? Because Nehemiah was praying in accordance to God’s will, founded in the truth of God’s Word.

A few months ago, we looked at John’s words in 1 John 5:14

1 John 5:14 (NASB95)

14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

We know His will because of His Word.

If you want to pray BIG prayers, then you must come to God with an Attitude of Humility and a Foundation in Truth.

Finally, the last component to praying BIG prayers is:

Courageous Expectation (11)

(READ)

Notice Nehemiah is asking for a specific request now: favor with the king of Persia.

Again, context helps us to see that Nehemiah was preparing to go to the king and ask some very big things from him.

You see, through his prayer, God showed Nehemiah what to do. I think he probably spent much of that 4-5 months praying for God to show him the way- to give him a vision of how to help in this crisis. I believe Nehemiah asked for clarity and understanding, but all of this in order to ACT.

He was not praying like so many do today- God help our country, but don’t ask me to do anything. Or, God bring salvation to my neighbors, but use somebody other than me. God fix my marriage, but only what my spouse needs to change...

No, Nehemiah was expecting God to give him direction that he would act upon. God showed him that he was going to go to Jerusalem and lead the people to rebuild the wall and return to the Lord in worship and testimony.

To do this, Nehemiah would need lots of help- like letters to pass safely through unfriendly territory, provision to build the walls, money and supplies for the journey.

Now, the king was a nice guy from what we know, but Nehemiah was a trusted servant of the king. For him to ask for this kind of help was unprecedented and there was no benefit for the king.

Could Nehemiah convince the king to do this for him? Not likely. But, with God, all things are possible. Listen to the familiar words of Proverbs 21:1

Proverbs 21:1 NASB95

1 The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.

Nehemiah’s prayer was that God would move the king to have compassion… to change the kings heart. We can assume, based on the next chapter, that Nehemiah was making plans in expectation of God answering his Big Prayer.

He wasn’t planning to sit on the sidelines and opt out of any risk or action. No, he was ready to move! How about you?

God is still a God who answers big prayers.

For those of you who are here or watching online that are still unsure about this whole church thing- friends, God is calling you to come to Him- to join His family. Will you pray the big, important prayer that God would save you?

Church, I believe we must seek God’s will for LRBC and pray Big prayers with courageous expectation so when He answers, we will be ready and willing to act in accordance.

Are we praying to reach the community for Jesus? Then let us be willing to step up and serve so that when they come here, there are teachers for their children and life groups for them to grow.

Are we praying for the lost and hurting around the globe? Then let us be willing to give and to go.

Are we praying for our nation to turn to God? Then let us be willing to get involved! Nehemiah became governor in order to restore the people to God…

What big prayer are you praying?

Discuss: What does it mean to pray “big” prayers?

Discuss: How do you align your prayer to God’s will?

Discuss: To what degree are you willing to act on God’s answers to your prayers?