ReBuild
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We have had a wonderful week of prayer. So thankful for those of you who came out the church everyday. I am sure that we will see powerful effects of this dedicated time of prayer each week.
I would also like to announce that every Thursday morning from 9:30 to noon the church will be opened for prayer. So when you come in sign your name on the sheet in the foyer and find your place of prayer.
__________
This morning we are going to look at the book of Nehemiah and see the powerful effects of ferverent prayer.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Nehemiah was one of the great characters of the Old Testament but not as well known as others.
Here’s a challenge for you read the trilogy: Esther, Nehemiah and Ezra. These books will show you the richness of Nehemiah.
Here’s some history about the context of this book. In Gen. 12 God called Abraham to leace his country and to follow Him to another land. Abraham obeyed and his decendents multiplied. The Israelites were later enslaved in Egypt for 400 years until God called them out under the leadership of Moses.
They were allowed to enter the Promise Land, the land the God had promised them - Canaan. Hundred of years passed during which the nation experienced struggles, faithlessness, and wrestling with God.
Things went downhill from there and after King Solomon died Israel was split into two kingdoms.
The Northern Kingdom had two tribles and was referred to Israel. The Southern Kingdom had two tribes and was referred to as Judah.
Because of their disobedience, the Assyrians conqured Israel and the ten tribes were scattered and became known as the “ten lost tribes of Israel”.
Even though the Southern tribes saw this happen, they, too, continued to rebel against God.
In 586 BC Nebuchadnessar and the Babylonian army captured the Jews, Jerusalem was destroyed, the walls were knocked down and the temple was burned. The people were deported and were forced into slavery again.
History had come come full circle for them and the city was left in ruins. It was a traumatic thing for the Jews to see their homeland destroyed and they were forced to travel 1000 miles to a foreign country. God did not forget His people.
We can’t talk about Nehemiah without talking about Prayer.
Nehemiah tells his story in the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes.
So this morning we are going to talk about prayer! We can never talk about prayer enough.
Prayer is the prominent theme of Nehemiah. It begins with prayer in Persia and closes with prayer in Jerusalem. His prayers are filled with adoration, thanksgiving, confession, and petition.
There are prayers of anguish, joy, protection, dependence, and commitment.
Nehemiah’s perspective widens our horizons, sharpens our vision and shrinks our anxieties.
Nehemiah was overwhelmed with the loss and the destruction of the walls in Jerusalem. Nehemiah wanted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. He felt that is what God was calling him to do. But how?
This was an impossible dream why?
Because he was working as the King’s cupbearer
Because he was also the King’s trusted advisor
Because he would not get time off
He could not afford it
He could not ask the King to pay for the trip
There was a lot at stake
BUT GOD...
God planted the dream in Nehemiah’s heart
What is he doing in your heart?
Would you listen?
Are you listening?
God desires to flourish in prepared hearts just like a seed in furrowed ground.
Imagine
Imagine
Imagine
Your furture
You may be saying I want to do that but...
I’m not certain how
I’m not certain when
I’m not certain what exactly your dream is
or what the next step forward is
PRAYER IS THE ANSWER!!!!!
Nehemiah saw the need that burdened his heart
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity
He not only saw the need and he started praying!
There are two key verses that we are going to look at this morning:
I slipped out during the night, taking only a few others with me. I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem. We took no pack animals with us except the donkey I was riding.
So my God gave me the idea to call together all the nobles and leaders of the city, along with the ordinary citizens, for registration. I had found the genealogical record of those who had first returned to Judah. This is what was written there:
Rebuild the walls
Organize the people
A prayerful heart is fertile ground for divine ideas!
Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
We need to keep it before God day and night.
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 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, 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. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 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.’
“They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 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.
Lord open our eyes to the things you are leading us towards. Let us not be so consumed with our desires that we forget that we are called to serve you! Let our hearts be consumed with you and the leading of your spirit for our lives.
This morning we are going to look at three things we need to remember when we rebuild:
Personal - Remember who you Serve
Practical - Reorganize your priorities
Public - Rejoice in what God has done for us!
Personal
Personal
I am so glad this morning that my relationship with God is personal. That I can talk to him and share my heart and thoughts and He wants that for us.
I am so thankful that in Nehemiah’s life he felt that way with God also.
verse 4 he mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven.
then in verses 5-6
Nehemiah confessed the sins of the people and his sins. He reminded God of the biblical promises involving the children of Israel.
He knew the way forward was to obey God’s plan that he would need to go back to Jerusalem. He did not know how, or any of the details but he knew he had to obey God here.
So in verse 11 he asks God - give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.
Who was the man that he is talking about here?
The King - the one whom he worked for and was most trusted advisor to.
At that time he was considered the most powerful man on earth.
Even thought Nehemiah was his cupbearer and trusted advisor he was not allowed to approach the King without the King asking him to come. To approach the King would mean death.
Only God could arrange the right moment
So how did Nehemiah respond?
PRAYER!!!!
Many of us forgot how to pray earnestly and with fervor.
When was the last time you poured yourself out into earnest season of prayer?
