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What Nehemiah Teaches Us About Prayer

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Life's Healing Choices

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You can learn a lot about leaders by listening to how they pray. In Nehemiah 1, we get to listen in on a prayer from Nehemiah, one of the Bible’s best leaders.

When Nehemiah first heard about the fall of Jerusalem, he prayed for four months. He didn’t pray casually; he gave us a pattern for praying successfully. If you want to know how to pray, study the book of Nehemiah—particularly this model prayer.

Here is what we can learn about how to pray from Nehemiah’s prayer.

1. Base your request on God’s character. “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands . . .” (Nehemiah 1:5 NLT).

Start off praying like you know God will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!”

Notice that Nehemiah says three specific things about God:

You’re great (recognizing God’s position).
You’re awesome (recognizing his power).
You keep your promises (recognizing God’s covenant).

Nehemiah begins with the right perspective about the character of God.

2. Confess the sin in your life. “I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses” (Nehemiah 1:6–7 NLT).

Nehemiah confesses his own personal sin, his family sin, and the nation’s sin. We tend to be very individualistic today. We’re taught to confess our own sins—not corporate sins. When was the last time you confessed the sins of your family, your church, or your nation?

Our society has taught us we’re only responsible for ourselves, but that’s just not true! You are your brother’s keeper. We are all in this together. If you want to be a leader, you accept the blame and share the credit.

3. Claim the promises of God. “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored’” (Nehemiah 1:8–9 NLT).

Can you imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah is reminding God of what he said in the past. Does God have to be reminded of his promises? Of course not. But we do. Nothing pleases God more than when you remind God of one of his promises. When you remind God of his promises, you show him that you know what he has promised!

4. Make specific requests. “O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me” (Nehemiah 1:11 NLT).

For God to answer specific prayers, you need to make specific requests. Otherwise, you’ll never know if God answers them.

Nehemiah prays boldly for success. You may be hesitant to do that, but there is nothing wrong with praying for success if your aim is ultimately the glory of God.

If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what you’re doing, do something else. God doesn’t want you to waste your life. Make specific requests with the aim of God’s glory and watch to see how God will answer them.

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Anchor Your Hope in God’s Faithfulness

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Prayer: Your Ministry Decompression Chamber

Pastor, in a world of constant pressure and stress, prayer is like a spiritual decompression chamber.Jesus knew that.When you read the Gospels, you see him again and again stepping away from crowds, demands, and expectations to spend time alone with his Father. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35 NIV).This wasn’t occasional. It was habitual. “Many people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses, but Jesus often slipped away to be alone so he could pray” (Luke 5:15–16 NCV).If Jesus needed that space with the Father, how much more do you?You might be thinking, “I’m too busy to spend extended time in prayer.” But the truth is this: You’ll have nothing left to give your people if you don’t first let God refill you. Ministry drains. Prayer restores.Scripture reminds us, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NCV). It’s in unhurried, quiet moments with God that he recharges, renews, and restores your soul. And as your ministry load becomes heavier, this time with God becomes more essential—not less.So how do you make space to listen to God?Start by being still for an extended moment. Find a quiet place outside, in your office, or in a corner of your home. Sit before the Lord and simply ask, “God, is there anything you want to say to me?” Then resist the urge to rush. Be still. Listen.God may bring a thought to mind. He may lead you to a passage of Scripture and speak through his Word. If worries keep intruding, let Scripture redirect your attention and allow God’s truth to quiet what your mind keeps replaying.Pastor, God wants to speak to you, not just through you. He’s not asking for another performance or prayer report. He’s inviting you to come away with him, to be filled again before you pour yourself out.Make space.Be still long enough to listen.Let him restore you.

Thanking God Even When Life Is Hard

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Thank God before the Breakthrough

“The king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: ‘Give thanks to the LORD; his faithful love endures forever!’” (2 Chronicles 20:21 NLT)Pastor, few things strengthen your soul like thanking God before you see the breakthrough.When King Jehoshaphat faced three enemy armies, he didn’t rally the troops with a new strategy or a clever battle plan. Instead, he placed the choir in front of the soldiers—literally leading with worship. They sang, “Give thanks to the LORD; his faithful love endures forever!” (2 Chronicles 20:21 NLT).Imagine the optics: musicians on the front line and warriors behind them.But Jehoshaphat wasn’t being reckless. He was being faithful. He was reminding the people that the battle belonged to the Lord. Their formation was a declaration of trust. Their praise was tangible, public, verbalized faith.And, pastor, that’s the kind of faith God invites you to live out too.It doesn’t take much faith to thank God after the answer comes. But when attendance dips, when criticism cuts, when the budget is strained, or when prayers seem unanswered—that’s when thanking God in advance becomes an act of courage.Here’s the miracle: “At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves” (2 Chronicles 20:22 NLT).The breakthrough began “at the very moment” they worshiped.Pastor, you carry pressures that most people will never see. Some battles feel unwinnable. Some problems feel unmovable. But thanking God in advance helps your heart shift from fear to faith, from striving to surrender.So today, take a moment to thank God for what you haven’t seen yet.Thank him for the wisdom you’ll need this week.Thank him for the person he’s transforming behind the scenes.Thank him for the breakthroughs in your church that haven’t yet arrived.God is already working in ways you can’t see. And just like Jehoshaphat, you can lead from a place of praise—confident that the battle still belongs to the Lord.

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