"He Had Faith to Ask" (Nehemiah 2:4-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2011 7:13:46 AM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  “He Had Faith to Ask”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Nehemiah 2:4-8

 

            Message of the verses:  “4 Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 I said to the king, "If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it." 6 Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, "How long will your journey be, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. 7 And I said to the king, "If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go." And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me. 

 

            The question that the king asks Nehemiah in verse two was something that Nehemiah had been praying and fasting about for four months and so before answering the king he prayed a short prayer to the Lord, probably something like Peter did when he thought he was going to drown in the Sea before Jesus reached out His hand to save him.  There are eight other examples of these short bullet prayers that Nehemiah prayed that are recorded in this book.  (Nehemiah 4:4; 5:9; 6:9, 14; 13:14, 22, 29, 31)  The last one is the very last verse in the book of Nehemiah.

           

            I believe that God put into the heart of Nehemiah a desire to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and so when Nehemiah heard of the situation that was there in Jerusalem from his brother the Lord gave him a burden to accomplish the work there.  Nehemiah had to be willing in his own heart to accomplish this task that the Lord was burdening him to do and so he spent four months praying, fasting and investigating how he could accomplish this task that he was burdened to do.  Nehemiah knew exactly what he would ask the king and it can be summed up in two requests “Send me!” (Nehemiah 2:4-6) and “Give me!” (vv. 7-10). 

           

            The last part of verse eight gives the reason why this was all made possible “because the good hand of my God was on me.”  This statement is found in the book of Ezra a number of times and this can be said today when the Lord answers prayers on our behalf, for that is why they are answered.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following statements that helps me to understand why and how I can serve the Lord, similar to what Nehemiah was doing.  “As we go forth to serve the Lord, we have behind us all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18); so we don’t have to be afraid.  The important thing is that we go where He sends us and that we do the work He has called us to do.” 

            There are many examples of how God used unbelievers in the Scriptures.  Pharaoh is probably the first example, and then there was Cyrus as seen in the book of Ezra.  Caesar was the one who made it possible for Marry and Joseph to be in Bethlehem at the perfect time for the birth of Jesus.  In the life of Paul there were two Roman centurions that saved his life as seen in the book of Acts.  It is important for believers to remember that God uses all people to accomplish His will even though many of them do not realize that they are doing it.

           

            There is one more point that I wish to write about before ending this portion of this SD and that is how Nehemiah acted towards the king, who actually had authority over him for he was working for him.  Nehemiah realized that it was the good hand of God that would accomplish this task, but he also realized that God would use the king and that he had to be respectful to the king and also to the other officials that he would run into that would also be under the authority of the king.  Nehemiah was a very respectful man when it came to his actions towards those in authority over him, and this is something that is written about in the NT in Peter’s letter and also in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the things that have been going on in my mind as I study the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and that is prayer.  There are quite a few prayers in these two books and in them many examples to follow on how to pray and what to pray for.  I seem to be struggling in this area of my life and am thankful to the Lord that His timing is perfect for me to be in these books at this time of my life, for I am being fed what I need at this time of my life and am thankful for that.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Trust the Lord that He will continue to work in my life to make my prayer life more powerful for the cause of Christ.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

3.     Trust that the Lord will help me to pray effectively when it comes to selling our Mazda before we leave Kauai.  I am struggling on how that I should pray about this that it would not seem selfish to me.

 

7/30/2011 8:17:18 AM