In 52 days, he had accomplished what no one before him had been able to do. He had rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and repaired each of her gates. Nehemiah was an extraordinary leader. There is a truth I am currently leading my congregation into for this summer, “Whenever God wants to do a great work, He lays hold of a willing people.”
How I’ve challenged my congregation with this…and now I would like to challenge you as well. Are you willing to be taken hold by God? Now, let me explain what that means. It doesn’t necessarily mean that God is going to do great things and bring huge blessings into your life. Actually, it might mean just the opposite.
Take Nehemiah for example. When God laid hold of Nehemiah’s heart, he had a great job. He was the cupbearer of the King of Persia, Artaxerxes. This meant he enjoyed a unique position of sharing both the court and the confidence of the most powerful man alive in that day. Rather than living in the destruction of Jerusalem, he enjoyed the luxurious palace of the King. Add to that, he lived 700 miles away from Jerusalem! How easy it would have been for Nehemiah to dismiss the report of Israel’s reproach. He could have said, “What can I do? God has blessed me with a good job, I’m 700 miles away, I love the Lord and God knows that…why should I worry about what happens so far away from me.”
But that wasn’t Nehemiah’s attitude…not even close! In chapter 1 verse 4, he says, “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Whenever God begins to lay hold of His people, He does it by giving them a burden.
A burden of the Lord is a foreign idea to most of today’s Church. Leonard Ravenhill said it like this, “Today’s Church does more playing than it does praying.” How true that is and I hope God will open our eyes to this.
How important is prayer to your church? How important is it to my church? John MacArthur says, “Prayer is often like a parachute. We’re glad it’s there, we just hope we don’t have to use it.” Let me show you how important prayer was to Nehemiah. It took him only 52 days to organize the 42 groups of workers in Jerusalem and complete the walls and gates. It took him 3 months to travel the 700 miles to Jerusalem while picking up materials. However, he spent 4 months (Dec – April) in prayer and fasting before the Lord before he even presented his plan to King Artaxerxes in Nehemiah 2!
WOW! 52 days of work…4 months of prayer…do you see where we’re missing it in today’s church! Prayer is not meant to prepare for the “greater work.” Prayer is the “greater work.”
Prayer is to a church what blood is to our bodies. When the blood stops flowing, the body dies. When prayer stops in a local church, she will die! God forbid this! The church needs to re-examine Nehemiah and follow his Biblical model of calling upon the name of the Lord.
On a hot summer day in the late 1800’s a few Bible college students visited London, England. They wanted to attend service at the great Metropolitan Tabernacle where Charles Spurgeon was the pastor. They arrived very early to ensure good seats. When they got to the front doors of the church, they saw they were too early as the building was locked up. An old gentleman came up behind them and asked if they would like a tour of the property since it was so early. He said he would first take them to the “boiler room” of the church.
The young college men agreed, reluctantly because of the heat of the day, but they didn’t want to be rude to the polite old man. He took them down a long staircase and came to a large door. He quietly opened the door and there were over 600 prayer intercessors on their knees before the Lord praying for that morning’s service. They were astonished!
The old gentleman was none other than C.H. Spurgeon himself! He looked at these future church leaders and said, “This is the boiler room of this church – it’s what makes us tick.”
It is my hope that you will see the great need for God to move in our day. I hope you will spend some time reading through the book of Nehemiah. I pray the Lord burdens your heart the way he did Nehemiah for Jerusalem. In chapter 2, Nehemiah went out at night and discerned the situation of Jerusalem. He was awake while others slept. He was concerned while others were at ease, and he could see more of the situation of the city at night than the priests, nobles and officials could see in the day. Nehemiah was extraordinary…and so it can be with your church and my church if only we will be a people that God can burden and take hold of.
To hear this sermon, visit www.preachingchristchurch.com and click “May 2009”
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