Nehemiah - Time to Pray (Part 1)

Introduction:

How many of y’all like baseball?

My baseball experience is pretty limited:

I played T Ball when I was 7 years old

I have been to a handful of MLB games, including a couple in Philadelphia and Baltimore

I have watched baseball on TV a total of one time; the final game of the 2016 would series, where the Cubs won for the first time in over 100 years

So yeah, I don’t know that much about baseball

But there is one other thing that I know

In 1989, one of the most famous baseball movies of all time came out, called, “Field of Dreams.”

Raise your hand if you have heard of this movie!

It was nominated for three academy awards, including “Best Picture.”

It’s about a farmer who builds a baseball field in his cornfield that attracts the ghosts of baseball legends to come play baseball.

Trippy, right?

Check out this scene from the beginning of the movie:

Play scene from the movie.

“If you build it, he will come.”

For this farmer, if he built the field, the baseball players would come – in particular, the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson.

We’re going to spend the next few weeks looking at the story of Nehemiah, which, oddly enough, has a lot of parallels to this movie.

Let me explain:

The book of Nehemiah is a tiny book in the Old Testament, right after the book of Ezra, and most likely written down for Nehemiah by the priest, Ezra.

At times, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah have been combined into one book because their stories are so intertwined.

In 586 BC, a little over 2600 years ago, the Babylonians conquered the Israelites and scattered the people, taking many of their best and future leaders back to Babylon;

People like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whose story we read about in the book of Daniel.

Babylon wanted to destroy the Israelite culture and identity, so they destroyed the cities, destroyed the temple, and scattered the people.

Fifty years later, the Persians conquered Babylon.

They had a massive empire, and a different policy; where as long as conquered people paid their taxes and didn’t rebel, they would be allowed to have their religions and identity.

So, in the book of Ezra, we read about two groups of exiles who returned to Jerusalem, including the priest Ezra, the difficulties they faced, and the decades it took to rebuild the temple.

The book of Nehemiah chronicles the third group of exiles who made the long journey back to Jerusalem to start over, and Nehemiah’s mission to rebuild the walls surrounding Jerusalem.

So, without further adieu, let’s dive into it!

Nehemiah 1:1–2 NLT

1 These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.

The twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign means Nehemiah’s story is thirteen years after Ezra had returned with the second group of exiles to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

This news from these men who had traveled back from Judah was a big deal; it wasn’t like today.

They didn’t have phones, social media, or even newspapers.

News was hard to come by, especially news of Jerusalem since it was nearly a thousand-mile journey away.

Obviously, traveling that far took awhile.

Nehemiah was hopeful that the news would be good.

But guess what? It wasn’t.

Nehemiah 1:3 NLT

3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

Q. What is it that isn’t going well?

Walls and gates played a much more important role back then than they do today.

Now we can be attacked by planes and missiles, so a wall doesn’t really make that much of a difference.

But 2600 years ago?

A good wall and strong gates could keep a city safe for years.

People won wars over their walls being strong.

Think about it.

Remember the big battles in Lord of the Rings?

One person on top of the wall could take out a ton of people below the wall.

The wall was a critical defense tool.

The fact that Jerusalem’s wall was still in ruins showed its vulnerability and the danger the inhabitants, as well as the Temple, were still in.

Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT)

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

Nehemiah wept.

It wasn’t just a wall.

It was a symbol of how they were doing as a people, and it wasn’t good.

They were defeated and they weren’t even trying to rebuild.

More importantly than weeping, Nehemiah prayed.

Q. How long did Nehemiah pray?

He prayed for days.

In fact, he prayed for four months that God would give him an opportunity to do something about this.

Over the course of these weeks, we’re going to see an important pattern in Nehemiah’s life: Nehemiah was a man who always thought it was time to pray.

Nehemiah 1:5–7 (NLT)

5 Then I said,

“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! 7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.

Q. What do you notice about the way that Nehemiah prays?

Do you notice that he’s moving from the outside-in?

He praises God, then confesses on behalf of his people, then confesses for himself.

Nehemiah 1:8–9 NLT

8 “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’

Do you see what he’s praying?

The people are scattered, but if you build it, they will come back.

The people had lost their identity, but Nehemiah remembers that God promised they could get it back.

Nehemiah 1:10–11 (NLT)

10 “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”

Q. What does Nehemiah pray about before finally praying for himself?

It isn’t until the end of the prayer, after he had praised God, after he had apologized for the wrongs he had done, after he had prayed for the people, that he prays for himself.

It’s an important pattern.

But here’s the question I have: who is this guy that he thinks he can accomplish anything with the king?

He was a conquered person living far from home.

What right did he have to say, “if you build it, they will come back”?

The last sentence in the chapter tells us:

Nehemiah 1:11b (NLT)

In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.

