Praying To The God Of Heaven (Part 3)

Nehemiah: Be Committed  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  55:57
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Lord’s Supper

Ask the men to come and have a seat at the front.
Reminder: when the men bring the plate around, if you wish to participate, you’ll need to take from the plate.
Pray and thank the Lord for giving His body and shedding His blood for us.
Serve the bread
Read Luke 22:19.
Partake
Serve the grape juice
Read Luke 22:20.
Partake
It was here, at this passover supper, that Jesus told His disciples something extraordinary. Jesus said that by shedding His blood, He was establishing the New Testament, or the New Covenant. Jeremiah had prophesied about this in Jeremiah 31:31-33.
Jeremiah 31:31–33 KJV 1900
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people.
Jesus was saying, “I am establishing a New Covenant that will do away with the Old Covenant - the Mosaic Law. I will ratify this New Covenant by the shedding of my blood. No longer are you bound to the Law; you are bound to Christ.”
The disciples wouldn’t understand His words right then, but about two months later, by Acts chapter two, they would understand it much better. Christ had fulfilled the law. Salvation was not earned by the law, but was enabled by the grace of God! Believing in Christ’s work on the cross is the key that opens the door. Thank God for the New Covenant!
Pray

Review

Turn to Nehemiah 1:4-11.
Last week we listened in on Nehemiah’s prayer as he identified himself with the sins of his people. Verses six and seven were all about confession of sin. In other words, it was all about praying and declaring or acknowledging our sins to the Lord.
I’ll be the first to admit, it was a heavy message. But it needed to be so that we could feel the heavy heart that Nehemiah had as he confessed his sin to the Lord.
You sin and my sin is a terrible thing before a high and holy God.
Nehemiah’s confession was personal, literal, and specific. He didn’t pull any punches. He didn’t mince any words. He didn’t avoid any measure of self-indictment. His was a genuine confession. He was confident in God’s forgiveness because he had done exactly what God says to do - he had confessed his sin.

