I CAN'T DO IT ALONE | INTERCESSION (3)

Sermon: “I CAN’T DO IT ALONE”

Nehemiah 1:1-11

Date: 14 February 2021

INTRODUCTION. Have you ever had your car battery to die? I mean, you could on your way to work, way to dinner, or simply away from home. How did you it make you feel? What were some of your thoughts?

I believe most of us know what it’s like to have our car battery go dead. A powerless battery cannot take you anywhere. It is unexpected. Unwelcomed. And no one gave you a warning.

So you put up the hood of your car. Call someone to help you out. They hear your voice of distress and they drive out to you. They pull out some jumper cables.

You understand that you have a dead battery, but they have one that is alive.

They get the hood of their car close to yours. Then you take the cables, something that is in between, and connect that battery’s positive with your positive and the negative with a metal part on your engine.

And then there is a transfer of power and a transfer of life.

The living battery sends its life and its power through the cables to your dead battery because somebody had the right connection.

Then you can turn on your ignition and know that there has been a transfer of power via the cable. It was person with the living battery that made the connection.

All of a sudden your dead car comes alive.

All of a sudden your dead motor turns over. All of a sudden your dead car can now move. Why? Because it has power on its own? No. Because it borrowed power from another.

Because it took power from a living battery through the right connection.

Many of us know people who are in dead-battery situations. They find themselves stranded, hopeless, and helpless to make a change in their life.

People get into a season where they are stuck and cannot make any progress. It is difficult. It is a problem they did not expect.

The weight of issues are heavy. It is disappointing. //And it causes one to feel// sabotaged by their faith when they believe that favor has overlooked them.

They believe the mailman forgot their address because there is no deliverance at their location.

David, that Dancing Shepherd and Musical King testifies in Psalm 13 when he felt no relief from his enemies and God seemed to have abandon Him. Listen to David as he says,

“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?”

Get this, it is when reality sits in, we survey our situation.

We are separated from what we desire and stuck in a place where God seems distant.

David, struggled with this reality of the life. It seemed as if he life had a dead battery.

Life will throw you some curve balls. Life will cause you to have a dead battery. It will cause you to think you separated from the power that changes lives.

It is when a pandemic hit, the kids struggle to get an education, taking virtual classes, missing classes and turning in late homework and I cannot be home because someone has to work to make ends meet. Separated.

On top of that, I am losing loved ones to a disease I cannot see, social distancing myself from hugs of comfort, and covering up my face so I will not catch what can possibly sicken me. Separated.

Have you ever felt separated and disconnected from God because of what you are going through? I know I am hanging out in your DM right now// and took you out back of the Sugar Shack.

Because, truth be told, we all have felt disconnected from God.

Disconnected from the one who can heal us with a touch, keep us in perfect peace, give life with a spoken word.

Disconnected from the one who can feed hungry souls, quiet the raging seas, reconcile prodigal families, and whisper comfort to our grieving souls.

When you feel disconnected, you feel like you are invisible to people and to God because you believe// no one sees your pain.

No one identifies with you, rescues, or partners with you. You believe crisis has caused you to be disconnected.

I put the brakes on right here because what you believe and what you see and face might not line up in your favor.

There a level of belief //that I have that gets me through it. It gives me strength to walk on and through broken glass situations.

Yes, It will hurt, it will cause some pain, I will be bruised, but if I keep walking, it will all come to an end.

Langston Hughes says, Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair, it had tacks in it, splinters, and boards torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor…Bare, but all the time I’ve been climbing.

This level of faith says I will press through it and God will get the glory. This level of faith will move mountains.

This level faith climbs mountains. This level of faith will have to lifting holy hands even when sickness and stress surrounds you.

[SPEAK SLOWLY]

However//[PAUSE]//, there is a another level of faith// that causes us to get stuck because what we face//[PAUSE]// seemed bigger than what we can endure.

I am talking about where hope is anemic, and defeat is near.

The doctor has given up. The eviction notice has come. The oppression is running wild. The grief of losing loved ones// after loved ones//due to COVID-19 or people who have died too young is at hand.

Or bankruptcy has taken up residence and you cannot get around it or you cannot outrun your conviction. The level of faith where you ask, My God, My God, Why Hast Thy Forsaken Me.”

It is time for all of us to relate to one another. Those of us who know people on this level, it is our responsible to reach out and help them through it.

Yes, it might be too much for you, but when you have a holy hook-up and divine alignment, your connection with God is what is needed to jumpstart their dead-battery situations.

It is the church folks that should have the right connection. It is the church folks that should have the right hook up. It is the church folk that should be in divine alignment.

