Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of Heaven, and I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”
– Nehemiah 2:4–5
Ah, I love this moment in Nehemiah’s life.
Nehemiah 2:4–5 shows us how concentrated time in prayer leads to continual time in prayer.
So, now, he’s standing before the king. He’s about to ask for favor, for support, in going to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. And this is the moment of risk. This is the step of faith that Nehemiah for months has been preparing to take. Because if this goes awry, then he could die. The king could say, “You do not ask me for that. I do not give that to you. And you are no longer my cupbearer and you are out of my service,” and maybe even take his life. This is an extremely important, significant, risky step that Nehemiah is taking.
And right before he takes it, Nehemiah 2:4 says, “So I prayed to the God of Heaven. And then I said to the king…” I just picture Nehemiah just lifting up his eyes right before he takes this major step of faith. He’s like, “God, please help me.” And then he does it. And you read on in the rest of Nehemiah 2, and God provides. And Nehemiah gets all the support he needs to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls there.
I want to tie this with what we prayed according to in Nehemiah 1. So Nehemiah had spent months of fasting and praying leading up to this day and, now, in the moment he’s praying, looking up to God. I just want you to see the relationship between spending concentrated time in prayer in ways that lead to continual time in prayer, like months, days, and hours in prayer. And ways that lead to moments and seconds of prayer.
Nehemiah 2:4–5 encourages us to spend continual time in prayer.
So we talked in the podcast yesterday about spending concentrated time in prayer at the beginning of your day, just praying through your day and what lies ahead. In a way, now, tie it with Nehemiah 2 that leads to continual time in prayer all day long. So you spend concentrated time in prayer in the morning, just going through your day. And then, as you go through your day, as you go from one thing to the next, just in a second, in an instant, looking up to God. “God, I pray for your help in this. God, I pray for your help in that.”
It could be big steps like Nehemiah is taking or it could be small steps. As you go from one class to the next in school, “God, I pray that you help me to make the most of this class.” Just a simple prayer like that. As you go from one meeting to the next at work, “God, I pray that you’d help me to glorify you in this meeting.” As you go to meet this person for coffee, “God, I pray that you’d help me to glorify you in this meeting with this person, time with this person, help me to encourage them in your Spirit. Help me to share the gospel with them if they’re not a follower of yours.” Just short, simple prayers as you go throughout your day.
This verse shows us the beauty of ongoing communion.
And I just want to encourage you to cultivate this kind of pattern of concentrated time in prayer at the beginning of your day that leads to continual time in prayer all throughout your day as we experience the wonder, the beauty of communion with God all day long. In every moment of our lives, including big moments, where we take big steps of faith, and little moments, where we’re just going through our days. God help us to pray like Nehemiah prayed here, in Nehemiah 1, to have times on a daily basis. And even bigger picture, over days and months of fasting, and praying, and seeking you in ways that lead to continual time in prayer, and ways that lead us to look to you all throughout the day. God, we pray for continual communion with you in our lives.
I pray that over every single person listening right now… God, that they would experience the joy of walking with you and continual relationship with you. Just looking up to you in heaven, all throughout the day, for your leadership, for your guidance, asking for help for everything we need. And, God, we praise you for the privilege of this kind of communion with you, the God of the universe… And for your promise to hear our prayers all throughout the day and to answer them.
Yes, God, help us to live in this. And the process, lead us by your Spirit, we pray… In each of our days, in each of our moments, to make the most of them… Building up others according to their needs in Christ. And glorifying you with the grace you’ve given to us in work and school… And in sharing the good news of your grace with others.
Prayer for the Chenoua People
God, we pray ultimately for the spread of this good news to the ends of the earth. Lord, we pray specifically today for the Chenoua people of Algeria. This Muslim Chenoua-speaking people group, God, with no known followers of Jesus. God, we pray that your Spirit would lead some of your people from somewhere to get the gospel to the Chenoua people… That they might experience relationship with you through Jesus… That we are able to experience on a moment-by-moment basis. God, we pray all this according to your Word in Nehemiah 2:4–5. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
