A man of prayer (2) (Nehemiah 1:4-11)

 A man of prayer (2)

 

 

[Nehemiah 1:4-11]

 

 

A farmer encountered a huge bear in the mountains.  He was terrified and collapsed on the spot.  And he fervently prayed: ‘God, change this bear's heart to meekness.’  The farmer prayed for a while and opened his eyes.  But the bear was also sitting and praying.  The farmer was very moved to think that his prayer had been answered: ‘God answered my prayer so quickly.  My prayer touched the bear's heart.’  Then the bear finished praying and looked at the farmer with a deep expression and said: ‘I have no idea what you are praying for.  I just prayed with food in front of me’ (Internet).

 

What is the lesson for us in this amusing example of prayer?  There are times when we, like the farmer, think we have received answers to our prayers and are mistaken.  Then, how should we pray to God in order to receive answers to our prayers?  I would like to think about Nehemiah's prayers in six ways under the title of “A man of prayer (2)” centered on the words of Nehemiah 1:4-11 (Lee).  In the midst of this, I hope and pray that we can pray like Nehemiah.

 

First, Nehemiah fasted and prayed.

 

Look at Nehemiah 1:4 – “When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”  For the Jews, fasting was to be done once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29).  However, Nehemiah mourned and fasted for some days (Neh. 1:4).  What is fasting prayer?  When we hear ‘fasting prayer,’ the first thing we think of is starving ourselves.  However, not eating or starving is not important, but praying itself is important.  Fasting prayer is the most desperate form of prayer (Lee).  Fasting in intercessory prayer is an effective way to further strengthen the power of prayer.  The fact that Nehemiah fasted and prayed means that he devoted himself to praying, saving even the time to eat.  In other words, he prayed wholeheartedly.  And he prayed with his soul, mind, and heart in prayer, not decorative prayers or ceremonial prayers (Lee).

 

Second, Nehemiah knew the object of prayer and prayed.

Look at Nehemiah 1:5 – “I said, ‘I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments.’”  Who are you and me praying to?  Of course, we will all say we are praying to God.  But I wonder who the God we are talking about really is.  The reason for the question is because the God we speak of is not the God of the Bible, but rather the God of our narrow minds.  How we can know that is by looking at our lives after praying to God.  The person who prayed to the God spoken of in the Bible prayed in faith, so he shows a life of faith.  However, those who prayed to the God who prays with our hearts in the imagination have no choice but to show a life of doubt after prayer because they prayed a prayer mixed with doubt.  Do we really know the God of the Bible and pray to that God with faith?

 

Then who is the God of the Bible?  In today's text, Nehemiah 1:4-11, we can think of Nehemiah's God in three ways.

 

(1)    The God of Nehemiah is “the God of heaven” (v. 4).

 

Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven.  As a Jew in the Gentile country of Mede-Persia, Nehemiah did not serve the gods of the ‘God of the earth’, that is, the Gentile nation.  He did not worship idols.

 

(2)    The God of Nehemiah is “the great and awesome God” (v. 5).

 

Nehemiah prayed to the great and awesome God.  Hearing the sad news about the people of Judah who remained in Judah, Nehemiah, who had heard of Jerusalem, the people of his homeland who were in tribulation and reproach, and the city of Jerusalem was destroyed and the gates were burned, why did he pray to “the great and awesome God”?  The reason was because he thought that the news of Judah was the result of God's justice due to the sins of his people.  In other words, Nehemiah had no choice but to acknowledge that God is God, that is, “the great and awesome God” because he heard the affirmation that God, who was just, disciplined the people of Judah who had sinned but did not repent.  We must realize God's greatness and awesome in the midst of adversity and suffering.  Through that adversity and hardship, we must realize our smallness and the greatness of our sins.  If we are experiencing great afflictions (v. 3) and must also do great things (4:19; 6:3), we will receive great power (v. 10), great blessings (9:25, 25) and God's great mercy. (9:31) is required (Weirsbe).

 

(3)    The God of Nehemiah is a God who “preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments” (1:5).

