Nehemiah Prays For His People

During our seminary days, my wife and I had a dear lady in our home church by the name of Aunt Mae. She was in touch with us regularly to ask us what our needs were. And she would say, “Now you’re accountable to me. I’m praying for you. And I need to know how you’re doing.&q … More

Prayer

As chapter one begins we are told that Nehemiah is in Shusan serving in the winter palace of Artaxerxes the king (v. 1). The brother of Nehemiah came to visit him and told of the difficulties the people who had returned with Jerubbabel and Ezra were having in Jerusalem. Nehemiah was greatly concerned because Jerusalem was blessed with God’s special presence in the temple. He loved his homeland even though he had lived his whole life in Babylon.

Nehemiah lived at ease and in honor in the palace but he could not shake off the thoughts of his brethren in distress (vv 2-4). He broke down and wept when he heard that Jerusalem’s walls still had not been rebuilt. After his initial grief, he prayed, pouring his heart out to God, and then he looked for ways to improve the situation (vv. 5-11).

In verses 5-11 we have Nehemiah’s prayer. We may observe in this prayer:

  1. His humble and reverent address to God (v. 5) - He expresses how God is “awesome.”
  2. His request for the acceptance of all the prayers and confessions he now makes to God (v. 6) - “Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear thy servant.”
  3. The confession of his sin and of the people (v. 6) - “I and my father’s house have sinned.”
  4. He pleads for mercy for the people of Israel (vv 8-9)
  5. He praises God for the great things He has done for them (v. 10)

Application

Just as Nehemiah used his place as the King’s trusted servant to pray for his people, I can use my present position to pray to God.

Nehemiah 1:1-11 (English Standard Version)


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