Title: Mature Prayer (Nehemiah 09:31-37)
Content Today, we would like to take a final look at Nehemiah 9. Nehemiah 9 explained that it is one of the three representative prayers of the Old Testament. Our Lord also told us to 'watch and pray', so why did he tell us to do it? It is because anyone and always can think of God only when praying. The time when we think about God the most is when we pray.
The prayer of Nehemiah 9 is a high-level prayer.
It is not simply a request for prayer. We don't know why there are so many things that we just ask for, God, please, God, if we just pray. That's not to say it's bad. However, if you compare it with the prayers in Chapter 9, you can feel the level difference.
Looking at the characteristics of prayer in Chapter 9, in a word, the focus is not on the person praying, but on the person receiving the prayer.
1) This is a prayer for forgiveness.
In verse 3, we confess our sins in the light of the Word of God.
Since God hates sin, we must repent of our sins thoroughly first.
2) It is a prayer to praise the name of God.
In verses 5-6, we bless the 'glorious name of God from eternity to eternity'.
① Praise the name of God, which is superior to all praises and praises, (5)
② Praise God the Creator who created all things.(6)
③ I see you praising the God of preservation, who preserves everything that has been built with the word of his power.
3) In fact, we would like to express our gratitude to you for the grace, mercy, and compassion you have given us in the past history.
In verse 17, the second half says, 'But you are a forgiving God, gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and rich in mercy, you have not forsaken them.' This thanksgiving,
It is to thank God for the actual event of grace that God bestowed upon the Israelites when they rebelled against God in Kadesh-Barnea.
In verse 18, about the golden calf incident at the foot of Mt. Sinai, in verse 19, 'I give thanks that the Lord is tender and merciful.'
After that, in the land of Canaan, while enjoying the great blessings that God has given, he will talk about the sins of the ancestors of his own people who rebelled against God and the events of God's grace.
Verses 31-32, 'Because your mercy is great, you have not destroyed them, nor forsook them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. Our God, the vast, mighty, awe-inspiring God who keeps covenants and lovingkindness,' we can see them giving thanks and praising God's disposition.
4), make a decision to obey the Word.
Verse 38 says, “For all these things we have now made a firm covenant and written it down, and all our princes, the Levites, and the priests are sealing them.”
So, actually, the covenant is written, and the princes, the Levites, and the priests, that is, the representatives of the people, seal under the written record. It is painting.
The names of those who sealed the seal are recorded in 10:1 27.
What attitude of prayer should we learn from this prayer in Nehemiah 9?
1, Learn to pray.
To give praise, to give thanks, to make promises and decisions to live according to the Word, learn to give rather than receive.
What is the difference between an adult and a child? What is the difference between mature and immature?
The characteristic of children is that they are never interested in giving and are only interested in receiving. But as the child grows up, he knows how to do it. You will learn how to give to your younger brother and also to your parents. That is proof that the person is maturing.
The desire to only give to God rather than receive is a characteristic that can only be found in mature saints.
The prayer of Hannah, who suffers without a child we know well, is such a prayer.
1 Samuel 1:10-11 says, "O LORD of hosts, if you will look on your maidservant's affliction and remember me and not forget your maidservant and give him a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and put a razor on his head. I will not do it.' If you give me a son, I will give it to the Lord. I prayed with a heart to give.
This prayer made God's heart very happy. So you get a response right away.
Why doesn't God often answer our prayers? A young man who is not sure of answers to prayers and I had a faith consultation by phone recently. They say they have never received an answer to their prayers. Why? Why can't I get answers to my prayers? George Mueller got 50,000 replies, but why is he never getting a reply?
James 4:2,3 gives the answer for the reason.
“You lust, and you do not get it, you murder, you envy, but you cannot obtain; you fight and fight.
No matter how much I pray, why do I not receive it? They say 'because you're asking the wrong way'.
The Greek word for 'wrong-seeking' means 'to ask badly, to ask unfairly, to ask badly'. That is why he said, 'You ask, and you do not receive, because you ask wrongly to spend it on your lust.' Translating this closer to the original text, it means, 'You ask, but you do not receive, because you ask erroneously to spend it for your own enjoyment.' Meaning. The Lord does not answer prayers that are 'asked for your own enjoyment', that is, for selfish purposes.
What kind of attitude of mind we should have when we pray is really important.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” John 14:13 says, “Whatever ye shall ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
The greatest purpose of our prayers is to glorify God through answers to prayers.
