Lesson Material
Phase #2: INTERCESSION
How to Saturate Your Mission with Prayer
Nehemiah 1:5-11
One of the key characteristics of Nehemiah’s life was prayer.
- Charles Spurgeon: “Nehemiah was a man of prayer, and that was the secret of his power.”
- John Calvin: “Nehemiah’s example teaches us the importance of persistent prayer in times of need.”
- John Piper: “Nehemiah’s prayers show us what it means to trust in God’s faithfulness and sovereignty.”
- Tim Keller: “Nehemiah’s prayerful leadership exemplifies how God can work through those who seek Him wholeheartedly.”
The book of Nehemiah provides a powerful example of the importance of prayer in facing challenging circumstances and fulfilling God’s purposes. Nehemiah was deeply troubled by the news of Jerusalem’s being in ruins and its inhabitants in distress. In response, Nehemiah prayed to God, seeking His guidance and help.
His prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-11 sets the tone for the rest of Nehemiah’s journey, emphasizing the importance of approaching our Almighty God with a contrite heart and seeking His will and power in all circumstances.
As you study your way through the book of Nehemiah, you constantly will see him in prayer (1:5-10, 2:4, 4:4-5, 5:19, 6:9, 6:14, 9:5-38, 13:14, 13:22, 13:29). I challenge you to highlight all those times where He converses with God and note their prevalence. Here, at the story’s beginning, we discover the importance of prayer in our preparation for our mission. Here are a few examples:
- In Nehemiah 2:4, when approaching the King to request permission to return to Jerusalem, Nehemiah prays for courage and favor before speaking.
- Similarly, in Nehemiah 4:4-5, when facing opposition from enemies who sought to halt the rebuilding of the walls, Nehemiah prays to God for protection and strength.
- In Nehemiah 7:5, after successfully rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah appoints faithful men to oversee the city and ensure its safety. He prays for God’s blessing on these men and the people of Israel, demonstrating his trust in God’s providence and faithfulness.
- Nehemiah’s perseverance in prayer is also evident in his desire to please God with His life. He repeatedly prays, “Lord, remember me for this.”
Nehemiah’s prayer life serves as a model for believers today. His example reminds us of the power of prayer to strengthen our relationship with God, provide guidance in difficult circumstances, and enable us to fulfill His purposes. It would be folly to ever think that any great endeavor could be accomplished without God’s help. But by following Nehemiah’s example of seeking God’s will and relying on His strength, we can experience the transformative power of prayer in our lives and in the projects the Lord gives.
1:5 Then I said:“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the King.
Wise, godly leaders will always pour their passion into intercession. John Hyde (1865-1912) was an American missionary who was desperate to bring Christ to India. Known for calloused knees and nights in prayer, he was nicknamed “Praying Hyde.” The prayer on his lips was, “Give me souls—first one a day, then two, and then four—or I die.”
How about you? Do you have a deep burden for an area of ministry? Do you have a driving passion for meeting a particular spiritual need? Those who are truly effective in God’s work are always marked by their possession of this kind of burning concern. But aware of their impotence, they take their passion and, like a seed, plant it in the soil of prayer. They recognize that victory will only come from the hand of the Almighty. How successful will you be before your candle burns down?
Nehemiah exhibits at least five dimensions of effectual prayer: Adoration, Affirmation, Confession, Petition, and Anticipation. The depth of our prayer lives could be transformed if we followed his example.
ADORATION: Proclaiming God’s Character
Nehemiah worked for Artaxerxes, the mightiest man on earth, but he first went to God. Why? Because he recognized God’s greatness, awesomeness, and faithfulness. He starts his prayer with these words: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love.” He based his prayer on God’s character and praised God for His attributes.
Beginning your prayer with praise places your focus on God’s greatness rather than your problems. And that helps you pray with faith. It’s also a way to focus on the Lord’s beauty and enjoy Him. Like Nehemiah, you will want to be one who delights in revering God’s name (see verse 11). And finally, it exalts Almighty God – and that’s our supreme reason for living!
- Adoration focuses our attention on God and reminds us that it is all about the Lord, not us.
