Title: Nehemiah's Prayer
Contents
Nehemiah 1:4-11. Nehemiah's Prayer 2007.10.10
1. Do you know exactly what you are praying for and pray?
I asked an old woman who said she would pray hard someday with curious eyes. But the old woman was disappointed that she prayed while looking at the moon and praying at the sun.
How earnestly did the prophets of Baal and Asherah pray? They tore and bruised themselves and prayed. There is such self-harm in these prayer rituals. There is a consciousness that the God you believe in will respond only if you torment yourself. But I cried all day, but there was no answer.
So, when Elijah prayed, within a few minutes there was an answer to God's fire. Elijah was a man who prayed deeply, and above all else, he knew the object of prayer.
Aaron also made a golden calf, and in front of it he decorated it as a god who brought us out of Egypt. How sad is that?
Ignorance is what catches people. No matter how hard you pray without knowing the target, there is no answer. Rather, they are only living the wrath of God. Who hears our prayers?
Verse 4 - He is the God of heaven. The sky is above all that governs the earth. In this way, God is in control of everything. He is the Creator God.
Verse 5 - Great and fearful God, we pray that you are a God who loves you and keeps your covenant and has mercy on those who obey your commandments.
Nehemiah knows to whom he is praying. Although many years have passed since the entire nation was taken away under God's punishment, my faith in God the Father did not fade. There is clear faith. know a clear target.
When he recognizes God, he thinks of the great God (the God of heaven) and the faithful God (the God who keeps the covenant) and prays. let's do this too
2. Do you confess your sins and pray in penance?
Nehemiah confesses his sins. Nehemiah repents not only of his own sins but also of national sins. An important lesson is here. identify themselves with the nation. The nation's pain is its own pain. So I pray. The future of our nation is our future.
So cry out and beg It was their sin that the children of Israel sinned before the Lord. repented of it And he repented of the sins he and his father's house had sinned.
I must not think that the sins of the nation have nothing to do with me. Pray for the country and people with responsibility. Confessing the sins of another person.
Powerful prayer is a prayer offered while repenting of sins. Who is the righteous? The one who repents is righteous. There is no one who does not sin. However, the standard that separates the sinner from the righteous is repentance. He has compassion on repentant sinners and recognizes them as righteous.
How earnestly did David repent? He said he prayed with tears that his bed would be lifted to write a poem. It is a prayer of repentance. Hezekiah received the favor of God.
He received a 15-year extension to his lifespan. He was stricken with a mortal disease, but God had mercy on him. Why? The Bible calls it the prayer of Hezekiah's tears.
2 Kings 20:5 “Go back and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayers, and I have seen your tears.
I will heal you, and on the third day you will go up to the house of the LORD.”
The prayer of tears is the prayer of penance, and this prayer is the prayer of power. Instead of crying in front of people, we should be able to weep in front of God. Like Nehemiah, we should be able to weep while praying instead.
It is because the power comes from sincere prayer.
No one says there is no sun in the sky when there is a blizzard and rain and wind. However, when life crises come and there are difficulties, we can say that we do not know God and blame God.
But when the clouds disappear, the brilliant sun shines. If only the cloud of sin disappears between God and me, we will experience the splendid glory of God. You will experience the existence of God and live your life emotionally.
Are we also pouring out our hearts and praying before God from time to time? God hears the prayers of innocent people.
3. Do you pray based on promises?
Nehemiah prays based on the promises made in the Mosaic Law. Deuteronomy 4:27 says, “The Lord will scatter you among the nations, and there will not be many left of you among the nations from which the Lord will drive you out.” The context before and after the words of Deuteronomy is as follows.
He said that if you serve idols, turn away from God, and commit sins before God, you will be scattered among the nations.
However, in Deuteronomy 30:1-5, the exact opposite is recorded.
Even if they are punished and driven out to a distant country, if he and his descendants return to God and obey God's Word, God will change their hearts and bring them back from captivity.
Deuteronomy 30:4 says, “Though those whom you have driven out are on the edge of heaven, there the LORD your God will gather you and lead you from there.”
Nehemiah remembers and prays these two words, these two words he commanded Moses the servant of the Lord.
We are praying based on the Word. He prays based on God's promise to Moses. At this point, a response is made.
When we pray, let us pray based on God's promises And let us pray as we do what is written in the promise. What is written there?
You are told to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And if you throw away the idols of the world, give up covetousness, serve God only, and pray based on God's promises, you will become a person who receives answers. It can be Elijah, and it can be Moses.
4. Do you pray without losing your dreams?
Nehemiah had a dream. The shattered country, Jerusalem, is desolate, and the city has fallen, but it is a dream that God will gather again. Let's find ourselves in Nehemiah, who dreams and runs, even though the reality is far away.
dear darling,
What is the apocalypse to you? What is your dream?