Let me show you something about the Book of Nehemiah, really about the man himself.
With 13 chapters, a total of 406 verses … this Portion of Scripture may be the most prayer saturated of all the Word of God! Again, the Book of Nehemiah. Which is largely biographical.
This simply means that Nehemiah is indeed a prayer warrior!
In chapter 1 of Nehemiah, as soon as this godly man hears of Jerusalem’s lowly condition, “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and PRAYED before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4
Then, as we say yesterday: “Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? SO I PRAYED TO THE GOD OF HEAVEN. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.” Nehemiah 2:4-5, prayer right in the middle of a conversation … with a King nonetheless!
And as his building crews (around Jerusalem, the City’s walls) encountered ridicule and opposition: “HEAR, O OUR GOD; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity.” Nehemiah 4:4, a prayer of imprecation!
Then in chapter 5, after giving us his daily menu (where he regularly fed 150 men) Nehemiah asks: “THINK UPON ME, MY GOD, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.” Nehemiah 5:19, yet another prayer.
With such a praying leader, invariably a praying people develop! And Nehemiah chapter 9 is one long PRAYER of worship, including confession, thanksgiving, praise and petition! They began: “Blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.” Nehemiah 9:5-6, a majestic prayer, continuing until chapter’s end, verse 38!
And the grand finale, the last chapter of the Book? Nehemiah prays there 4 times, if I have counted correctly! This first occasion concerned money, the tithes the people owed to God. “REMEMBER ME, O MY GOD, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof.” Nehemiah 13:14, this man prayed about everything!
He even prays as he gives orders! Much as a Preacher might pray as he speaks publically … a very brief and silent sentence prayer, begging for insight or strength, or just offering praise … mid-sentence! “And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. REMEMBER ME, O MY GOD, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.” Nehemiah 13:22
Even when sin entered the camp, Nehemiah prayed! Sandballat was a heathen who fought the rebuilding of Jerusalem, fought it tenaciously. “And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me. REMEMBER THEM, O MY GOD, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.” Nehemiah 13:28-29, turning wrongdoers over to God!
Then last of all, Nehemiah 13:31, the Book’s final statement. “REMEMBER ME, O MY GOD, FOR GOOD.” Short yet powerful!
Prayer as a lifestyle!
Consistent prayer, centering all everything one does!
Nehemiah, practical and persistent!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
And as they used to say … “May his tribe increase!”
We need more Christians to take “everything to God in prayer.”
As did Nehemiah.