- Adoration helps us acknowledge and appreciate the greatness and majesty of God. Psalm 145:3 says “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” By adoration, we humbly recognize His sovereignty over all creation.
- Adoration brings praise and pleasure to God. It also brings pleasure to us as we stand in awe of His beauty, splendor, and glory.
- Adoration builds our faith and helps us find peace and rest in God’s presence. After we behold and trust in God’s goodness, faithfulness, and power, it makes it easier to trust Him more.
May we all be inspired to practice adoration towards God with sincerity, reverence, and love, knowing that He is worthy of all praise and worship.
AFFIRMATION: Claiming God’s Promises
Failure to focus on problems makes believers insensitive. Failure to focus on God’s greatness makes believers insecure. Failure to focus on prayer makes believers ineffective. After basing his prayer on God’s character, Nehemiah then fixed his meditation on God’s promises — particularly the ones where God promises to forgive and restore the nation if they repent and return their devotion to him. It’s as simple as this, “You return to me, and I will return you to the promised land.” Nehemiah quoted Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 30 as reciting, claiming, and applying God’s covenantal commitments. The condition for this promise was repentance, and Nehemiah humbly gave it.
When God gives you a promise, you know He is going to keep it. So, study His Word closely to determine what assurances He has promised. Also, note the conditions that God sometimes gives before the blessings will come.
Claiming God’s promises provides peace and assurance amidst life’s uncertainties. They fill us with hope and encouragement, especially during times of trials and tribulations.
CONFESSION: Acting on God’s Mercy
Nehemiah knows that there is a connection between the devasting physical condition of Jerusalem and the broken-down spiritual condition of the hearts of the Israelites. They need to get their lives right with God before they can expect Him to help them with their building project. And that is going to require radical repentance.
This prayer reveals a broader scope of repentance than we normally practice. It illustrates three spheres of confession: personal, people (corporate), and predecessor (identificational) repentance.
Personal repentance is where I acknowledge my sins to God. Nehemiah says, “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. I need to start with myself.”
Similarly, David came to God praying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24 KJV).”
And the apostle John assures us that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 KJV).
So, I start with “me,” and then I move to “we.” People, or Corporate, repentance is where we come together and confess our collective sins. Nehemiah also confessed the sins that “we Israelites” have committed. So, this moves us from “personal” repentance to “people” repentance. You will want to confess the iniquities that your tribe has committed. This may include your family, church, or ministry team. Hopefully, you can do this with them, but start by yourself until they are ready to participate, as Nehemiah did. This is demonstrated in more detail later in the book of Nehemiah.
But this corporate confession is bigger than the sins of our time; it includes the sins that our predecessors committed in the past— maybe before some of us as individuals were even present. Nehemiah knew that they were suffering partially because of the sins of their parents and forefathers. So, he took on what some theologians describe as “mediatorial authority” and offered up identificational repentance. This is the third form of confession.
In his book, The Path of Revival, Mark Barnard says that “identificational repentance allows one individual to stand in the place of another and ask forgiveness in the offender’s place.” [i] Scriptural examples of this abound. A great Judean revival occurs in 2 Chronicles 29-31 after King Hezekiah led them in personal, corporate, and identificational repentance. In Daniel 9:1-20, Daniel confesses the sins of the people as if they were his own. Ezra does much the same in Ezra 9:5-15. And here in this passage, Nehemiah, like his future partner Ezra, confesses his sins, their sins, and the sins of their fathers.
How might this be applied? If there is a sin pattern in your family line, perhaps you should go beyond confessing your personal sin and also ask God to forgive the sins of your ancestors. This certainly won’t absolve any of them personally for their individual sins, but it displays to God that you are broken-hearted about collective, corporate sins.
And how about churches? Israel lost a battle because of the sin of Achan—just one of its people. I wonder how many churches are being prevented from experiencing victory because of the sin of some of their present or past members. Returning to the book, “The Path of Revival” the author gives several examples of churches in history that have sought God in revival and utilized what some call “solemn assemblies” to ask God to show them sins of their past and present that need to be dealt with. Some of these churches have gone to pastors in the past they have hurt and sought reconciliation. They have confronted racism in their history, condemned the practice, and again repented. They have acknowledged that their ministries have often been aimed at meeting their own needs and largely ignoring the mandate of the Great Commission to evangelize their community and world.
