O Lord, let your ear
be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants
who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and
grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to
the king.
THE STUDY:
Nehemiah had
prayed for days, but now he was arriving at a decisive moment. Nehemiah knew that after prayer comes action, and he had determined that the time was “today.” He asked
that King Artaxerxes might be divinely moved to act on behalf of God’s people.
Humanly speaking, Nehemiah had no reason to expect such favor. According to Ezra 4:21, this same King
had earlier issued a decree to stop work on the city of Jerusalem, perhaps on
the wall itself. To make such a request clearly contrary to royal policy might
even prove dangerous. But Nehemiah called him “this man,” perhaps to stress
that he was only a human under God’s sovereignty. Nehemiah knew the seriousness
of his undertaking and put his case in God’s hands. Like many since his time,
Nehemiah’s greatness came from asking great things of a great God and
attempting great things in reliance on him.[1]
As Nehemiah wraps up this prayer we
see a couple of things: He makes it personal (your servant), he makes is communal
(your servants), and he makes it secluded (success to your servant …. grant him
mercy): only God could do what was asked by Nehemiah not the king.
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
- We walk away this morning with the understanding that with great problems in life comes a great God who can overcome them. Nothing is impossible with God!
APPLICATION:
In a small town in West Virginia a church had struggled for years. It had
its routine problems but it also had spiritual failures that caused great
division among the people. A young man came to be their pastor. He knew of this
church and some of the problems they had faced. This did not deter him from
coming because his heart was moved for the people.
Once he
established himself as their pastor the very first thing he did was call a
prayer meeting. Not a typical prayer meeting but one that would call for forgiveness,
humbleness, contrition, and intercession for the sins of the past. This church put
to practice what the scripture says, if
my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will
forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14).
What took
place after this prayer meeting was something that has been talked about for
year. God’s glory came upon that congregation and what followed was clearly the
hand of God. No one could say it was the new pastor who did this. No one could
say it was the new ministries that caused this church to thrive again. All that
could be said was, “to Him be the glory!”
Today, you
might be facing a big problem! Don't look at that problem as being too big for God. Look at it as God being too big for the problem. Humble yourself before God and seek his glory
and you will find the problem being dealt with or even removed. The only explanation
that’s able to be given is “GOD!” Amen? Amen!
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Breneman, M. (1993). Vol. 10: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (electronic ed.).
The New American Commentary (173–174). Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers.
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