A heart of prayer
The heart of a prophet - Book of Nehemiah • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 55:08
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Handout
Handout
He cared enough
He cared enough
Last week we introduced the heart of the prophet, Nehemiah.
He had a heart that cared enough to ask
He inquired about the returning people in Jerusalem
He had a heart that cared enough to weep
The report caused great distress in him and he sat down, wept, mourned and fasted for days
Tonight we are going to see he cared enough to pray.
Again, the setting is in Susa the summer home of the King Artaxerxes the Persian king in which he is his cupbearer, a trusted confident to him.
It happened in the month of Chislev when Nehemiah’s brother (Hanani) came from Judah and gave the distressing report.
(Transition) this brings us to our passage tonight.
Our passage
Our passage
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.
What sticks out to you in this passage?
How does Nehemiah describe characteristics of God (v.5)?
O Lord God of heaven
Great and awesome God
Preserves covenant
Lovingkindness towards those who love Him and keep His commandments
Calling the Lord to be attentive, Nehemiah makes an interesting thing in the prayer, can you tell what it is (v.6)?
It is inclusive, he includes himself in confessing sins.
What confessions does Nehemiah make (vv.7-8)?
Nehemiah calls for God to remember His word, His commands and warning.
Nehemiah repeats a conditional promise from God, what is it (v.9)?
Those who keep My commandments will be gathered back.
How are the people redeemed (v.10)?
By the power of God, and by His strong hand.
What is Nehemiah’s desire as he finishes the prayer (v.11)?
Let Your servant be successful today before the king.
He cared enough to pray
He cared enough to pray
This prayer is the first of many prayers recorded in this book. Without a doubt we will see that the heart of the prophet is the heart of prayer all throughout the book.
One commentator that I have come across that has lots of good stuff on Nehemiah is Alan Redpath so you will get some quotes from him along the way. Nehemiah and his heart of prayer, was also a heart of patience, waiting on God to respond before acting.
Redpath: “There is too much working before me and too little waiting before God.”
5 And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,
The prayer starts with ascription of praise to God (v.5)
This prayer is covered with humility. Humility begins by knowing it is God who is enthroned in heaven, it is God in whom we must rely and have dependence and devotion on.
One may ask, what God do you pray to? When we pray, when we lift our prayers, we pray to:
The God of heaven (also see 2Chr36:22-23; Ezr1:1-2; Dan2:18-19, 44)
This is like our prayer found in N.T. (Mt6:9) our Father who art in heaven.
We pray to the great and awesome God (also 4:14, 8:6, 9:32).
Great and awesome God worthy of all praise and worship (consider Ps145).
He has great power (v.10) and that is what we need as well as His mercy (v.31). God who is great and awesome who can handle anything that we face.
He is the God who keeps His word (covenant).
He promises blessings (lovingkindness) to those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Nehemiah’s prayer is devoted to confession of sin (vv.6-9)
We again see a degree of humility for Nehemiah prays in confession of sin openly. Also, humility identifies with the need, has empathy for them.
Remember Nehemiah was born in captivity. He had not been to Jerusalem, but had a heart for Jerusalem, for the people there who have escaped (been released) from captivity.
His prayer of confession of sin for knows He is the God of blessings, but also is just and chasten those who break the commandments, again, Nehemiah adds himself into the people. He identified himself with the people.
Redpath: “You never lighten the load unless first you have felt the pressure in your own soul. You are never used of God to bring blessing until God has opened your eyes and made you see things as they are.”
Nehemiah prayed for months, it would appear for about 4-months before speaking to the king (gap between 1:1, 6 and 2:1)
It will take 52 days to rebuild the wall, but that 52 days was covered in 4-months of prayer.
What are you praying for that has not come to fruition yet? Do not give up, keep praying.
Nehemiah’s humble prayer was covered in God’s word, God’s promises. There are inferences to Deu28:63-67, and 30:1-10; and the forgiveness of sins that promises to bring people back. and for us may we remember 1Jn1:9.
In our prayers are we identifying with the people we are praying for? Are we humbly confessing our own shortcomings, faults, sins to God and asking for forgiveness, healing, restoration?
We know prayer is powerful and effective (ref: Jm5:16) and praying the promises, pleading the promises is a good thing for us to do, for us to remember.
(Transition) The heart of the prophet closes with an expression of confidence and a heart ready to do something.
Heart of prayer with confidence
Heart of prayer with confidence
10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.
Nehemiah’s prayer closes with confidence in the power of God (v.10)
The task at hand that was on Nehemiah’s heart was for the people, for the city, for the wall and it was too big for him, he needed God’s power to accomplish the task.
Guzik: If your vision is so big that only God can accomplish it, then you obviously must pray. If prayer isn’t absolutely necessary to accomplish your vision, your goal isn’t big enough.”
Nehemiah’s prayer was with confidence that God would raise up others to help in the task. He knew he was not alone, unlike Elijah who thought he was the only one (Ref: 1Kn19:10).
Nehemiah had a heart ready to do something and would encourage others to join!
Nehemiah’s prayer was confident that God would work on the heart of the king.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer. He could not just walk away, he would need the kings permission and wanted the king’s blessing to do this.
Nehemiah made prayer a priority (1:4) before engaging in any project he engaged with God!
Wiersbe: “To often, we plan our projects and then ask God to bless them; but Nehemiah didn’t make that mistake. He sat down and wept and prayed then stood up and worked because he know he had the blessing of the Lord on what he was doing.”
Nehemiah was not just praying, but cared enough to volunteer to help.
God is always looking for workers who will go, put their hand to the plow. People to be made available for the Lord to use.
Nehemiah was going to face a real test of faith going before the king and asking for a leave of absence, it could cost him his head if did it on wrong day or in wrong way.
Like many others we can read in the bible, Nehemiah cared and accomplished the task in 52 days when covered in prayer and waiting on the Lord first.
(Transition to close) some other examples of caring people
Abraham cared and saved Lot from Sodom/Gomorrah
Moses cared and delivered the Hebrews out of Egypt after 430 years
David cared and brought the nation back to the Lord
Esther cared and risked her life to save the nation from genocide.
Paul cared and took the gospel at great cost to all the Roman world.
Jesus cared enough to God to the cross and die for our sins.
God is still looking for people who care enough to engage, to get involved, to make an impact for the kingdom.
Do you have a heart like the prophet? One that cares enough to ask for the fact, weep over the needs, prays for God’s guidance and strength and then gets involved?
(Prayer) (Close)