See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. Revelation 3:8b
God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
God invites us to participate in that plan. God works with us!
Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” Nehemiah 1:1-3
Jews are in a bad way. Note Nehemiah’s reaction:
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4
Nehemiah Step One
Recognize the heart of God – Nehemiah is concerned for someone other than himself.
This is the boots on the ground of the gospel.
“How does the Law read to you?” Love your neighbor as oneself.
Do our pets go to heaven? (I will call for this. Don’t put this in the notes on the app)
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. I Corinthians 13:1-2
People who took God’s heart to action.
William Booth
M.A. Thomas
You – What bothers you? What excites you?
Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king, not a priest or Levite. Not a king or General. You can do whatever God calls you to do. You don’t know what incredible gift and abilities God has put within you.
Nehemiah Step Two
Sought God about it, in prayer
He doesn’t know what to do. But he knows Who does.
I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, Nehemiah 1:5.
He starts by praising God’s greatness. Similar to the Lord’s prayer. “Hallowed be thy name.”
Let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. Nehemiah 1:6-7
This shows us something about the character of Nehemiah. He was humble and willing to identify with the lonely. Identifying with your people’s or nation’s sins and asking God’s forgiveness.
His prayer continues.
Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”
Now I was the cupbearer to the king. Nehemiah 1:8-11
Nehemiah Step Three
He was prepared when the opportunity came.
Nehemiah 2: 1-8
And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the [a]temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me. Nehemiah 2: 1-8
He prayed
He was bold
He had a plan
He asked largely
He trusted in the favor of God.
What does this mean for you today?
Let’s read Jeremiah 29:11 again
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Will you be ready when God brings the answer?