Komstad Evangelical Covenant
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Honest Prayer Except that he was able to marshal the available resources to build a city. And in chapter one of his little book, we see how his challenge begins. The starting point. The first step. How you choose to begin will shape your entire project. Nehemiah begins with God. So this is more than just the story of a leader. This is God's story of how leaders are formed. This is God's story of the construction of a spiritual leader. And it is important, because there is still work to be done, and God is still building leaders to do the work. For Nehemiah, the story began with a problem. As he worked as a servant in the king's palace in Persia, he heard terrible news from Jerusalem. What happens next depends entirely upon how Nehemiah will face this crisis. If he walks away, the story ends. To solve the problem, he will have to face it. An Honest Need It may be difficult to understand the magnitude of Nehemiah's pain. A small group of people had returned to their country, once ravaged by war. They found a city burned and desolate, with little remaining that resembled a community. No safety. No security. And probably few of the resources that would support family and work. Although the comparison is a bit different, New Orleans might at least allow us to feel some of what the people of Jerusalem felt. Imagine a community turned into rubble, with no place to build a new home until the wreckage could be bulldozed away. Imagine crouching behind a broken levy, knowing that the next wave could come crashing through the breach and wash away everything that you had built for your family. In Jerusalem's time, the levy was their wall. It served as a defense against robbers, raiders, and armies. Behind a sturdy wall, a family could dwell securely. Without it, the most fierce elements of society would simply walk into Jerusalem and steal, kill, or destroy. Since we are at the beginning of the story, we see Nehemiah struggling with only the first step of the solution. The first battle. To come to grips with the agony of a great need. He wept. He went without food. He put aside his work to grieve for the great pain of his people. This is not the expected action of a great leader. But most great actions are spurred by great need. And need must be felt. Deeply. In the heart. It aches. It groans. And it pushes a mild and contented person to great sacrifice. Let the action come later. There is another step in Nehemiah's transition into a great leader. He takes the problem to God. Give him credit for feeling the problem deeply. But a problem that is left to fester on the heart is never solved. It simply robs a person of what joy they have. But Nehemiah will not wallow in grief. He goes to prayer. That is the difference in his mourning. He mourns in prayer. He wails to God. He calls out his pain to the One who heals pain. That is the purpose of Nehemiah's fasting. He does not merely skip meals because he is not in the mood. He sets aside his lunch to pray. He will take the problem to God with the full knowledge of its importance, and he will speak with the conviction of one who aches for Jerusalem and its people. An Honest Understanding of God's Holiness As he prays, Nehemiah begins with the truth. This is the principle that not only explains Jerusalem's condition but also defines the problem of prayer. God is holy. And he does not mess around. When God called a people to serve him, he told them that their job was to worship. They were to keep their lives uncluttered by dishonesty and untruth. They were to keep their temple free of distractions. Their sin would bring violence to their culture and pain to their children, because that's what sin does. It destroys lives. But it would also destroy their relationship to God. That was the promise, not because of the cruelty of God, but because the actions of life of sin makes a mockery of God. He is holy. He cannot be anything else. And so Nehemiah begins his prayer with a dreadful honesty. And a tremendous challenge. He will ask God to redeem a sinful and broken people ... again. An Honest Understanding of God's Promise There is little argument in Nehemiah's prayer. The request rests on one fact: the promise of God. The exile that had crushed Jerusalem stemmed from a promise to punish sin. But in the same breath, God had promised to redeem his people, even if they were scattered all over the world. Now Nehemiah claims that promise. That is his prayer, that God will simply do what he has said. Still, the strongest prayer rests upon the promise of God. And there is ample room for confidence. He promises life, more and more abundant. He promises his Spirit, freely poured out on us. He promises life eternal, and a place for us. He promises to walk with us, to meet with us, to strengthen and teach us. Jesus cautioned us to pray within what we know of his intentions. That is the prayer offered in Jesus' name. It will succeed, because it finds itself working within the grace and holiness of God. Nehemiah will draw on that grace. Redeem your people. We understand why the city fell. We did not hear you or follow you. But now rebuild your city, for your servants and your people. Your servants. Your people. There is no request that does not ask something from us. God is not concerned with city walls. He is concerned for the people who live within them and without. He calls people to know him, to love him, to live in the joy of walking with him. So there is one more thing for Nehemiah to add to his very honest prayer. Help me. If the will of God will transform the city of Jerusalem, it must first have an effect on Nehemiah. He is a trusted civil servant, respected within the palace of the king. Now he will become a buidler, living at the very edge of his life, in a place that is unsafe and uncomfortable. And the first step will be to go before a despot and suggest the unsuggestable. Next chapter. Next week. This is not Jerusalem in the time of the Persians, but it is not a safe world. Our day is filled with social demands that threaten adults and children alike. Families break down. Hearts crumble. God is still seeking builders. We may not need a wall of brick and stone, but there are lives to build. There are hearts to strengthen. There are souls who desperately need to find new life in Jesus' name. Like Nehemiah, the first step is to take the problem to God. Feel it, agonize over it, be honest about it, and pour out that grief to God. And then ... there is work to do. |
Open
my eyes so that I might see great and
wonderful things in your word.
Psalm 119:18
Psalm 119:18
Beresford,
South Dakota
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