What commentaries or sermons are you using as you go through this study? What else are you studying in the between times of these posts? What do you remember from camp? What have you forgotten since then?
Feel free to comment on older posts as new ones are added. We will never exhaust all that can be said for scripture. But it's best to stay on top of things and comment when things are still being discussed.
In the second half of the chapter Nehemiah is praying. There are several prayers in the Old Testament that captivate me every time I read them (Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings 8, Daniel's in Daniel 9, David in Psalm 51). While this one isn't particularly as striking as those might be at first glance, the structure and the context of it are definitely worth studying.
"I often say my prayers but how often to I really pray my prayers?"
How important is prayer in leadership? If God is all powerful and sovereign why do we pray to ask God for things?
Nehemiah prays longer than it takes him to rebuild the wall. He starts praying in Chislev (the month that lines up with late November for us) and he doesn't leave until Nisan (April). That's more than five months of prayer. We find out later that it only takes fifty-two days to rebuild the wall. Was he wasting his time praying so much when there was work that needed to be done?
How often do we ignore the importance of being in God's word and His will by rushing into decisions without humbling ourselves before the Author and Perfecter first? Find some verses in the Bible that illustrate how important prayer is and share them in the comment box.
What is the purpose of prayer? Is there more than one?
Alright, last point. Has anyone ever heard of the acronym ACTS? It's for prayer. It's a memory guide to help people remember how to pray. It stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Supplication is to ask for something humbly. Look at Nehemiah's prayer from verse 5 through verse 11. We find adoration in verse five, confession in verses 6-7, thanksgiving (thanking God for His promises) in verses 8 and 9, and finally his supplication in verse 11.
I challenge you to pray in earnest for seven days straight. It will require a sacrifice of fifteen minutes (give or take) of each day. Pray on your knees. Pray in adoration and confession and thanksgiving and supplication. We all have things on our hearts. How often do we leave them there and let them drag us down? Pray. For real. This is your challenge. If you forget for a day don't be tempted to forsake the challenge. Be faithful even when it's tough. That's what being faithful is. It will be tough. "Give unto the LORD the glory due His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness..." Psalms 29:2
"Our heavenly Father: Let us see Thy glory, if it must be from the shelter of the rock and from the protection of Thy covering hand. Whatever the cost to us of friends or goods or length of days let us know Thee as Thou are that we may adore Thee as we should." -A. W. Tozer
http://www.essortment.com/all/prayerbiblejes_rzyg.htm
ReplyDeleteJeremiah 33:3
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
James 5:15-17
"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years."
There is power in prayer.
Nehemiah mentions what God said to Moses. and in the other prayers mentioned, Solomon includes a promise from God and Daniel refers to "as it is written in the Law of Moses." I like that these men incorporate God’s word into their prayers.
I also think persistence is important. I think God honors the prayers of His people. I don’t think we should forget who we are talking to when we pray. He is a holy and sovereign God. We shouldn’t be careless or disrespectful when we pray.
Okay so this will prolly come out scattered, so i apologize ...
ReplyDeleteBut other than this study I am also finishing up a study on James that we have done here with the young adult bible study we have, upper room. And i feel like in James it just talks about alot how if we have true faith in God then I faith should drive us into action, just like Nehemiah's faith... He was driven in prayer, and prayer is so powerful that is taking action...
Prayer has so many aspects to it. there isn't really one thing to pin point what prayer does or what prayers purpose is. It prolly differs from person to person with what prayers purpose is. For me, personally prayer is a time where I can reload and unload...
I remember at camp when you spoke about giving God our leftovers basicly. You said you don't just give your best friend 15 secs at the end of the day and say hey thanks okay later... and that really just like hit me. I was just thinking about How often I shove God off into this time limit but outside of that I don't have time for Him... I was really convicted of that. & since then I've really been working on my prayer time ...
Amanda Gilbert--- I have been reading just haven't had the time to blog until now. I haven't set up a blog yet, but plan to do so when I get back home so I'm using this one for now. On the subject of how important prayer is one thing keeps popping up in my head, the first thing I thought of was how Jesus prayed and how he taught us how to pray. In the New Testament it is shown to us several times that Jesus steps away to pray and is constantly in prayer with the Father. Examples-- Luke 11:1-4, Matt. 26:36-44, Matt. 7:7-11. These are just a few examples of how Jesus prays and tells us to pray. I was encouraged seeing Nehemiah pray so ernestly and just having the patience to wait for so long. Many times I pray then rush to do what I want anyways and don't give God the time to work. I like what Joel said about often times we say our prayers not pray our prayers. I probably do that more often than I realize. I'm going to try a whole lot harder to be constantly in prayer and not rush into the "throneroom" of God, but step back and take the time to listen and be reverant...just some of my thoughts on this portion of chapter 1...
ReplyDeletePrayer is a serious element of our relationship with God. It is important to remember that our prayers have meaning and weight and consequences and when we're speaking with God to allow ourselves to be humble in what we have to say.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it does serve many different purposes. If something is true about prayer (or really about anything) it is true for everyone. I know what you mean about prayer allowing for different purposes at different times.
"Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear." Isaiah 59:1
I like how someone mentioned rushing in and out of the throneroom. It's such an easy habit. And not that it's a bad thing to toss up the occasional quick prayer of thanks or praise but if those prayers are the only prayers we have for our Savior something might be wrong.