Introduction

Read Nehemiah 1:4-11.
Next slide here:
Nehemiah’s remembrance - Nehemiah 1:8-9.
The word remember is a key word in this book (Neh. 1:8; 4:14; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29, 31). [used eight times in Nehemiah]
Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Determined (Nehemiah): Standing Firm in the Face of Opposition (The BE Series Commentary) (p. 24). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.
Sometimes the word “remember” is a key word in my life, too. For example, it’s a key word when Jana says something like this:
“Honey, did you remember to stop by the grocery store on your way home from the office today?”
Sometimes when I hear those words I immediately get a sinking feeling in my stomach. Why? For one, because I didn’t remember it means I let down my wife. And two, it might mean that whatever was on the menu for supper that night isn’t happening. That’s a horrible feeling - and it’s all because I didn’t remember.
That’s why this word is rather odd to see in Nehemiah’s prayer. Think about it. Nehemiah is praying to the God of Heaven. Isn’t it a little strange that Nehemiah would ask the God of Heaven to remember something? If He is the God of Heaven, why would Nehemiah need to remind Him of anything? God’s not forgetful like I am. Wouldn’t an infinite God already be aware of what He Himself had said?
Nehemiah didn’t say this in order to help God remember what He had said. Nehemiah said this in his prayer to God because he was taking God at His word. It was an expression of belief!
Read slowly:
By reminding God of what He said, Nehemiah was indicating that he took God at His word and that he believed that God would keep His word.
God promised this several times throughout the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 28:63-67, God promised that He would scatter them out of Israel if they disobeyed Him. In Deuteronomy 30:1-10, God promised to restore them to the land if they confessed their sin and turned back to Him. Nehemiah believed God, so he reminded God of these promises!
Application: Christian, do you believe God? Do you take Him at His Word? I’m not talking about one or two favorite verses, I mean the whole counsel of God!
Do you believe God that He is always, only good? What if He says something in His Word that you don’t like or that you don’t agree with? Do you still believe that He is good?
Do you believe God that His way is always best, even when He doesn’t answer your prayer the way you desired?
Do you believe God that His commandments are not grievous? In other words, they’re not burdensome, severe, or grueling. They are worth obeying even if you don’t understand at first.
Husbands, do you believe God that being in a right relationship with your wife is critical to having your prayers answered?
1 Peter 3:7 KJV 1900
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
Nehemiah believed God.
Christian, do you? Do you take Him at His Word? Then you would be wise to follow Nehemiah’s example. When you are praying or talking to the God of Heaven, it would do your soul good to have your Bible open and to be reminding yourself of what God has said in His Word.
God doesn’t need to remember; you do, and you need to believe what He has said.
We’ve seen Nehemiah’s remembrance, secondly…
Next slide here:
Nehemiah’s confidence - Nehemiah 1:10.
There is a vast difference between doubt and confidence.
I still remember the feeling as a college freshman, of strapping on a pair of roller skates, and with a prayer, stepping onto the wooden floor of a skating rink in Forest City, NC. Let’s just say that I had zero confidence in my own abilities.
When I was around seven years old, my church held a skating activity for just a few years, but I was too afraid to be much involved in it. About the most I could do as a child was cling for dear life onto the railing that went around the outside.
But that’s not a good look as a college freshman. When you have people like my future wife begging me to try roller skating, you’re quickly between a rock and a hard place. I knew that as a young man, it was better for me to fall and break an arm or a leg roller skating than to sit there and keep saying “no” to all my friends. So at great risk of life and limb, I found myself doing something that I had zero desire to do and zero confidence that I could do it.
Several years and lots of bruises later, my confidence has grown in my ability to stand and skate on a pair of wheels. My desire has not grown, but my confidence has.
There’s a big difference between my initial doubt and my later confidence.
Read slowly:
Nehemiah had great confidence that despite the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of Israel, they were still God’s chosen people!
He had just remembered what God had said to Israel during the time of Moses!
God said, “If you sin against me, I will scatter you among the nations.”
They sinned, and God did exactly that.
But Nehemiah also remembered God saying, “If you turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though you were scattered to the far corners of heaven, I will bring you back from there and into the land that I have chosen.”
Nehemiah remembered what God said.
Nehemiah believed God.
This gave Nehemiah confidence in his relationship with God.
Read Nehemiah 1:10.
He was convinced that he and his people were still the chosen people of God! He was confident that because he had confessed his sins, he was in a right relationship with God.
Application: Christian, do you have confidence in your relationship with God?
You will, if you remember what God says and if you believe what He says.
Nehemiah did that. He believed God that his sins were forgiven and that Israel was still the covenant people of God. This gave him confidence in his relationship with God!
Christian, are you confident that you are in a right relationship with God?
One of Satan’s greatest tactics is sowing fear and doubt in the minds of Christians because it completely immobilizes them spiritually. You cannot grow in your walk with God while carrying the baggage of fear and doubt.
It could be doubt about your salvation - “everyone thinks I’m saved”
It could be doubt about past sins - “Pastor Tim, I had an affair years ago. I could never be forgiven of that.”
It could be doubt because of current sins - Satan whispers in your ear, “it’s no use trying. You’ll never change. This is always going to be a part of your life, so forget trying to walk with God.”
Christian, if that’s you this morning, you need to remember what God has said.
Psalm 33:18 KJV 1900
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, Upon them that hope in his mercy;
Isaiah 57:15 KJV 1900
For thus saith the high and lofty One That inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
The God of Heaven is ready and willing to forgive your sin and to never remember them again! He is ready to do His part, but you must remember what God has said and believe that He has forgiven you! You do the confessing; let God do the forgiving!
Do that, and your confidence will grow in your relationship with God.
Now that Nehemiah had confidence in his relationship with God, he was ready to make his request of God.
Next slide here:
Nehemiah’s request - Nehemiah 1:11.
Read Nehemiah 1:11 slowly.
Have you ever started to pray about something, but deep down, you were already sensing what God wanted you to do? Perhaps you knew that God wanted you to take some spiritual step, but it would test your faith.
That’s Nehemiah in verse eleven. Notice, in this instance, Nehemiah didn’t pray about what to do.
He doesn’t pray,
“Lord, someone needs to talk to the king about Jerusalem! Lord, please send someone to talk to the king about Jerusalem!”
Nehemiah didn’t pray that way. He didn’t need to. He knew that, as the king’s cupbearer, God had him there for that very reason. God wanted him to talk to the king. So he prayed specifically for mercy, for grace, and for wisdom as he anticipated this conversation.

Conclusion

This was how Nehemiah prayed. Reading the very words of his prayer, we see that Nehemiah prayed with regularity and with humility. He confessed his sin, he remembered what God had said and he believed that God kept His word. He became confident in his relationship with God.
Christian, is that how you would describe your prayer to God? Do you really believe God? Do you have confidence in your relationship with God?
If not, you can start today. Confess your sin, take God at His word, and begin Praying To The God Of Heaven.

Invitation

Believing God
Fear and doubt vs confidence
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