Nehemiah 1, A Man of Prayer

The book called “Nehemiah” revolves around two events.

v The rebuilding of the wall, Ch. 1-7.

v The revival and restoration under Ezra’s leadership, Ch. 8-13.

There are two important themes in the book for us, living 2500 years later, to consider: SERVICE AND SEPARATION (holiness).  In Nehemiah we see a great servant of God (as well as in Ezra, and the other post-exile leaders).  The effect of Ezra’s “ministry of the Word of God” is seen in the corporate life of the nation. 

Nehemiah arrived at Jerusalem, and after a few days made a night-time inspection of the terrible mess of the walls that had been destroyed by the Babylonians.  Then, the next morning, he presented his plan (God’s plan) to the people (the reason he had come, to rebuild the walls) and the people immediately said, “Let us rise up and build” (2:17-18).  According to Jesus, the best leaders are servants (Mk. 10:42-45).  Nehemiah came as a servant, not as “the big boss!”  He was first a servant of God, and then a servant of the people he led.

·       The servant Nehemiah was a man of prayer, 1:4-10.

First, this prayer came from a heart of compassion.  His brother told him of the distress of the people in Jerusalem, and Nehemiah mourned for many days.  But he didn’t just cry; in his grief he fasted and prayed, until he had come to have a prayer that he could lift to the LORD.  And what a prayer it was. 

He reminded God of His own character (v5) which He had proclaimed to Moses in Ex. 34:6-7.  Then he confessed Israel’s sin and the fact that God’s punishment was deserved (6-7).  But then he reminded God of His promises.  God had promised to scatter Israel among the nations if they continued to sin (Deut. 28:63-67); Nehemiah refers to this in v8.  But God also said that if Israel returned to Him he would bring them back (Deut. 30:1-10); Nehemiah refers to this in v9. 

This is how we ought to pray: affirming the character and the word of God!  God will always act consistently with these two things.  We may need to study the word of God, even for days as Nehemiah did, before we make our request of God.  We need to know that our requests are not for personal glory but for the glory of God.  We need to know that our requests are not according to our common sense but are based in the word of God.  He will ALWAYS be faithful to His character and word.

The “servant of all” (as Jesus put it in Mark 10:42-45) is first of all the “servant of God.”  Nehemiah needed to know that God was in what he was desiring to do.  We are not, in the first place, servants of the people we lead.  We must serve God and seek to please God in all we do.  So we come to Him in order to know how to lead others.