6. Read Prayerfully & Imaginatively

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Random Question

What thing are you most afraid of?

Lesson

Introduction

Prayer is often seen as a seperate practice from Bible reading, but we see tons of godly people in the Scripture praying before, during, and after the time they read their Bibles.

These two things go hand in hand for great Bible study, so today we’re going to look at Nehemiah’s example in the Word and then we’ll talk a bit about reading imaginatively.

Prayerfully

The Do’s and Don’ts of Prayerful Reading

1. Do turn Scripture into prayer

Turn to Nehemiah 1, or look in your book on page 15.

(Read the passage)

I’m going to read verse 2-3 again, and you tell me what’s going on in Jerusalem...

Nehemiah 1:2–3 NKJV

2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”

What’s happening in Nehemiah’s world right now? (Captivity in Jerusalem, walls torn down, gates on fire)

While all this was happening, Nehemiah was far away in Babylon, hearing about how his home was invaded and its defenses were burnt to a crisp.

Do you think Nehemiah is enjoying himself right now?

Of course he wasn’t! A heavy burden was weighing down on his shoulders.

Invasions in wars right now...

In difficult moments, what tends to happen when we pray? (Distracted!)

Nehemiah turns to the Lord in prayer right away.

Nehemiah 1:4 NKJV

4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Circumstances drive us to our knees...

Praise

Look at what the way Nehemiah starts his prayer, Nehemiah 1:5

Nehemiah 1:5 NKJV

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,

When we pray, what do we tend to talk about right away? (Needs)

“Dear God, thank you for this day… HELP, bail me out of this one Lord!”

We tend to focus on ourselves or the needs in our lives

But who is Nehemiah focusing on here? (The Lord)

Do you think Nehemiah had a few things on his mind?

Absolutely! His home was being desacrated! But he starts off his prayer spending time praising the Lord. That’s key for us, our time in prayer always needs to be focused on the Lord, not on us.

Let’s break down the verse together, how does Nehemiah address God?

- God of heaven

Every name has a meaning behind it...

Funny meanings:

Cecilia = Blind or dim-sighted

Kennedy = Ugly head or helmet head

Caesar = Hairy

Deep meanings:

Do any of you know the meaning behind your names?

When I use the name “God of heaven”, what meaning does that bring across? (Authority, exalted, in control)

Is that easy for Nehemiah to believe in his present circumstances? (No!)

- Great and awesome God

What meaning does this name bring across? (Power)

How might this one be a comfort considering the fact Jerusalem is being overrun?

- Covenant keeper

What meaning does this name bring across? (Promises, faithfulness)

We’re going to touch on this a bit later, but this one is huge. How do we know God is still with us when things are tough?

- Merciful

What meaning does this name bring across? (Promises, faithfulness)

When we’ve got difficulties in our lives, why do you think it is important to remind yourself about God’s character? (Remind us that He is able to deliver)

Confession

So that was praise, we’ve always got to rememebr to praise the Lord as we pray. Here, Nehemiah takes another turn in verse 6,

Nehemiah 1:6 NKJV

6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.

What’s he doing here? (Confessing)

Confessing sibling’s sins...

Who’s sin does Nehemiah confess in verse 6? (Israel, his father’s house, and HIS OWN)

I’m going to read it again, and you tell mewhat you think of Nehemiah’s attitude as he approached the Lord.

Nehemiah 1:6 NKJV

6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.

What was Nehemiah’s attidude as he was confessing his sin? (Humility!)

Highlight the words on iPad...

When I think about the holiness of God, how awesome and powerful He is, what am I going to think of myself in comparison? (Sinful!)

Petition

Read vs. 8-9

Nehemiah 1:8–9 NKJV

8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; 9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’

What cross references come up in your Bible for these two verses? (Lev. 26:33; Deut. 4:29-31, 30:2-5)

Nehemiah brings up Scripture in His prayers! Do you ever wonder why people do this in the Bible? God knows all the Bible, He made it! So why pray verses to God?

What’s the benefit to praying Scripture?

David alfonso illustration

- Kid begs for a bike, but the dad never said he would buy a bike, it’s not his will.

Is the kid going to have a bike? (Nope!)

- Dad says he will buy a bike, now the kid asks for a bike.

Now, is the kid going to get a bike? (Absolutely!)

God has told us what His will is in the Bible, so if we ask for it, what do you think He’ll do? (Answer that prayer!)

Nehemiah 1:11 NKJV

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.

At what point in this verse does Nehemiah start asking God for something? (the very end!)

He just spent this whole time praying, and only at the end did he ask for something. That’s totally opposite of what we tend to do!

So, was most of this prayer a waste of time?

Why not?

When you boil it down, what is prayer? (talking to God)

And was Nehemiah doing that? (Absolutely!)

Nehemiah is a wonderful example of a prayerful person. But he wouldn’t have been able to pray like that if he didn’t know God’s Word!

2. Don’t try to imitate other Christians

Normal lingo we use all of the time...

There’s two kinds of people that we need to learn from on prayer.

Children

K.O.A.M prayer time

- Pray for stuffies

- Pray for teeth to fall out

New Believers

Freshness to their faith, yet they don’t know “Christianese” yet.

Quote from the book,

Living by the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible Don’t Try to Imitate Other Christians

“Hey, Howie. Where are we going?”

“We’re going down here to pray,”

“Well, then I’ve got a problem.”

“What’s your problem?”

“I can’t pray,” he admitted. “I mean, I can’t say it the way you guys say it.”

I said, “Friend, that’s no problem. Thank God for that.”

They started praying...

He said, “Lord, this is Jim. I’m the one that met You last Thursday, remember?” “I’m sorry I can’t say it the way the rest of these guys say it, but I really love You. Honestly, I do. And hopefully, after I know You awhile, I’ll be able to say it a lot better. Thanks a lot. I’ll see you later.”

What do you think about that prayer?

I think he prayed better than we do most of the time, because he was genuinely talking to God, almost like God was physically in the room!

Imaginatively

A big reason why we sometimes think Bible reading is boring is because we make it boring, so we’re going to talk about a few ways we can spice up our Bible reading.

How to Read Imaginatively

1. Use different translations

Stimulate our imagination

2. Write the text in your own words

This helps you make sure you really understood what the text is saying.

Let’s go to Acts 17:16-21 and try it together...

3. Read Scripture in a Different language

Who knows more than one language? Who could read in more than one language?

4. Have someone read the text out loud

Physically

Audio Bible

Dramatized audio Bible

5. Vary your setting

Psalm 23 = Flowing creek

Flood account = Rainy day

Shadrach, Meshack, Abednago = Fire place