As soon as I heard
these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting
and praying before the God of heaven.
THE STUDY:
Today we are looking
at the second half of verse 4. Yesterday we talked about how Nehemiah wept and
mourned. Today we are going to look at the aspect of fasting and praying. We
know that, in scripture, these two spiritual acts go hand and hand. Nehemiah
knew this as well.
Nehemiah fasted and prayed; not in public (he had
no opportunity of doing that), but before
the God of heaven, who sees in secret, and will reward openly. By his
fasting and praying three things happened:
(1.) He consecrated his sorrows,
and directed his tears toward God.
(2.) He eased his sorrows, and
unburdened his spirit, by pouring out his
complaint before God and leaving it with him.
(3.) He took the right method of determining
the relief for his people and
direction for himself in what way to serve them.
Let those who are in the public eye
(in politics) take God along with them and utter all their projects before him;
this is the way to prosper in them.[1]
This is made evident in the life and leadership of Nehemiah.
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
- We walk away this morning knowing not just the power but significance of praying and fasting. It brings direction, relief, and a higher success rate for the future.
APPLICATION:
One of the
things we will come to understand in this devotional study from the book of
Nehemiah is how God’s people had forgotten Him (the Word of God) and how Ezra,
along with Nehemiah, was bringing His word back to the forefront.
This passage reveals the fact; Nehemiah
knew where his source was, GOD! He tapped into that source through prayer and
fasting. Today, remember where your source comes from and tap into it by
praying and fasting. Don’t do this because you want some worldly thing but pray
and fast because you want a more intimate encounter with Christ. You want to be
so close that when pain and sorrow come you can’t feel it because of the power,
glory, and love of Christ all around you.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s
commentary on the whole Bible: Complete and unabridged in one volume (Ne
1:1–4). Peabody: Hendrickson.
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