Yet, I found out that not all church folks are hooked up to the right source.

Yet, I believe we need to partner with people who have evidence of the fruit of the spirit-love, joy, peace, kindness, longsuffering, self-control. When you have evidence of fruit, I know you are connected to God.

INTO THE TEXT. In this pericope as Nehemiah puts pen to paper, quill to parchment, we find out that Israelites needed some help. Nehemiah was a servant in the King’s Court, Cupbear and had a ranking position.

It means that Nehemiah could be trusted. However, Nehemiah has not returned to Jerusalem, his home since Judah’s captivity.

In 586 B.C. Judah was brought into captivity for straying away from God. The Babylonians stripped them of their land, cuffed them into slavery, and destroyed their city. Judah made the wrong decisions in not being obedient to God, found themselves in trouble, and were sent into slavery.

After years in slavery and oppression, battle after battle, the exiles who returned to Jerusalem found themselves in ruin. The city was destroyed. They were unprotected because the wall was in rubble.

The people stood vulnerable, being attack by unending strokes of injustice, marred by disgrace, ripped by the blades of classism.

Armies could come in and conduct a genocide. They were living beneath their value. Yet, when Nehemiah received this information about the people, Nehemiah prayed.

Yes, it might not sound like much to you, but when you are at your wits end and unable to change things around yourself, you call on somebody can change it.

Nehemiah was not prompted by God to pray, but I believe that His relationship with God prompted him to pray.

What do you mean Pastor? People with no connection to God cannot shift favor in your life.

If their life is full of sin, no repentance, no prayer, no lifestyle of God, then they are useless in your pursuit to experience a release.

Maybe the reason some of us are still stuck is because we have the wrong people praying for us.

They know how to put two words together, make it sound like poetry, have a title to their name, have degrees and you think and believe they can get a prayer through.

People who have a connection to God and know your situation will automatically go into prayer for you. You don’t have to ask for prayer. You don’t have to beg them for prayer. Yet, if they know, they are already praying for you.

Yet, if you are struggling, then it is up to you to let a prayer warrior know what you need.

It is not just knowing God, but it is having a personal relationship with Him. Let me put it in Neutral right here. A personal relationship and prayer [request] will get you access to things you need.

Years ago I was going through seminary at Virginia Union University, Richmond. I attended the weekend program. Fridays and Saturday. I lived in North Suffolk at the time. The drive would take me 1 hour and 20 minutes.

That meant I would have to drive back and forth on Friday and Saturday. Yet, I knew my Aunt lived in Richmond, Va.

Because of my personal relationship with her, I figured that I would ask her could I stay with her on Friday Nights to keep me from driving back and forth.

She said sure Lamont, no problem. I would get there after my class, and she would let me in and we would have small conversation because she had to go to work the next morning.

Yet, she would tell me that I have food for you on the stove and if you want it, it already there for you. She laid out the bath towel and cloths, told me to make myself at home. Also, the bed has been prepared for you so when you are ready, you go up there and do to sleep.

For an entire school year, my aunt allowed me to go back and forth to her home because of my personal relationship with her and connected to her. Moreover, because of that, I got dinner and blessing. I got more than what I expected.

This is what Nehemiah realized when He prayed. God was able to give him more than what he had expected.

Nehemiah, the king’s servant, Nehemiah the cupbear, Nehemiah, the one who has a steadfast trust in God stands up and firm on his faith when embers of injustice left his people struggling to make ends meet.

He did not hang around trying to figure out what happened or continue to spread bad news, Nehemiah did something amazing and astonishing. Nehemiah arranged a meeting between the power of God and the people of God.

If God could do more than what is expected, then God is able to cause joy to their sorrow and give them hope for a better tomorrow.

How did Nehemiah connect his live battery to their dead battery? Simply put. He prayed an intercessory prayer. That means, he avail himself to think about the needs of others. He took up the responsibility to speak on behalf of someone else.

No one pushed him, no one prompted him, no one pulled him, but because he had a heart for the people, He became their Servant and pushed up a prayer to God on their behalf.

He submitted his feasible of support request to God// because He knew God had the resources to respond.

Let me hang out here. When you have a love connection with the one above you, there is a limit supply of power for those who are connected to you.

There comes a time where we find ourselves with information about the devastation of people.

The news crushes us, the news makes us weep like Nehemiah, the news makes us see the limits of our power.

Yet, when you have a relationship with the God love, despite the how many charges are against you, or enemies surrounding you, or how big your problem, there is a strong connection of grace that will cause all things to work out for your good.

How many of you know that there is no problem too hard for God.

Do I have any witnesses today?

