#74 “Great Intercessor of the Bible”

(Nehemiah – Comforted of the Lord)

 

“They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned

to the province of Judah When I heard this, I sat down and wept.

In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven."

(Nehemiah 1:3a; 4)

New Living Translation (NLT) 

Nehemiah was relatively unknown biblically until he took a serious interest into the affairs of the exiles that had return to Jerusalem. I love Nehemiah’s story because it speaks well to the age old excuses that you have to be called to the ministry in order for God to be able to use you. Nehemiah wasn’t a priest or a Levite, in fact he didn’t even work with the church at all, he was a Jewish cupbearer for the Persian King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:11-2:1)

Although the book of Nehemiah, seems to have been written sometime after that of the book of Ezra the two books’ storylines are closely related. Ezra was responsible for bring the exiles back to God through repentance; however once he had returned to his home the work which he had started began to struggle. Then Nehemiah received a visit from his cousin Hanani who informed him of the state of affairs in Jerusalem, “In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem. They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”(Nehemiah 1: 1-3)

Now this report was one of great distress for Nehemiah, “When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.” Hearing this news caused Nehemiah to turn to the God of Heaven for an answer. It was at this point that he took on the responsibility of being the solution to the problem instead of just complaining about it. Let’s take a closer look at the prayer of intercession Nehemiah prayed:

Then I said, “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, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. 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.

 “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.’  “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 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 making declaration of the faithfulness of God, how, “He keeps His covenant of unfailing love”. God you are faithful to those who love You and keep You laws, Nehemiah knew that God would not have brought the exiles back home if He were not going to provide for them. He also knew that God would honor His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Israel. It doesn’t matter what situation we may encounter as believers or even as intercessors that is one constant we can always depend on…God is faithful to His word and will hasten to perform it.  What promise can you stand upon regarding the matter you’re interceding for? Find a promise and don’t let it go because God has not forgotten what He has promised, “heaven and earth will pass away but my word will stand forever.”  

Whenever you undertake a task always seek the council of the Lord first, this way you have His approval and thus His delegated authority to precede.  Nehemiah goes on the lead the people in rebuilding the broken down walls and restoring the security of the city. Although Nehemiah was not a priest, Levite or a prophet he was a leader who had a great impact upon the people who greatly need a strong dedicated leader.  Nehemiah was single minded and wouldn’t deviate for the course, despite the opposition which he faced from Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabs, who taunted and tried their dead level best to stop the work of rebuilding the city walls. “Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work. But when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard of our plan, they scoffed contemptuously. “What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” they asked.  I replied, “The God of heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall. But you have no share, legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:18-20) 

It doesn’t matter what your assignment is, you may not feel that it is very important, but God has chosen you to be right where you are for a reason.  Don’t give us stay the course even if you feel unqualified just remember that God has all the qualification you need to get the job done. “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father”(Colossians 3:17­). There may be a time when you will hear of the condition or situation of a believer and just like Nehemiah you will be provoke to intercession because of their plight. When this happens seek the face of God just as Nehemiah did putting Him in remembrance of what He has promised His children. Then wait for His guidance as to how to proceed to bring about a change.  

My Prayer: Heavenly Father, provoke us to pray like you did Nehemiah for the exiles in Jerusalem. Give us the boldness to seek you face whenever we are faced with obstacle and mockers who try to discourage us from doing Your will. Give us the wisdom to survey the situation and come up with a plan of action, to accomplish the assignment at hand.  Thank you Father we pray in Jesus’ name Amen!!!

Have A Bless Day…Go in God’s Peace!  

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