Nehemiah 1:4 “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”
Nehemiah received some very devastating news, about his friends and about the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah interceded for God’s children, petitioning the Lord, “praying before Him day and night and for His servants, the people of Israel.” When was the last time you have wept, mourned and prayed for days over news you received about someone you loved or about a tragic situation? Not only did Nehemiah have a tender heart for his friends who were in trouble and in despair, but Nehemiah actually did something about it; he fasted and prayed.
God raised up Nehemiah to one of the most trusted roles in the empire, the King’s cupbearer and confidant, but then because of his faithfulness to pray and intercede, God used him in a beautiful role of leadership to restore and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. So many people do not really understand the importance of prayer. We think we can handle situations in this world by just getting in there and doing something about it. But we live in a world where there are two planes, a physical realm and a spiritual realm. No matter what the situation is, there is always a spiritual battle going on behind the scenes and we must be faithful to stop and ask for God to step in and help.
Many people do not understand the power of prayer or even the reason for prayer. CS Lewis calls the earth the “shadowland,” because it is a physical duplicate or a shadow of our real home, Heaven. Everything that is happening here in this physical realm is happening in the spiritual realm, but we are not equipped to fight the battle on the spiritual realm. 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 says “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” We cannot fight the battles of this world by doing something we think should be done; we will only have victory over the power of darkness through the power of prayer.
CS Lewis goes on to say that the reason we are to pray is because God has placed on our heart what we are to pray for and when God hears our prayer, we can share in His glory when our prayers have been answered. The Lord wants us to be His faithful servants and wants to use us in fighting the spiritual battle here on earth. I know for me, I want to make a difference here in this world and even though I might seem insignificant, God can use me in a powerful way to further His work and His kingdom here on earth. Will you join me?
Nehemiah received some very devastating news, about his friends and about the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah interceded for God’s children, petitioning the Lord, “praying before Him day and night and for His servants, the people of Israel.” When was the last time you have wept, mourned and prayed for days over news you received about someone you loved or about a tragic situation? Not only did Nehemiah have a tender heart for his friends who were in trouble and in despair, but Nehemiah actually did something about it; he fasted and prayed.
God raised up Nehemiah to one of the most trusted roles in the empire, the King’s cupbearer and confidant, but then because of his faithfulness to pray and intercede, God used him in a beautiful role of leadership to restore and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. So many people do not really understand the importance of prayer. We think we can handle situations in this world by just getting in there and doing something about it. But we live in a world where there are two planes, a physical realm and a spiritual realm. No matter what the situation is, there is always a spiritual battle going on behind the scenes and we must be faithful to stop and ask for God to step in and help.
Many people do not understand the power of prayer or even the reason for prayer. CS Lewis calls the earth the “shadowland,” because it is a physical duplicate or a shadow of our real home, Heaven. Everything that is happening here in this physical realm is happening in the spiritual realm, but we are not equipped to fight the battle on the spiritual realm. 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 says “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” We cannot fight the battles of this world by doing something we think should be done; we will only have victory over the power of darkness through the power of prayer.
CS Lewis goes on to say that the reason we are to pray is because God has placed on our heart what we are to pray for and when God hears our prayer, we can share in His glory when our prayers have been answered. The Lord wants us to be His faithful servants and wants to use us in fighting the spiritual battle here on earth. I know for me, I want to make a difference here in this world and even though I might seem insignificant, God can use me in a powerful way to further His work and His kingdom here on earth. Will you join me?
