Nehemiah 1:5-11

Nehemiah 1:5–11 KJV (WS)

5 And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. 7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

Introduction

At the end of last week’s message, we looked at Nehemiah’s response to the bad news he had received from Jerusalem.

The walls of the city were still destroyed.

With ruined walls and burned gates, Jerusalem was like a city lying waste.

Their safety was in the hands of others.

They could not secure themselves.

This news caused Nehemiah a great amount of grief.

What does he ultimately do with that grief?

He takes it to God in prayer.

What we have read this morning is the 1st of 12 instances of prayer in the book of Nehemiah.

More than being a builder, Nehemiah was a leader.

As a leader he sought to improve the lives of the people around him.

His primary tool in accomplishing this is prayer.

This morning’s message is for anyone that seeks to influence the lives of those around them.

Prayer is not your last resort.

It’s your first and primary tool.

Nehemiah starts his prayer with adoration for God. vs 5

There are two things that Nehemiah accomplishes by beginning his prayer this way.

He gives God the glory that he is due.

He also focuses his own mind on who he is talking to.

Our God takes pleasure in the praise of his people.

He has creatures in heaven who’s only purpose is to worship him.

We are the only creatures left in the universe that have the choice to praise him or not.

When we give him glory, when we worship him, we are fulfilling our purpose for living.

Nehemiah needs to remember who he is talking to.

One of the first things he says, “God of heaven” alludes to God’s almighty government of the world.

There is nothing that happens on earth without God’s knowledge.

He is the king of the universe.

All other powers are subservient to his power.

He is also an honest God.

He doesn’t go back on his word.

We can trust everything that God has said.

He will perform it.

Nehemiah prays to a great and trustworthy God.

Next, we see the consistency with which Nehemiah prays. vs 6

If we really believed the truth about God, we would be less anxious and we would pray more often.

We have an open door to the ruler of the universe.

I would venture to guess that most of the people in this room have not spent a considerable amount of time talking to God this week.

The majority of preachers do not spend time in prayer each week.

You do not have to attain any level of worldly status to come before God.

Nehemiah intercedes for his nation on no other grounds than his role as God’s servant.

He didn’t come as counselor in the court of the Emperor.

He approached God as a servant, humble and lowly.

He spoke to God with desperation and importunity or persistence.

Nehemiah claims to have prayed to God night and day.

This went on for months after he heard of the state of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah’s feelings were not emotional flashes.

Their was a consistent burning in his soul that would not go away.

He was going to pray until he got an answer from God.

He would not allow his impatience to become a roadblock.

This wasn’t the only roadblock that Nehemiah was concerned with.

Third, Nehemiah moves into a time of confession. vss 6-7

There are a few roadblocks to our prayers.

Lack of prayer should go without saying.

There is another one though.

Unconfessed sin.

Nehemiah is deeply moved by his own sin and guilt.

I said last week that Nehemiah had nothing to do with the sin of the people that cause them to be taken into exile in the first place.

That doesn’t stop him from identifying with his people and taking responsibility for their rebellion against God.

You can see this in the way he talks about the situation.

He simultaneously says I have sinned and we have sinned.

Finally, Nehemiah starts to make a request. vss 8-11

Nehemiah is always asking others to remember.

It’s one of the key words of this book.

In this case he is asking God to remember his words to Moses.

Vss 8-9 are not exactly a quote but more like a summary of Deuteronomy 30:1-5

Deuteronomy 30:1–5 KJV (WS)

1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, 2 And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3 That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5 And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

Nehemiah is not just asking for the return of more exiles.

Thousands had already returned.

More would rally to the cause.

Unlike Elijah who thought he was the only faithful Jew left, Nehemiah was confident that God was able to raise up others to help him.

Nehemiah is asking for the removal of the affliction of those already in Jerusalem.

He doesn’t just want to return to his native land.

He wants to see the restoration of their community.

This requires them to reconnect to the bed

He wants his people to return to a covenant relationship with God.

Nehemiah was planning on volunteering personally to go supervise the work in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah had made up his mind to ask for a leave of absence.

He would need the king’s permission, protection, and provision.

He was the king’s cupbearer.

All my life, I pictured Nehemiah standing against a wall on the side of the throne room.

He is holding a silver charger with a silver chalice on it.

He waits patiently, quietly, and unmoving for the king to ask for a drink.

This is not a good image of Nehemiah’s role as a cupbearer.

Cupbearer was a position of considerable influence.

Nehemiah was also a counselor to the king.

Some cupbearers exercised more influence than the commander in chief.

Letting Nehemiah go would be a hard ask for the king.

He was instrumental to the king’s daily schedule.

Nehemiah would not have had this position if he didn’t have a comforting effect on the king.

Nehemiah had made this a matter of prayer.

He was confident that God would work in the heart of the king.

It cannot be denied that Nehemiah’s foundation of prayer was a vital factor in his success as a leader.

He was deeply moved by the news from Jerusalem.

He took the right first step in doing something about the problem by taking it to God first.

Application

We need to take the right first step for our own lives too.

Prayer is an irreplaceable part of the successful Christian life.

We cannot hope to be the kind of people or do the kind of things that we should if we will not pray first.

I want my life to matter for God’s work.

I want him to use me to make a difference.

That will not happen without spending time in prayer.

Nehemiah demonstrates several important elements that should populate our prayers.

Adoration.

There are so many examples in the scriptures of adoring God in prayer.

We can quote scripture directly.

We can quote song lyrics that magnify Jesus.

God wants us to praise him.

We don’t have to wait for a church service, nor do we have to be good at singing.

We can do it and we should do it at the beginning of our prayers.

Consistency.

We are always talking about whether or not to pray in the morning or at night.

Why not be like Nehemiah and do both?

Confession.

When was the last time you cleared the table with God?

Are we so generic in our estimation of our own sin?

Do we trust that God loves us enough that we can get specific with the sins we’ve been holding onto?

Are humble enough to confess the sins of our nation?

God deals with people based on their associations.

In America we have been granted a greater voice than millions of people throughout history.

America’s sins are our sins.

Are we ready and willing to intercede for our country?

Requests.

If you are going to pray to the God of the universe, be sure to ask for things that only God can give.

The Bible sure seems to indicate that God takes pleasure in doing things that prove his power.

I think we too often lack the faith or boldness to ask for these types of requests.

If we are going to get the most out of learning from Nehemiah’s example, we must learn to pray like he did.

Conclusion

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

What moves you enough to pray this morning?