Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: Mourning over something that is destroyed.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Nehemiah 1.

Transition to the text: Nehemiah tells us that he is the cupbearer in the court of the King of Persia.

The cupbearer was a high ranking position and had to have the utmost trust of the king.

They were responsible for taking the first sip of the wine to make sure it wasn’t poisoned.

Nehemiah had a good life with wealth and influence.

No reason to think about the barren wasteland that was the birthplace of grand parents.

But God had a plan.

And his plan involved the obedience of one man with a vision for the restoration of a city leading to the restoration of a nation.

Let’s read:

nehemiah 1

Big Idea: When trouble strikes, remember to pray.

Transition: When Nehemiah first learned that the city of Jerusalem lie in ruins, he didn’t jump into action.

So many of us immediately think, I need to get to work.

But that is not what Nehemiah did.

He hit his knees and started praying.

Not the type of prayer that many of us our used to.

Where we make a plan and ask God to bless it.

Or we pray asking God to guide our steps and then that is it.

We then get to work.

1. Nehemiah remembered to pray.

(4-10)

Explanation:

Nehemiah, in his distressed, prayed fervently.

He also fasted and prayed for many days.

Now based on what he was praying it’s safe to assume that he was also reading the Hebrew scriptures as well.

Because he calls on God to remember his covenant love as described throughout the old testament.

Additionally, he quotes Moses regarding God’s promises to His people.

How did Nehemiah know what to pray?

He was reading His Bible.

1. Nehemiah Prayed continually.

Nehemiah Prayed continually.

Illustration: If you want to get really good at something, you need to practice.

Prayer takes practice.

And you don’t start practicing during the game.

You practice in practice so you’re ready for the game.

Nehemiah didn’t start praying in the midst of his trouble.

Nehemiah seems to have had a strong prayer life even before this.

He prayed before he needed to pray so that when he needed to pray, he would already have the established relationship with God.

Application: Now what does this have to do with us?

How many times do we face trouble and we fail to pray?

How many times do we jump to action before asking God what He is already doing in this?

Do you have a prayer life that prepares you for when things go wrong?

2. Nehemiah Confessed sin.

Nehemiah understand (again from His reading of the Bible) that the reason that Jerusalem lay in ruins was because of the sin of the Hebrew people.

They failed to follow the law of Moses and as a result, God destroyed their city and dispersed the people into exile.

So for Nehemiah, he understood that in order to restore the nation, it must begin in repentance.

Now some might suggest that it is ridiculous for Nehemiah to confess sin that was committed long before He was born, but as a representative of a nation, not only is he able to confess the sins of the nations, he has the responsibility.

Because you can’t restore what is broken if you don’t acknowledge that there is a problem.

Illustration: Amanda and I will get in arguments sometimes and after 5 minutes, she forgets why she was mad.

That makes it hard to carry on and win and argument.

I think one of the biggest problems with our sin nature is that we forget our sin.

And each of our sins has a way of making it easier to sin next time.

By confessing our sins, we keep them in mind so that we can discipline our mind not to commit them again.

Application: Again, what does this have to do with us?

What sins must we confess that are getting in the way of our relationship with God?

The Bible tells us to confess our sins.

It’s true that God has forgiven our sins in Christ Jesus, but we are still called to confess so that we can stay on the straight and narrow path.

3. Nehemiah prayed God’s promises.

Explanation: Sometimes we don’t know how to pray and in those cases God gives us the words.

In the case of Nehemiah, he found comfort in the words God’s command to Moses.

Nehemiah prayed that God’s word would come true.

This is beautiful mystery of prayer.

God would always have kept His word, but in His sovereignty allows prayer to trigger the fulfillment of his will.

God will answer Nehemiah’s prayer in chapter 2 when he uses a pagan king to send Nehemiah to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls.

He basically gives him a blank check.

Illustration: In a world full of lies, the best thing we can cling to is the truth.

When people tell you that God doesn’t care, we combat lies with truth.

And the best truth comes from the Bible.

Application: There are some promises of God that apply to us.

Others apply only to Israel.

We can and should pray the ones that apply to us.