Nehemiah: The Prayer Of A Righteous Person Is Powerful And Effective.

Today we started an eight week series on the book of Nehemiah. And we started with the first chapter. The speaker gave a good historical background to the book and to Nehemiah the wine-taster of the King Artaxerxes of Persia. The first chapter finds Nehemiah meeting people from Jerusalem, hearing about the conditions there, and being so moved that he wept and started a period of fasting and prayer.

I love this book and this character Nehemiah. (When I was a child, we gathered from the way some people pronounced his name, that he was the second shortest man in the Bible - Knee-high Maya! Only Bildad the Shoe-height was shorter.) My thoughts from the first chapter can be summarised like this:
  • Nehemiah was a God-fearing man, and one of remarkable character. He was much appreciated by the king, who apparently noticed and appreciated his cheerful disposition.
  • As a devout Jew, he was very interested in the condition of Jerusalem, the place God had chosen for His temple, and of the people there. He knew the history of his nation, and its relationship with God.
  • He recognised the cause of his people's exile and the realities of the current situation.
  • In his prayer, he on the one side recognised the goodness and love of God, and on the other identified personally with the sins of his people, which were the cause of their exile and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
  • In those days of fasting, confession and prayer, he was obviously moved towards a decision to do something about the situation, but recognised that he needed God's support and direction as he started out.
  • He was willing to risk his career, even his life, from the very beginning of the pursuit of his vision and mission. The slightest misstep as he approached the king could lead, not only to dismissal, but the death sentence, if the emperor suspected a hidden agenda of insurrection by the notoriously rebellious Jews. Remember, Nebuchadnezzar reduced Jerusalem, including the Temple, to rubble on his THIRD military operation in Palestine, after constant trouble from the people there.
  • He broached the subject of his concern with the king and won his favour, and in doing so, is for me, a beautiful example of what James wrote (5:6) - The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
When I consider Nehemiah I see a picture of Jesus.
  • He had a position of privilege, and a life of comfort, close to the highest authority in the land - even one could say most of the known world at that time. Yet he was willing to give that position up with its comforts, even at the risk of his life, for the sake of the well being of his people. Jesus left his position in heaven to become a man (even to the level of a totally dependent and vulnerable baby), a man in the lower ranks of society, in an occupied and oppressed county.
  • He was deeply concerned for those people, for their physical and spiritual welfare, and more so for the reputation of their God - the God of Zion. He listened carefully to their plight, wept for them, and determined to do something about the situation. Jesus' entire mission was to redeem his people, to heal them, to restore them to what God had intended they should be, all the while glorifying God and doing His will.
  • He identified with his people in their sin, even though, as far as we can see, he himself was a God-fearing, Law-abiding person of impeccable character. Jesus did likewise in becoming a man, identifying with sinners in their temptations, in their need for "baptism for the forgiveness of sin," and in their death, even the death of a criminal on the cross. "He became sin for us." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
  • He did not abandon his task until it was finished, even though there was regular opposition from local power seekers, and divisions and continued sin from within the Jewish community itself. So we see Jesus continuíng to work in us, with us, and for us to complete the purpose of God until we can be collectively presented to him, complete and spotless.
Take aways for myself? These usually come to me in the form of soul-searching questions:
  • I am also privileged beyond explanation (it is not my doing). To what extent am I willing to give up these privileges to serve the people that God loves and cares about?
  • To what extent do I even pay attention to the important things that are happening in the world today, and specifically within the community of believers. Nehemiah's concern was not just for his immediate community but for those far away.
  • To what extent do I pray for this community, identifying with its sins (do I even recognise these sins?) and praying earnestly for forgiveness?
  • Do I recognise the goodness and faithfulness of God and worship him for it, "always giving thanks" for His steadfast mercies? To what extent do I, in my daily life, live the prayer "hallowed be thy name?" If I'm not, and if I am not myself living in His righteousness, my prayers will not be effective.
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