Praying To The God Of Heaven (Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
Review
Review
Turn to Nehemiah 1:4-11.
Nehemiah was serving as the cupbearer to the leader of the world power at that time, the king of Persia. The cupbearer was a man of great influence because he, by nature of his work, had to have the king’s trust. This gave Nehemiah a great opportunity to speak to the king about the need in Jerusalem, but first, Nehemiah needed to pray. He needed to pray to Jehovah, the God of Heaven.
We began studying his prayer last week.
Nehemiah’s prayer is recorded in word for word in this chapter, but he didn’t pray about this just one time. We saw Nehemiah’s regularity. He prayed about this for roughly four months.
We saw Nehemiah’s humility. He humbly asked God to work on his behalf.
Finally, we saw Nehemiah’s God, that He was and is the God of Heaven, far above all creation. Nehemiah’s God was well able to solve this problem and He is well able to solve our problems today - as a nation, as a church, and as individuals.
Introduction
Introduction
Read Nehemiah 1:4-11.
As Nehemiah begins to pray to the God of Heaven, he makes request that God’s ear would hear and that God’s eyes would be open to this prayer. This is rather unusual language, considering that Nehemiah was praying to the God of Heaven.
Does God have eyes? Does God have ears? Is God just like us?
Not at all.
When the Bible speaks of the eyes, ears, and hands of the Lord, it is using only human language to describe divine activity. God is Spirit, and therefore does not have a body such as humans have, but He is able to see His people’s needs, hear their prayers, and work on their behalf with His mighty hand.
Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Determined (Nehemiah): Standing Firm in the Face of Opposition (The BE Series Commentary) (pp. 25-26). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.
Nehemiah had a good understanding of God! Nehemiah realized that He was the all-powerful, transcendent God of Heaven, and yet He was also a God that is near to His people, a God that is compassionate and ready to hear their cry. He was not a God that is afar off, distant, and removed from the needs of his children.
Having that confidence, Nehemiah began to bear his soul before the Lord.
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Nehemiah’s confession - Nehemiah 1:6-7.
Parents, have you ever had your child come to you and confess something that they’ve done, but you’ve had a hard time keeping a straight face while they try to explain what happened without implicating themselves in the crime?
Maybe you’ve heard something like this…
“Hey Dad, you know that vase that mommy had on the island in the kitchen?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, um, so I found it broken and laying all over the floor in the kitchen.”
“Oh? How do you think that happened?”
“Well, you see, it’s kinda hard to explain…”
At that point you usually begin to hear a story about how your child’s hand had a mind of its own and somehow proceeded to wreck havoc on Mom’s decorations.
Nehemiah’s confession was nothing like that.
Read Nehemiah 1:6b-7.
In these verses, Nehemiah gives us a masterclass on the biblical way to confess sin to God.
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Confess: in the Old Testament, it means to declare, to make known, to acknowledge. In the New Testament, it means to agree with God.
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His confession was personal - “both I and my father’s house have sinned”
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, And mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Nehemiah used the pronoun “we” and not “they,” identifying himself with the sins of a generation he didn’t even know. It would have been easy to look back and blame his ancestors for the reproach of Jerusalem, but Nehemiah looked within and blamed himself! “We have sinned! We have dealt very corruptly!”
Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Determined (Nehemiah): Standing Firm in the Face of Opposition (The BE Series Commentary) (pp. 24-25). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.
Application: If you are a Christian that never confesses your sin to God, you are a Christian that cannot be right with God.
For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
When you sin, humble yourself and confess it to God.
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His confession was literal - “we have dealt very corruptly against thee”
Nehemiah didn’t sugarcoat this, did he?
Remember my illustration about the vase? Sometimes our kids try to do this when they confess that they have done something they shouldn’t. Most of the time, we parents see right through it.
Don’t you think the God of Heaven sees right through your sin also?
Application: Don’t sugarcoat your sin! Your sin and my sin was bad enough that God sacrificed His own Son to pay the penalty for sin! Call your sin like it is! It is ugly! It is horrible! It is disgusting before a holy God!
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His confession was specific - “[we have] not kept the commandments…”
Nehemiah didn’t pray…
“Lord, forgive me of all my sins I’ve committed against you today.”
