Jump Start # 3947
Nehemiah 13:31 “and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God for good.
There are fourteen prayers sprinkled throughout the book of Nehemiah. Three times in this last chapter, Nehemiah repeats, “Remember me, O my God for good.” Likely the sermons that makes us squirm the most are the topics of giving, evangelism and prayer. We don’t mind praying to God, it’s just that most don’t feel that they are very good at it. We don’t pray as much as we should. Our prayers tend to be shallow and short. And, we forget to pray first, when things come up. Praying is just hard for many folks.
Passages that tell us to “Pray without ceasing,” and hymns that haunt us, “Sweet hour of prayer,” remind us of what we all know so well. Praying is something many are not good at. It’s not that praying is hard, it’s just that life gets so busy that we tend to put off praying.
One of the lessons pulled from the prayers of Nehemiah is that our prayers do not have to be long. They do not have to check off everything in every prayer. Our prayers do not need to be filled with words that we rarely use and are not comfortable with.
There are four lessons that we learn from praying. And, that shows us that talking to God often does us much more good than what we actually say to God.
First, praying makes you rely and wait upon the Lord. You are lifting up a situation, a person, a problem to the Lord in prayer. God in His own way and in His own time will deal with those things. God may not move as fast as we want Him to. He is God and He knows what He is doing.
Second, Praying tends to clear your vision. We see the world from our perspective and sometimes that perspective can’t see over the clouds of life and the mountain peaks that are before us. God sees things from Heaven. The prophet Habakkuk wondered why God wasn’t doing anything about the violence in the land. The Lord declared that He was doing something and the prophet wouldn’t believe it if he were told. We stand in those same shadows so often. Why isn’t God doing something we declare. He is. You can’t see what He is doing. He can bring nations to fulfill His will. He can turn the hearts of kings. He can do all kinds of things beyond what we even imagine.
Let God put His eyes on the situation. Let God open doors that you cannot. Let God bring people that you do not even know into the story. “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” is more than a cute hymn. It reminds us that God has all the resources of life available. We don’t. We can’t access most of them. We face closed doors, rivers to wide to cross and people with cold hearts. Not God.
Third, prayer tends to quiet the heart. The Psalmist replied, “Be still and know that I am God.” Like a parent saying, “SHHH” we need to turn things over to God. Cast all your anxiety to the Lord, Peter said. Trials, turmoils, and troubles can sure stir up our hearts. They can kill our appetite and steal our sleep at night. Worried. Scared. Unsure. Satan loves to surround our hearts with those things. The peace of God, the Philippians were told, guards our hearts and minds. I don’t have to know the answer. God does. I don’t have to figure out tomorrow. God’s got it. I don’t have to fix every person. God can do that. Breathe. Relax. Be still. Prayer does that for you.
Fourth, prayer actives your faith. That’s why we pray. We pray because we believe. We pray because we know He hears us. We pray believing. The greater our faith, the more we will pray. The more we pray, the more we believe.
In our verse today, Nehemiah asks God to remember him for good. Many would want God to forget. Please forget all the wrongs that I have done. Remember me for good. Remember me for what I have done. Remember me for how I have walked. Remember me.
As I write this, I look out my office window and I see the tops of trees that are orange, red and yellow. Beautiful fall colors that only the Lord could put together. It makes me thankful for color.
Sweet hour of prayer…
Roger