A Burdened Prayer
21 Days Prayer and Fasting 2025 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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A Burdened Prayer
What burdens your heart right now? Physical, emotional, relational, or someone on your Oikos card that does not know Jesus yet?
God if you don’t move nothing will change. Will you join our church over the next 21 days to seek God’s face with prayer and fasting begging Him to move on a burdened prayer.
Nehemiah 1-2:9
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,
Nehemiah was a Jewish exile as you will see later he is the cupbearer to the great “Artaxerxes Longimanus,” who ruled Persia from 464 to 423 B.C.
Nehemiah name means “The Lord has comforted / and God was going to lay a burden on his heart that would lead to the comforting the Jewish exiles in Jerusalem.
Month of Ki-slev: December
2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
Just another ordinary day / Then God brings a burden to Nehemiah’s attention.
Will Rogers’ Ranch House at Will Rogers State Park / Palisades fire
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What are the different ways people respond to bad news?
Shock & Disbelief, Anger & Frustration, Fear & Anxiety, Guilt & Shame, Helplessness & Hopelessness, Emptiness & Numbness, Sadness & Grief, or sometimes Apathy.
What was Nehemiah’s response to the bad news?
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Sadness & Grief / This broke his heart and he began to cry. A burden was born.
When God puts a burden on your heart, don’t try to escape it; for if you do, you may miss the blessing He has planned for you and others.
Fanny Crosby was a prolific hymn writer (1820-1915), despite being blind from infancy. She wrote over 8,000 hymns and gospel songs during her lifetime, many of which are still beloved today. Here is what Fanny said about crying.
"Our tears water the ‘seeds of providence’ that God has planted on our path; and without our tears, those seeds could never grow and produce fruit" – Fanny Crosby
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Mourned: He did not let his burden go and let it affect him.
Fasted: This is so important that he removed food.
Prayed: He talked to the only one that could answer his burdened prayer.
But before the burdened prayer request, look at how he structures his prayer. C.O.R.E:
C.O.R.E: Connecting with God.
5 Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
Nehemiah’s prayer begins with him making a Connection with God. It's a proclamation of three powerful things.
First, he acknowledges God's awesomeness.
Second, he acknowledges God's covenant that He keeps.
Third, he acknowledges God's love.
This is the focus of his prayer is praise. In other words, he praises God before he asks him for a single thing.
2. C.O.R.E: Owning our sin.
6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.
God before I bring you my burdened prayer, I confess my sin.
List out the sin that God already knows. It is not for God but for us.
7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. 8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,
3. C.O.R.E: Recalling God’s faithfulness.
9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ 10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.
4. C.O.R.E: Entrusting our plans to Him.
11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.
After praising God, confessing sin, recalling His faithfulness....
Then and only then, he asked God to give him success and favor with a the king.
We pray our burdened prayer and then God gives us the plans and then we need to take action on that prayer and that plan. We pray as it all depends on God and work as it all depends on us.
Month of Nisan: April / Month of Ki-slev: December (Four months of burden prayer)- Keep at it.
1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before,
This is a huge life threatening risk. - I am so burdened about this that I am willing to risk my life for it!
I risk my life every day as cup bearer now it is time for me to risk my life for the burden God has put on my heart.
2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid,
The king is saying I see you are Burden.
We don’t bring sadness into the kings court. He could not hide it much longer. I am afraid but here it goes.
3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
He shares his burden.
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven,
“Silence would have been misinterpreted. Had he closed his eyes and lingered in devotion, the king immediately would have suspected treason.”
Quick prayer to God in the moment, but he had spent four months of fasting and burdened praying to God.
Why this quick millisecond prayer? Because God is in control! Not this earthly king.
1 In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.
Courtroom drama: My Grandmothers conservator case.
“When you kneel before the King in heaven, you can stand before any king on Earth”.
5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
Remember, Nehemiah asked God for favor with this earthly king. Then shares his plan.
Plans to send me to rebuild.
6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
How long do you need to take off? It is estimated to be 6mo-1yr?
7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah?
And one more thing. - Plans for security
8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.
And one more thing.
I need resources. - I need you to pay for it.
9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.
The burdened prayer was being answered and the plan was on its way.
What happens after that? You should go read it. But God restores the walls and rebuilds Jerusalem thought the A Burdened Prayer of one man.
Who or what are you burdened for?
Are you here today or tuning in because someone invited you? You know why? They have a burden for you. A burden for you to give your life over to Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
A,B,C’s of Salvation:
A - Admit you are a sinner who needs a Savior. Recognize that you have broken God’s laws and fallen short of His perfect standard (Romans 3:23). This isn’t about being “bad,” but acknowledging our inherent imperfection and need for a Savior.
B - Believe that Jesus died for you. Have faith that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, willingly took the punishment for your sins by dying on the cross. Believe He rose again, conquering death and offering eternal life.
C - Choose to follow Him