“Lord, if I’ve done anything wrong today, please forgive me.”
No, his prayer was, “Lord, I’ve sinned against You like this, this, and this…”
Application: be specific in confessing or declaring your sin to God. When you do that, you can be assured of His forgiveness 1 John 1:9 says.
I want you to notice Nehemiah’s confession in context of the big picture. Nehemiah was overwhelmed with the need, but he didn’t come running to God in prayer just to beg God to bail him out. That’s when most people wait to truly pray. He prayed because he understood that he and his people were broken sinners before a holy God. They had violated their covenant with God, so Nehemiah confessed his sin and the sins of his people.
Read slowly:
I fear that we spend too much time making requests and too little time confessing our sins. I fear that we sound more like kids at Christmastime bringing their lists to Santa Claus than like children who dread to grieve the heart of their loving Father.
This is Nehemiah’s Masterclass on confession. Christian, let it sink deep into your soul. I am certain that confession of sin must be a part of every Christian’s daily communication with God. It is in my life. I’ll be going about my day and just in the blink of an eye, I’ll say an unkind word, I’ll allow my mind to dwell on an unholy thought, or I’ll do some selfish deed. When that happens, then I have to confess my sin to a holy God and believe that He freely forgives.
Church family, if we take this truth to heart, if we start taking our sin seriously, then we will see God do great things in our church. We will see spiritual revival. We will be ready for God to do great things in our church in April during our revival services.
Read slowly:
Church family, be committed to confession of sin!
Maybe you’re a Christian sitting here this morning and you’re thinking to yourself, “you know, I really don’t notice when I’ve sinned. I go about my day and I live my life and I really don’t notice when I say an unkind word, or when I think a lustful thought, or when I do a self-centered action. I really can’t relate to what Nehemiah does here in confessing his sin because I don’t usually notice when I sin in the first place.”
Christian, if that’s you this morning, there’s hope for you, but please understand what I’m about to say:
Read slowly:
If that describes you, then you might be a child of God, but you’re not walking with God.
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This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
You cannot be walking with God and be walking in darkness. You cannot be walking with God and be oblivious to when you sin against Him.
When you start basking in God’s light, you’ll begin to clearly see the darkness of sin in your own life. When you get close to the light, you’ll start to see the darkness real well.
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But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
So Christian, if you’re living blind to the daily struggle with your flesh, with temptation, and with sin, it’s time to get close to the light. It’s time to expose yourself to the light of God. Today, He shines His light through the Scriptures.
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NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.
Start exposing your mind and your life to the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will take the Scriptures and illuminate your understanding. He will awaken your conscience. You’ll slowly begin to see just how often you sin and just how often you need to confess your sin to God.
As you do that, you know what you’ll be doing? You’ll be walking in the light, just like John said. And as you confess your sin, you’ll find that the blood of Jesus truly does cleanse you from all unrighteousness. You’ll also grow in confidence that you are walking with God because you are doing exactly what God tells you to do in His Word. If you are quick to confess your sin to God and man, you will enjoy a clear conscience.
Read slowly:
Unless you are a Christian who never sins, confession is a normal part of the Christian life. Personal, literal, specific confession of sin should be a part of your prayers to God just like it was for Nehemiah.
By the way, many times when we sin against God, we sin against others also and we need to make things right with them as well.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Church family, be committed to immediate, sincere, confession of sin. Don’t be like the child that does everything they can to confess their wrongdoing without confessing that they were wrong. Be like Nehemiah. Make sure that biblical confession of sin is part of your prayer to the God of Heaven.
Invitation
Invitation
“Pastor Tim, I realized that I haven’t been practicing a biblical confession of sin. God spoke to my heart today and I need to incorporate this into my life. Pray for me.”
Anyone who would be willing to raise their hand and quietly acknowledge that before me and the Lord?
Christian, if you raised your hand this morning, I encourage you to do something this week. Go read 1 John chapter one. Go meditate on 1 John 1:9 in particular. Let that verse become precious to you, because God promises that if you confess your sin, He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. If you confess to Him any known sin in your life, you can live confidently knowing that you are right with God. That’s how God intends for you to live as you walk with Him each day.