“How vast are the possibilities of prayer! How wide is its reach! What great things are accomplished by this divinely appointed means of grace! It lays its hand on Almighty God and moves Him to do what He would not otherwise do if prayer were not offered. It brings things to pass which would never otherwise occur. The story of prayer is the story of great acheivements. Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of his saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results”. - E. M. Bounds
Nehemiah certainly believed that prayer is spiritual energy.
Shut yourself in with God
Get into God’s Word
Results in renewed zeal
Nehemiah confessed his sin
Reminded God of His presence
Prayed all day & night
Prayer is the divine energy that brings the power of God into the plans He gives us.
But...
We must learn to PRAY with FERVOR, PERSISTENCE & FAITH
There are no shortcuts for this. God guides his children as we learn the joy of prayer night and day.
The book of Nehemiah is peppered with short prayers all throughout the book.
He knew how to pray spontaneously.
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, 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,
Nehemiah knew his words needed to reflect genuine concern or it would mean a death sentence.
He was afraid here because it was a capital offense to be sad in the presence of the King.
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, 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?”
The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 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.”
Practical
Practical
This was Nehemiah’s chance to get the king on board with his cause. His life was on the line and so was the desire of his heart. So he shot a prayer arrow to heaven and God answered!
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.
Knowing how to pray earnestly day and night you find there is power in spontaneous bursts of prayer too!
Because Nehemiah had a habit of praying regularly. His natural response to a dangerous situation was to offer up a quick prayer!
Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.
The word “commit” here means to “entrust”. God can be entrusted with your dreams to show how they should develop, progress, delay them and drench them with his blessings.
He opens doors and closes doors.
He arranges circumstances.
He sometimes creates trajectories you did not expect.
For Nehemiah God answered his prayers and of course went above above and beyond.
The King gave him letters of safe conduct to travel through the Empire.
He gave him provisions to rebuild the walls & gates
He also sent a military convoy to accompany him because the Jews had strong enemies in Judah.
Once he go to Jerusalem Nehemiah started working on the rebuild right away.
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
The people started in with him also. Take a look at verse 20.
I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”
The God of heaven will give us SUCESS!!!
I truly believe here that sucess here does not mean riches, fame, fortune, or health.
Sucess here means fulfillment of his PLAN for us!
Trust Him and His will & show how it unfolds for your life!
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
There were powerful forces in Judah against Nehemiah as soon as he showed up.
There were those in the land that hated the Jews in Jerusalem one in particular was a warlord named Sanballat - he was a commander of a garridons force and a strong opponent.
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”
You see we will have opposition too. The enemy - the devil - will attack, hurl insults, try to stop belief & growth & strength.
Don’t be bullied
Don’t be intimidated
Don’t be discouraged
Do what Nehemiah did
Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.
Few verses later more problems = More prayer
But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
Couple chapters later more problems = More prayer!
They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”
Now Strengthen my hands!!!
Pray for strength in the overwhelming moments. God strength my hands as we go forward and especially when we face unexpected or unwanted difficulties.
The enemy will try to push you off the road but the one to whom we pray is the one before whom devils tremble.
God will give you overcoming strength and He will do it for you!
Public
Public
I love how God continues to show Nehemiah and the people that He is in control. That He is with them. He shows up and does things above and beyond expectations.
The wall around Jerusalem was rebuilt against all the odds and adversity. The wall was rebuilt and the people were protected. The wall was rebuilt in 52 days — Only God could do that!
Church we cannot go forward without drenching things in prayer!
With the wall being built they had the sanctuary of a walled city.
The Jews felt safe going about their lives. The people gathered at the watergate and Ezra the priest stood on a platform that was built especially for the occasion and praised the God of heaven and the crowd lifted their hands upward and shouted AMEN! AMEN!
Ezra read directly from scripture. Ezra explained the meaning and gave application. The people listened and grieved because they suddenly realized how much they had neglected God’s Word.
Ezra & Nehemiah told them this:
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
With these words the emotion of the crowd changed and they rejoiced in what God had done.
Later the wall was dedicated, there were choirs and great worship times. There were sacrifices offered and there was rejoicing with great joy.
And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.
The joy which answers to prayer give, cannot be described and the level of force which they afford to the spiritual life is exceedingly great. - George Muller
The residents of Jerusalem rejoiced in their God who gave them renewed strength.
It was not a good thing, it was a God thing!
We have been told in God’s word:
Where there is no vision, the people perish:
But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Ask Him in confidence what is your expressed will for my life.
Conclusion:
God wants us to:
Ask God to deposit a dream or special vision to us.
Give us the patience, grace and stamina to see the dream through
Trust Him to follow through whever the path takes
Breakdown any walls or hinderances of mine before I can see the stars and catch the vision
Anticipate & be ready for what He has in store.
This morning we came here to church to bring praise to God. This week we made petitions of prayer pouring our hearts out to Him.
I believe that now as we hear His Word being spoken that we need to stand and give a shout of praise to our wonderful God who gives us breath in our lungs to sing & shout praises to Him. Who watched over us this week. Who has provided.
The one who is calling us to more forward in new heights and depth with Him. Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him! He wants to hear our praise!
Sing this:
To Him who sits on the throne
And unto the Lamb
To Him who sits on the throne
And unto the Lamb
Be blessing and Honor and glory and power forever!
Be blessing and Honor and glory and power forever!