Nehemiah dropped the mic.

Nehemiah had daily access to the king.

Here’s the thing, he wasn’t just a waiter bringing the king something to drink.

He was the cup-bearer.

This was someone who was always around the king, someone who was one of the king’s most trusted people because he would taste everything to make sure it was not poisoned.

He risked his life every day to guarantee the king’s safety.

And because of his constant presence, he could potentially have influence.

Influence he would act on after four months of prayer:

Nehemiah 2:1–2 NLT

1 Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. 2 So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.” Then I was terrified,

Nehemiah was terrified?

Q. Why?

Because as important as his role was, he was still essentially a conquered slave.

And here’s where it gets complicated;

Ezra 4:7-23 records that it was this king, King Artaxerxes, who had years before, been responsible for some of the damage that happened to Jerusalem.

Nehemiah was about to ask him to go back on his earlier decisions, a request that could result in his execution.

Nehemiah 2:3–5 (NLT)

3 but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4 The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”

With a prayer to the God of heaven, 5 I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”

Did you see that?

Q. Where does this passage mention prayer?

“With a prayer to the God of heaven.”

Even after four months of prayer, Nehemiah turned to God before speaking.

This wasn’t an out loud prayer, this was an internal prayer, where he silently went to God for help in this moment of need, and then he put it all out there to the king.

Nehemiah 2:6 NLT

6 The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?” After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request.

From weeping and months of prayer, to being a man with a mission: to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and get his home and his people back on track.

In fact, not only did the king agree to his request, he volunteered to send an armed escort to travel the thousand miles to Jerusalem to protect Nehemiah, and wrote letters giving Nehemiah authority to perform the work.

We’re going to see that there were other groups that didn’t want to see Jerusalem getting back on its feet.

But that’s a story for next week.

The incredible thing is that this king, who had once signed-off on Jerusalem’s enemies continuing to oppress them, had a change of heart that happened for one reason:

Q. What is that reason?

Nehemiah prayed.

Over and over again, Nehemiah turned to God.

I think this is the biggest takeaway for us today.

There are several things we can learn from Nehemiah’s example in prayer.

1. Pray with Intention

Luke 11:2-4 (NLT) Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.”

Q. Does anyone recognize this passage?

It’s called the Lord’s Prayer and it’s a time when the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, so He gave them this prayer as an example.

Do you see that it has three components?

He praises God,

He models asking for forgiveness,

and He makes His requests.

Sound familiar?

It’s the same three elements of Nehemiah’s prayer;

praise,

repentance,

requests.

So, here’s what I mean by praying with intention:

Both Jesus and Nehemiah made a habit of praying regularly.

Prayer was a habit in their lives.

And they both felt it was important to have these three elements in their prayers.

I would challenge you to be intentional with your prayer; plan times to regularly pray, even if it’s just a few minutes a day.

Set a reminder on your phone, make an alarm on one of your devices.

Get up five minutes earlier, set aside some time at lunch or when you first get home from school.

One thing that I have been practicing this week is praying out loud

It is very helpful to me; I feel like my prayer life is back on track!

Both Jesus’ and Nehemiah’s prayers were short, but they were intentional in when they prayed, and intentional in the content of their prayers.

Plan a time, and make sure you’re praising God and apologizing for anything you’ve done wrong before you jump to praying for what you need or want.

Be intentional.

2. Pray Often

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT

17 Never stop praying.

Paul wrote these incredible words to the Christians in Thessalonica.

He told them to never stop praying.

How is that possible?

Q. Are we supposed to be walking around constantly praying?

I don’t think so.

Q. So, then, what does it mean?

I think it’s more about an attitude or state of being.

Remember in Nehemiah 2:4, when Nehemiah was facing the king and said he gave a prayer to heaven as he replied to the king?

That’s what it means to never stop praying.

In addition to his intentional times of prayer, Nehemiah would automatically turn to God throughout his day and interactions.

What would your life look like, what would your relationships be like, how would things be in your home, your team, whatever it is you are a part of, if you were praying often?

What could be different if you turned to God whenever you were faced with a challenge?

Do you think you might have fewer regrets?

More decisions and opportunities to be proud of?

Aren’t we more likely to live a life with purpose and meaning if we let God guide it by praying often?

3. Pray with Confidence

1 John 5:14 NLT

14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.

You can pray with confidence because God hears you.

No matter where you are, no matter what you have done, no matter how far from God you might think you are, God hears you.

God promises us that we can have that confidence.

You can be confident that in God’s eyes, you are ALWAYS worth hearing.

There is nothing you can do that would make Him not want to hear you.

So, as we get ready to close, I want to challenge you to pray with intention, to pray often, and to pray with confidence.

God wants to hear you.

There is nothing too big or too small to pray about.

He hears you.

Close in prayer.