I recently saw this yellow warning sign on a book: “Caution: Revival is dangerous to one’s contented lifestyle, conventional thinking and congregational comfort level.” How true! I want to let sleeping dogs lie. I don’t want to stir up problems of the past that I would prefer to forget. But if we want to experience a spiritual turnaround in our church or ministry, maybe we also need to repent from past sins.
Nehemiah humbled himself and repented of his own sins and those of his people. Will you follow his example?
PETITION: Asking for God’s Power
After praising God’s character, claiming God’s promises, and confessing sin, Nehemiah makes a petition based on God’s power. He places all of his confidence in the Lord’s “great strength” and “mighty hand” (vs.10). He prays, “Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man” (vs. 11).
Nehemiah said, “Grant this servant success.” Prayer is primary — but not theoretical prayer. Prayer that gets the job done includes the mindset, “I’m available, Lord—ready and willing.” Never offer a prayer to God without offering yourself to God.
It is obvious that in his periods of prayer, God had shown him that he was to become personally involved in rebuilding the walls. With that sense of call, Nehemiah asked God to help him be successful in bringing his vision to life.
In essence, he prays, “Lord, you know that my position with the King hinders my participation in the Jerusalem project. And you also know that he could greatly help make this mission possible. Would you please work in his heart so that he has favor towards me and gives me the go-ahead? Please give me success.”
Hudson Taylor once stated, “It is possible to move men by prayer alone.” Taylor was qualified to make such a claim. Through prayer, God had often gotten him past giant obstacles. On September 19, 1853, Hudson sailed for China as a missionary. He went on to serve the Lord for 60 years. During that time, he founded the China Inland Mission, recruited over 1000 missionaries, and saw 100,000 people baptized.
But this great ministry was almost derailed several times. Before he even went, he was crushed when the woman he’d planned to marry refused to go. God helped him deal with his pain, and so off he went—only to arrive during the war and riots of the Taiping Rebellion. This dangerous situation became more severe when rumors were spread that the missionaries were stealing children. The consequence was that angry nationals wounded many missionaries. The Lord helped Taylor through this obstacle, but other difficulties continued to surface. Finances became so tight that he went on brown bread and apples for months. He couldn’t afford heat in the winter, so one letter home stated, “It’s so cold that I can hardly think or hold the pen.” Even after he had settled down, gotten married, and started a family, trials continued. The heat of one summer became so severe that his eight-year-old daughter died.
Many would have waved white flags following just a few of these attacks upon one’s heart and body, but he pressed on. Why? Because of his complete reliance upon the Lord. He had two Old Testament mottos that he often repeated: Ebenezer (“Hitherto has the Lord helped me”) and Jehovah Jireh (“The Lord will provide”). Knowing that God had helped him through trials in the past and confident that He would provide for him in the future, Hudson Taylor, like Nehemiah, lived in dependency upon God. You will also experience success if you wrap your faith in prayer and deliver it to the Almighty.
Let’s apply this to your life. You have a vision. After developing a passion by exploring and interacting with the needs of others, you’ve shared your burden with God, and He has revealed the direction you should take. But before you make any progress, you run up against a brick wall; an obstacle prevents you from moving forward motion.
I relate. Been there.
I’d been a youth pastor for several years, first in part-time roles while working my way through college, then full-time between college and seminary, and then part-time again while I was in seminary. In my last position, I worked at a church in Estes Park while attending a seminary in Denver. When I graduated, I remained at the church and became their interim pastor.
During this phase, God showed me it was time for a change. I loved working with teenagers, but after months of preaching and overseeing the whole church, the Lord gave me a passion for becoming a senior pastor.
But there was a problem. I was a single guy in my mid-twenties, and frankly, no one wanted me. Ouch! There are a few single pastors, but most churches want someone married.
That was my obstacle.