 

This word means that God is a fearful God to those who sin and do not repent, but He is a God of love who shows mercy to those who repent and keep His commandments (Park).  Nehemiah prayed to the God of the covenant, the God of mercy.  William Carey left us with this famous word: ‘Believe in the great God.  Pray to the great God.  And expect the great God to accomplish great things’ (Lee).

 

Third, Nehemiah confessed the Israelites’ sins.

 

                     Look at Nehemiah 1:6-7: “let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned.  We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.”  Nehemiah interceded for the children of Israel.  He not only confessed the nation's sins, but he himself confessed that he was responsible for the nation's sins.  Like Ezra, he took joint responsibility for the sins of the Israeli community and repented of them as if they were his own sins (Park).  Ezra did too.  Look at Ezra 9:6 – “and prayed: ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.’”  Daniel did too.  Look at Daniel 9:20 – “While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill.”  Why did Nehemiah confess his sins to God together, thinking that he was responsible for the sins of the nation?  The reason was because he had a sense of responsibility for a communal sin.  It was inevitable because God would not say, ‘You are not responsible for anything’ because Nehemiah was in Susa’s palace [Ref.: Esther (Est 4:13-14) and Achan (Jos 7:1, 11)].

 

                Intercessors who love God and love their homeland know that they are being punished by God for their country's sins, and weep bitterly and seek God's mercy while praying (fasting).  In doing so, he has a sense of community responsibility to regard the sins of his people as his own and confess them to God.  In this way, intercession prayer makes one with those who are praying for intercession in spirit.

 

                Fourth, Nehemiah held on to God's word of promise.

 

                Look at Nehemiah 1:8-10: “Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.'  They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.”  This is the prayer of faith, the first of the two kinds of prayers mentioned by E. M. Bounds.  Nehemiah held on to God's word of promise, Deuteronomy 28:63-67 and 30:1-10 and prayed.  What we need to keep in mind here is that Nehemiah not only held on to God's word of promise and prayed in faith, but also made a promise (commitment) to God to keep the commandments of the Lord, which is a life of faith.  In this way, Nehemiah held on to the word of promise and prayed with patience.  In other words, Nehemiah held on to God's word of promise and prayed for four months.  As for how we can know that, we can find out by comparing Nehemiah 1:2 and 2:1. “Chislev” (1:1) refers to mid-November or mid-December in our time as a Hebrew calendar month after the Exodus.  And “Nisan” (2:1) refers to the middle of March or mid-April in our time as a Hebrew month (Park).  In other words, Nehemiah held on to God's word of promise for about four months and prayed to God.  His father's name is "Hachariah."  The meaning of the name is "waiting for the Lord" (Park).  The lesson this teaches us is to be patient when we pray to God.  Nehemiah, the son of Hacharias, interceded for his country, and after praying, he waited with anticipation until his prayer was answered.

 

                Fifth and last, Nehemiah wanted to take on the responsibility of prayer.

 

                Look at Nehemiah 1:11 – “"O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man " Now I was the cupbearer to the king.”  Here, “this man” refers to “King Artaxerxes” (2:1).  Nehemiah prayed with conviction.  He was convinced that God would move the heart of King Artaxerxes to help him rebuild the city of Jerusalem.  Pastor Lee Dong-won said: ‘In other words, after praying to God, he went to the king and tried to ask the king for help in building the city of Jerusalem, his hometown.’  However, before making a request to the king, it is to pray before God first.  While praying, he believed that God would move the king's heart, and now he intended to go and talk to the king (Lee).

 

                Our God is a God who answers prayers through people of prayer.  Look at Ephesians 3:20 – “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.”  In order to answer our prayers, God first works within us as people of prayers.  In the midst of this, God wants to answer that prayer through us.  Therefore, we must pray to God.  The earnestness of our prayers also needs to be revealed in fasting prayers.  Also, we must pray in the knowledge of knowing God, the object of prayer.  And we must confess our sins.  We must hold on to God's word of promise and ask for it in faith.  I hope and pray that you and I will be able to take on the responsibility of prayer and practice prayer.