Timely Prayer (Nehemiah 2:4)
Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
– Nehemiah 2:4
I love this verse in the book of Nehemiah. So, just to give the context, so you see how good this verse is. In Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah learns about the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and crumbled around the temple and the need for rebuilding of them, for the glory of God, for the good of the people there. And so God puts on Nehemiah’s heart as he fasts and prays for months. God says, “I’m calling you to go lead out in the rebuilding of that”. And Nehemiah was cup bearer to the king. So in chapter two, he goes to the king, knowing– I don’t have time to dive into all the details here– but it’s risking his life for what he’s about to do.
He’s about to ask the king for permission to leave and not just to leave, to go with help to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. And so he’s sad in the King’s presence, which is what’s signaling there’s something wrong.
Nehemiah 2:4 pictures a heart that leans on God in every decision.
And this is where Nehemiah, when we get to verse four, is about to really step out and take the risk. He could lose his life for what he’s about to ask. King says to him, “What are you requesting?”
And I love verse four because it says, “So I pray to the God of heaven”. Then verse five says, “I said to the king”. And then he makes this request. But in this moment, as Nehemiah takes the step of faith, he does so with his eyes fixed on God. You can almost picture him just physically looking up to heaven, praying, “God, please help me for what’s about to happen”.
Then he starts to speak. And when I read this verse, I think, let’s live our lives this way, just all day long as we walk with God. And obviously, we don’t find ourselves at every moment in a life-or-death situation where we’re risking everything. But don’t you want to live all day long in every decision you make and everything you say and do, every interaction you have, just constantly looking up whether you physically do so, at least spiritually to God in heaven, and saying, “God, I need your help in this”.
“God, please direct me on this. Lord, thank you for that. God, I praise you for that. God, I need your comfort right now. I need your protection against discouragement and fear right now”. Just all day long walking in, communion with God, doing what 1 Thessalonians 5 says, praying continually. And so I just want to pray that over us, based on Nehemiah 2:4, that we would have this kind of communion with God all day long.
Nehemiah 2:4 shows how faith expresses itself through constant prayer.
God, we pray for this. We want to walk with you all day today. If you’re listening to this at night, we want to go to bed just in communion with you and wake up tomorrow morning in communion with you and to walk with you, praying to you. We praise you in light of, I think about Psalm 40:6. I was reading recently, how you have opened your ear to us, how your ear is open to us all day long, that we have an ear with you.
The king of Heaven opened his ear to each of us through Jesus. Jesus, you’ve died to make this possible. You’ve risen from the dead and are seated on high. You are interceding for us right now. So God, we pray that you would help us to walk in a spirit of petition and intercession all day long, asking for your help and our lives, asking for your help in others’ lives.
God, please teach us to pray continually like this, to live lives of faith like we see exemplified here in Nehemiah, trusting in you, looking to you all day long. And God, as we pray for this in our own lives, we do pray for every single person who is risking their life today following you. Which we know we have brothers and sisters in Christ in so many places who are risking a lot today to follow you. We pray that you would strengthen them, that you would help them just as you did Nehemiah, that you would give them favor, that you would give them the words to say that you would help them to do all that you’re calling them to do.
Prayer for Missionaries among the Unreached
God, we pray that over our brothers and sisters spreading the gospel among unreached people right now, even as we pray for this in our own lives. Lord help us not to hold back from taking risks and following you in every way you call us to, with our eyes fixed on you, praying to you, asking for your help, for your wisdom, for your comfort, for your strength, for your grace, for everything you promised to give us at every single moment. God, please teach us to pray continually today in light of Nehemiah 2:4. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