We serve a God who created the heavens and the earth, who breath the breath of life in mankind, who led thousands out of Egypt with His Hand, who can defeat impossible enemies, can shut the mouths of roaring lions, and can turn midnight into day.

Do I have any witnesses who can testify that there is nothing too hard for God.

So when you hear news that seems too bad, or find yourself limited on what you can do, you always have a connection to pull people through it. [PAUSE]

Nehemiah is an intercessory standard bearer and example to show us what to do when things are beyond your control.

We can get upset at what we hear, and it causes us to toss and turn at night, losing sleep over situations we cannot control.

But if you want a real shift in your life and the lives of others, it is done in the quiet and still places.

We want to see hurricanes, lightning, thunder, and hear the bombastic voice of God coming over the hillside. Yet, real change happens when you go into your secret place of prayer and have conversation with the divine. It is in this place where your spirit is not driven by what you see, hear, or even emotions.

But, your prayers will be driven by what is needed, brought to God because He is the only one who can provide.

This is the secret life of a true believer. I don’t need 3 points and a hoop. I don’t need 6 ways to get through it. I don’t need 10 steps into my best life.

All I need is a Bible and Prayer. It was when Nehemiah started to proclaim the promises of God. He fell in line with what God has already promised.

He reminded God of His promise that if His exiled people returned to him in obedience he would redeem them and bring them back to the Promised Land.

It was through this promise that Nehemiah prayed. When you pray with the promises of God, step out on faith,// get ready for change.

See reminding God about His promises is not so much for Him, but it let’s God know that we are in agreement and alignment with what He said.

Has anyone ever broken a promise to you? Have you had your heart broken because they failed to come through on their promises?

The reason they break their promises is because they were not able to lead so you can follow them.

In BALLROOM dancing, the job of the man is to lead. The job of the woman, if her partner knows what he’s doing, is to follow his lead.

His job is to watch the floor and see where all the other dancers are. All she does is line up with his movement. She puts her hand in his hand. She puts her arm on his shoulder and he sets the pace.

She yokes herself with him and as he moves, she moves. She glides and doesn’t worry. But he has got to keep his eyes open. He’s got to watch the floor.

She just moves in line with him.

Now, she does move but because she’s yoked, she glides. He works.

God wants us to know that He’s willing to do the work. He’s willing to take the lead. He’s willing to guide and direct.

He has made a promise.

He’s willing to take us where we need to go, but will you beloved be yoked to him, believe in His promises?

When you know God’s promises, all you have to do is line up and glide. When you line up with God, God has a way of bring people you pray for through it all. When they lose a loved one and they think they cannot make, but your prayer to God brought them through it.

When sickness was abound and they could not find not peace, it was your prayer to God that spoke peace to their storm.

The Bible says that the effectual, feverant prayer of the righteous availeth much.

You should have shouted right there, because there is something about prayer that gives you the strength to keep going back to help someone out.

Let me make it plain. Harriet Tubman, that ebony-hued emancipator, sun-kissed by the rising sun, strong woman of color, and soldier of fortune.

In her biography, they say that she escaped from slavery to freedom.

Yet, when she got free, she was not content with her own freedom. The scholars say, she went back to bring others out.

Many people argue over how many times she went back, but the point of it all is that she made up in her mind that if I am free, we all are going to be free. I got to go back!

In 2021, we need to make up in our heart that we are going back. When you pray intercessory prayers, speak on behalf of others who are struggling, you are essentially going back to bring them out of it.

For my children, I am going back. For my husband or my wife, I am going back.

For my marriage, I am going back., For the school system and jail cells, I am going back. I refuse to give up on them.

I refuse to let the stay where they are at.

Yes, they are struggling, but I know a God who can rescue them from pit and marry clay. [PAUSE]

Now unto Him, Who is Able to to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we ask see think or hear.

Is there anyone watching me today know that when you call on the Name of God IN PRAYER, GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OUT OF NO WAY. HAS HE DONE IT FOR YOU? HE DID IT FOR ME. HE’LL DO THE SAME FOR YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. V

I believe when they are free, they are able to sing that ole Negro Spiritual, Somebody prayed for me, Had Me on Their Mind, Took the Time to Pray for Me.

THE REFAIN SAYS, I am so glad they prayed. I am so glad they prayed. I am so glad they prayed for me. I CAN’T DO IT ALONE.

In the final analysis, the result of Nehemiah’s prayer is found in Nehemiah 6 in the book of Ezra. God allowed them to rebuild the wall and gates in 52 days and return to their land.

Nehemiah got involved in the restoration of God’s people and with God’s help, he fended off attacks and distractions to lead the people to accomplish what he prayed for.