Nehemiah had one, too. In the last sentence of chapter one, Nehemiah said, “I was a cupbearer to the king.” Doesn’t sound too impressive, does it? It sounds like a waiter or a butler. Actually, it required him to sample the King’s food and drink to protect the King from being poisoned. If it was poisoned, well, so long, cupbearer, long live the King.
Now the job sounds even worse, doesn’t it?
But in reality, it was considered a prestigious position. It involved being an administrative assistant and a right-hand man. This enabled him to have a special relationship of trust and intimacy with the emperor. Most of the time, Nehemiah greatly appreciated his job, but right now, it stood in the way of a task that he wanted to do for the Lord; it was a barrier to a very important mission. Since the King constantly needed him—Artaxerxies was his obstacle.
We often have the same problem. Someone gets a heart for a certain ministry until the reality of his or her present obligations is assessed. A mother of two preschoolers exhaustedly wonders how she can do more for the Lord. A businessman is driving home late from the airport when he thinks how much he would prefer to use this time to lead a home Bible study. A couple is asked to accept a wonderful opportunity, but they are tied down taking care of an invalid parent.
There will almost always be obstacles to God’s work. And when there isn’t, Satan will try to build some. What are your obstacles? Are they obligations? Are people blocking your path? Is there a shortage of money? Do you have a lack of training?
What will you do with those impediments? I am reminded of the words of an old song:
Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?
Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible.
He does the things others cannot do.
This chorus has an interesting background. In 1929, the writer, Oscar C. Eliason, was dying of tuberculosis in a Minneapolis hospital. The case looked hopeless until an elderly minister came by one evening and prayed for him. The next day, Oscar baffled the doctors and immediately started to get better. As he was improving, he borrowed a slogan from a newspaper advertisement and wrote the lyrics to the song that has helped so many through the years.
Do you believe God can remove the obstructions in your life? Nehemiah did. He took his problem, the greatest King on earth, to his problem-solver, the greatest King of the universe, and trusted God to bring success.
ANTICIPATION: Waiting for God’s Timing
Nehemiah’s story opened in the month of Kislev (around our Thanksgiving time), and it resumes in chapter two during the month of Nisan (April). During four months of praying, nothing apparent had happened. He had to wait for God’s perfect timing before he talked to King Artaxerxes.
We’ve all had those times when God seems to put us on hold. Finding those times frustrating, I sometimes add this prayer: “Lord, give us patience…NOW!” After this silliness, I like to go to one of Psalm 40 for reassurance. “1I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”
It is comforting to realize that our caring Father will answer at the right time and in the right way. And that’s just what he did for Nehemiah. In our next episode, we will see how God, in response to Nehemiah’s prayers, melted the heart of the King and turned him from a barrier into a blessing.
Let me finish the story I started earlier. I was an interim pastor in Estes Park, Colorado, when I felt that God was aiming me toward a full-time senior pastorate. Since I was a young single, I doubted anyone would want me. But confident of God’s direction, I began praying that God would open a door. At just the right time (desperation time!), the Executive Director of our association of churches approached me about an opportunity. Ed Nelson was an old “Caleb” with years of successful ministry success behind him. With his strong leadership style, I’m not really sure if he was making a suggestion or giving me a mandate, But whatever it was, I thought his plan sounded exciting. A group of about twenty people living in Gunnison, Colorado, wanted to start a church. Since they couldn’t afford much of a pastor, they would have to settle for me! The district would throw in some funds, and I would live cheaply in a small mobile home down by the river (Yup, just like Chris Farley, who played the part of a motivational speaker who lived in a van down by the river!).
Fast forward four years, and we were the largest church in town. (Don’t get too impressed; it was a small town.) We purchased a building and had an exciting ministry. Looking back, I can honestly say that being a church planter/first pastor there in the mountains was one of the highlights of my life. I loved the people, and God did a wonderful work in the community.
Through prayer and planning, God can turn your barriers into bridges.
You don’t have to be a great historical hero like Praying Hyde or Taylor to be used mightily by God.
[i] Mark Barnard, The Path of Revival (Church Smart, 2009), p. 102