The Lord makes it clear that the purpose of answering prayers is to make the Father glorified. At that time, Jesus says, 'Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it'.
A high school 3rd year student prayed while preparing for the college entrance exam, 'God, if you think that I will become arrogant and become a human being who cannot glorify God, never let me in. Not only that, please take responsibility for the four-year tuition.”
What attitude of prayer should we learn from the prayers of Nehemiah 9?
2) Rather than having problems on earth, let's look to God who is greater in heaven.
In the prayer of Nehemiah 9, the prayer's point of view always looks to the great God.
In verse 5, “God is from everlasting to everlasting.”
Verse 6 says, “The God who made and preserves all things.”
In verse 10, 'the God who works signs and wonders',
In verse 12, “God leads us with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night”
Verse 15 says, “The God who gives food from heaven and brings forth water from the rock.”
In verse 24, 'God gave the promised land of Canaan'.
Verse 32 says, “The great and mighty God.”
Verse 31 says, “God is gracious and merciful.”
Verse 17 says, “The God who is slow to anger and abundant in mercy does not forsake Him.”
In such a prayer, you can see that the whole heart of the prayer is directed toward the great God in heaven. We should be like this too.
When we pray, we tend to look too impatiently at problems on the earth rather than looking at the great God in heaven. So, there are times when I do not know what to do and cry, be embarrassed, and feel restless.
In this case, you need to raise your eyes and look up at the sky. We must look to the Almighty God who created all things and rules the universe. We must look to the God of India who gave us food in the wilderness, watered us from the rock, and led us by the pillar of Gurum and the pillar of fire. And then I have to look down on their difficult problems. Then the problems that seemed so big appear small. My heart is filled with the greatness of God. Anxiety and worry are lessened as much as we recognize the greatness of God, and praise is rising from the depths of our hearts.
The Apostle Paul always did. He always looked to God first before looking at the hardships and hardships he was experiencing on earth. Therefore, in the midst of tribulation and adversity, praise &50155;and soared, and joy filled his heart, and he was able to live with excitement.
Don't we need a similar attitude?
3, God is the God who keeps the covenant.
Verse 32 says, “O our God, great and mighty, awe-inspiring God, keeping covenant and lovingkindness.” “The tribulation that we, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day, have suffered,” verse 34 says, “Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our ancestors He confessed that he received it because he did not keep the law and did not obey the commands of the Lord and the words of the Lord.
God is truthful and keeps his promises, but it is the tribulation he received because he did not keep his promises on the human side. As a result, in verses 36-37, we read, “Today we are slaves, in the land you gave our ancestors to eat of their fruit and enjoy their good produce. We are in great trouble because we have obtained abundant produce from this land, and they have arbitrariness over our bodies and livestock." The field, the Levites, and the priests all seal.”
He realized that it was because he disobeyed the word of the covenant that God had given him to lose all the blessings that God had given him. So I made the decision to obey the Word and sealed it.
God is a God who keeps covenants. He really hates to destroy that promise.
If we are going to receive anything we ask for, we must have an attitude and determination to keep His word.
In 1 John 3:22, another factor that no matter how much we pray is not answered. “Whatsoever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing in his sight.”
That you can receive whatever you ask for. Only condition? It is time for Urah to keep his commandments and do what pleases him before him. If you break this condition, you can't get anything you ask for.
Therefore, you and I should check whether we are in the right relationship with God's promises while praying. And in that part, our concrete determination is required.
Organize your words.
In our prayers, how much more we want to give than our selfish attitude to only receive?
How much do you look and depend on the great God, the God of creation, the God who rules all things, and the God who knows me better than I do in the face of adversity like a continuous wave of waves? I want you to take a look at yourself. Even in the midst of a great storm and big waves, just as Peter could walk on the sea as long as he was looking at Jesus, as long as he looks to the great Lord, no difficult problem on this earth can swallow us up. As long as Stephen is looking at the Lord in a flying stone, as his face shines like an angel, as long as he looks at our great God, he can sing praises in adversity and not lose gratitude and joy in suffering. To avoid misunderstanding, you can put it in your prayers and offer it to God.
The God of promise, the God who wants to give whatever he wants to those who keep his word, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will be able to receive everything you ask for and enjoy it by thoroughly obeying the word of promise first. Let's pray.