What do you think of when you think of Nehemiah’s story? You probably picture a man of initiative and bold action. Prayer is probably one of the words that comes to mind.
When we are introduced to Nehemiah in chapter 1, we quickly become acquainted with Nehemiah’s problem. His brother comes from Jerusalem and tells him about the people and dilapidated gates of Jerusalem. When Nehemiah, living in the Persian palace as the king’s cupbearer, hears about the affliction of Jerusalem, he immediately reacts with sorrow. Have you ever had someone tell you that you need to sit down before they tell you some news? Well, apparently, Nehemiah’s brother forgot to tell him to sit down first because the news pushed Nehemiah to his seat. Then Nehemiah spends a long time crying, fasting, and praying. Nehemiah ends his prayer with this, “O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of the this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.” (Nehemiah 1:11) Wow! Nehemiah asks for quite a lot here. He asks for God’s attention, for God to prosper him in what he was about to do, and he asks for favor with the king. Oh, and he calls the king of the known world at that time “this man,” as if he were any other random person. It seems like a bold ask, doesn’t it? How could Nehemiah be so bold in his prayer? Nehemiah was bold in prayer for three reasons that are apparent in chapters 1-2: He caught God’s vision, he surrendered to God’s sovereignty, and he claimed God personally.
First, Nehemiah could pray so boldly because he caught God’s vision. Why was Nehemiah so heartbroken over the state of the people and the wall in Jerusalem? While he was related to them ethnically and culturally, he did not necessarily have a personal relationship with them. Nehemiah’s heart broke for them not because he was in close proximity to these people, but because he was in close proximity to their God. Although Nehemiah was safe and secure in the palace, he had empathy for God’s people far away. We know that this burden, this vision was from God because Nehemiah identifies it as “what my God had put in my heart to do.” (Nehemiah 2:12) We need people like Nehemiah who are so close to God that they feel His heartbeat and catch His vision. Nehemiah took on God’s burden for Jerusalem and asked what his part was in bringing this vision of rebuilding the wall to fruition. This gave Nehemiah boldness in prayer because it wasn’t just Nehemiah’s burden or vision—it was God’s.
We can have this same confidence because I John 5:14-15 says, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we desired of him.” If we have caught God’s vision and we are praying about that vision, we can know that we are in God’s will. And if we are in God’s will, we can know that God will perform it in His own way and in His own timing. This is not to say that we cannot pray for things which we do not know to be God’s will. Rather, this is to say that we can be confident when we are praying for things that we know are God’s will. For example, we know that it is God’s will for all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:4). When we pray for the salvation of our leaders, or of anyone, we can know that God will hear and act on that prayer. We also know that it is God’s will that we be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), that we love one another (John 13:34), that we share the gospel (Mark 16:15), and that we do good at every opportunity (Galatians 6:10). When we pray about these things, we can be bold because we are praying within God’s will and He is just waiting for us to invite Him to perform these things in our lives.
A second reason for Nehemiah’s boldness in prayer is that he surrendered to God’s sovereignty. Remember how he called the king “this man”? Well, that wasn’t Nehemiah being flippant and disrespectful of the king’s position or power. That was Nehemiah recognizing that in the sight of God, the king was simply a man like Nehemiah himself. Nehemiah realized that no matter who appeared to be on the throne of the world at the time, God was, is, and always will be the true Sovereign of the universe. Perhaps he was familiar with Moses’ song in Exodus 15:18, “The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.” In his prayer to God, Nehemiah called himself “thy servant” and the people in Jerusalem “thy servants.” Even though the king of Persia supposedly owned Nehemiah, humanly speaking, Nehemiah recognized that God owned the king himself. Nehemiah didn’t wait for a promotion in the palace or connive to take more power for himself before he acted on the vision from God. Neither did Nehemiah wait to make sure all the conditions were in his favor before he made his request to the king. He acted immediately and boldly. Why? Because Nehemiah knew that he, his people, and his king all belonged to God. The real Sovereign, the “God of heaven,” as Nehemiah calls him frequently, was the only One who could give him the favor, power, and opportunities he would need to get the job done.
Perhaps you feel like you cannot accomplish anything for God in your place of ministry because you do not have the favor of a certain group of influential people. Maybe you are disheartened with the lack of power you have in a country that seems to be straying ever further from the biblical principles that have made her free in the first place. Do you feel like you cannot have any real influence on your coworkers or boss because you feel you are in the minority? Then, like Nehemiah did, you need to remind yourself who the real Sovereign is and surrender to His control. Don’t wait to act on what you know to be right in your ministry, your country, or your workplace simply because you think you need more favor, more power, or more prominence. God’s people have never needed human favor, power, or prominence to get the job done. They have only ever needed God. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” Earthly kings, like Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Artaxerxes of Persia, have thought they were in control before only to find that it was the God of heaven that rules the world. The sooner God’s own people recognize this, the better! When we surrender to God’s sovereignty, we unleash His power on our behalf. And the power of “this man,” whoever he may be for you, pales in comparison to the real Sovereign’s power.
Not only did Nehemiah surrender to God’s sovereignty, but he was also aware of God’s personality. Nehemiah claimed God personally and this gave him boldness in prayer. Nehemiah wasn’t just praying to some distant God of his fathers or of the people miles away in Jerusalem. Nehemiah was praying to a Person that he knew, loved, and trusted intimately. While Nehemiah calls Him the “God of heaven” four times, noting His sovereignty, Nehemiah also calls Him “my God” three times, noting His personality. In his prayer, Nehemiah makes his request personal to himself and to God. Nehemiah invokes God’s special covenant that He had made with Nehemiah’s ancestors. Nehemiah prays, “Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: but if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.” Of course, God did not need to remember his covenant, but Nehemiah wanted God to know that he was mindful of it and that he was trusting in God’s Word. Nehemiah continues in verse 10, “Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.” Nehemiah referenced God’s past interventions in their lives. He knew God, not just as the God of heaven, but as the Redeemer of Israel. He had seen God in a personal way, and he leaned on that relationship to get him through this trial. His past experience with God boosted his boldness in prayer to God about the current situation.
We may not be the children of Israel, but you and I have a personal relationship with the same God of heaven. How wonderful that I too can call the “God of heaven” my God! Like Israel, we have promises from our Heavenly Father upon which we can base our faith and our prayer. For instance, He has promised us His love in every condition (Romans 8:37-38), His peace in every place (John 14:27), His presence in every circumstance (Hebrews 5:13), His strength in every station (Philippians 4:13), His provision for every need (Philippians 4:19), His power for the great commission (Acts 1:8), His wisdom for every issue (James 1:5), and He has promised to work all of it together for His grand purpose for us—to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). Surely, we have seen these promises at work in our own lives. We can claim God as our Redeemer, as our Father, as our Friend. Do not forget God’s covenant with you as His child! Do not forget the ways that God has shown up in your life. Remember God, claim God as you own, and then let that fuel your confidence in prayer. Lean on your personal relationship with God and see how it emboldens your prayer life!
When we think of Nehemiah, we think of boldness and prayer. Nehemiah was bold in action because he was bold in prayer first. And this was thanks to his catching God’s vision, his surrender to God’s sovereignty, and his claiming God personally. We can do that, too.