Nehemiah 2:1-5
And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2 Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.”So I became dreadfully afraid, 3 and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lieswaste, and its gates are burned with fire?”4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”
So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
The power of silent prayer...
Do you know you can pray to God anytime, anywhere?
You don't have to be in a church building or with other Christians, you don't even need to pray out loud.
God knows what we are thinking and we can pray to him silently, in our thoughts.
The verses above give us a great example of just that.
Nehemiah was a Jew, living in captivity in land that was not his home.
He had a very important Job. He was "cup bearer" to the King (Artaxerses). In those times Kings lived in daily fear of being poisoned, so they had someone to make sure their food was safe.
Nehemiah was very sad about the state of his homeland and the city of Jerusalem, so sad that he couldn't hide it anymore.
We read in v.2 that the King saw his sadness. This was serious; sadness was not allowed in the King's presence!(Esther 4:2) Nehemiah told the King he was sad when thinking about the state of Jerusalem- the city was in ruins and the gates were on fire.
We read in v.2 that the King saw his sadness. This was serious; sadness was not allowed in the King's presence!(Esther 4:2) Nehemiah told the King he was sad when thinking about the state of Jerusalem- the city was in ruins and the gates were on fire.
The King asked Nehemiah for his request.
Nehemiah had barely seconds to answer. It was a question he clearly had not been expecting.
What was he to do? He could ask for something but that might offend the king; it was very possibly life and death stakes.
So what did Nehemiah do? He prayed to God.
Quickly.
Silently.
When faced with a situation and unsure what to do- He prayed to God.
Do you know if you're a Christian you can do this too.
If you find yourself in a situation when you are asked something you weren't expecting,
when you are asked to do something by your friends, or when you are in a situation when you don't know what to say...
You can cry out- silently- in prayer to God. We can simply pray "Lord, help me" "Show me what you would have me to do."
God will answer our prayers.
God answered Nehemiah's prayer. The King gave Nehiemah what he asked for and later made him governor of Judah! (Neh 5:12)
God is not a genie...
Maybe you've heard this before and maybe you pray to God like this all the time.
Maybe you only pray to God like this. The only time you pray is to request help. You pray to God when you're in a difficult situation, when you're not sure what to do.
We can all be in danger of using God like a genie in a lamp.
Someone we go to to grant our wishes and help us out- but nothing more.
But prayer is much more than this. God wants a relationship with us. Relationships are based on communication and the way we communicate with God is primarily through prayer.
Take a moment to thank God that we can go to Him in times of trouble for help and guidance.
But let's not leave it there.
Pray to God each morning and evening. Praise him for what he has done in your life. Thank him for all blessings you enjoy and ask him to help you live for him each day.
Much love,
Dave
