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Nehemiah 1 (Part 2) Bible Study (Nehemiah's Prayer) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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If you're joining us for the first time, we just started our
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Bible study series in this brand new book, and it is a wonderful
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sequel to the book of Ezra. And many of us have already seen
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that in the first few verses of this new book.
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But we have not completed chapter 1 yet.
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And that's what we will seek to do tonight.
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So plant your finger there at verse 4.
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We will read in a moment here. But I would love for us to pray
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once again, Heavenly Father, thank you.
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Thank you for loving us. Thank you for showing your love
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in so many ways. Thank you that according to the
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words of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 17, you love us as you
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love your Son. It's so hard for us to grasp
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that you love us as you love your Son Jesus Christ.
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And we know that this is difficult to fathom.
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That's why Paul in Ephesians 3. Pray that we would know the
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height and the depth and the breadth of your love for us.
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So, Lord, use the means of this Bible study to help us
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comprehend just how strong your love is and help us in response
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to the revelation of your love. Love you with a greater
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intensity and devotion, Lord. Some of us may be weary in the
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flesh, and that can be a distraction.
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Some of us may be distracted in our minds, though our bodies are
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fine. Whatever may be an obstacle to
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this Bible study, remove it and your power.
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Remove it so that we can receive all that you have to say.
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In Nehemiah chapter one, in Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you can know a lot
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about a person based on what makes them happy.
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The objects that stir their passions, the things that make
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them gleeful, even the things that make them laugh are
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indicators to what they possess in terms of priorities,
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convictions, and desires. Yet interestingly, Scripture
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also teaches us that you can know a lot about a person based
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on what makes them sorrowful, the burdens that they carry in
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their hearts revealed just as clearly the priorities and
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perspectives and passions of a person.
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And today, you and I, by the grace of God, are going to know
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more about this man, Nehemiah, because he is going to show us
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how he responded to the tragic news of the condition of the
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people of God in the city of Jerusalem.
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Perhaps you've already read this chapter before, and so you're
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already familiar with its content.
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But in case you're not, the rest of this chapter is dedicated to
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Nehemiah's heartfelt prayer in response to the news of the
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devastation that the Jewish people were enduring after
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returning from exile. But this is not the only time
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Nehemiah prays. Depending on how you group his
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prayers, it's safe to say that there are around 12 recorded
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pleas that Nehemiah makes towards the Lord, and most of
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them are shorter than what we have here.
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And beyond this confirming that Nehemiah was a praying man and
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that God uses praying men, there are wonderful and insightful
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details waiting for us to uncover in the verses that we
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will examine together. And so let's begin by reading it
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all in one shot, without interruption, without
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commentary. Let's just begin here in
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Nehemiah chapter one, verse 4. Remember, we looked at the first
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3 verses. And Nehemiah, while being in the
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palace in Susa, was visited by his brother and friends, who
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told them of the shame and trouble that the Jewish people
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were experiencing because of the walls that were broken down.
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And here is what he does in response to it.
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As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned
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for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the
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God of heaven. And I said, O Lord God of
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heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and
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steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His
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commandments. Let your ear be attentive and
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your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant, that I
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now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel,
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Your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel,
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which we have sinned against You.
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Even I in my Father's house have sinned.
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We've acted very corruptly against you and have not kept
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the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded
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your servant Moses. Remember the word that you
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commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I
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will scatter you among the peoples.
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But if you return to Me and keep my commandments and do them,
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though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from
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there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I
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have chosen to make my name dwell.
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There. They are Your servants and Your
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people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your
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strong hand. O Lord, lay your ear.
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Be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to the prayer
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of Your servants, who delight to fear Your name.
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And give success to Your servant today, and grant him mercy in
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the sight of this man. Now I was a cup bearer to the
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king. What Nehemiah is demonstrating
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here is the tenderness and compassion that should be alive
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in those who belong to the Lord. Remember, he is reacting to the
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news of the trouble that God's people are facing.
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And what Nehemiah felt about the dishonor that they were trying
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to manage is something that God expects of all of His people.
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I'm not necessarily speaking about the need to weep.
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Some have a stronger tendency to be tearful about certain things.
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Nor am I even speaking about the need for extensive fasting,
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though there is an appropriate time and place for fasting.
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What I am primarily referring to is a sense of disturbance and
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brokenness and burden when something is brought to our
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attention relating to the humiliation, disgrace, and the
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need of the Church. And the reason why I can say
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that Nehemiah's attitude here applies to Christians is because
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the Lord rebukes Israel for having the totally opposite
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attitude that we find here when learning about the impending
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Assyrian invasion. This is worth turning to in our
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Bibles, the book of Amos chapter 6.
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God through His prophet, presents a few woes to the
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generation of those who lived in the northern tribes of Israel
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before they were removed from the land.
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Remember, before the Babylonian exiled, there was an Assyrian 1
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And I want you to see how he responds to the indifference of
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some of the Israelites, even though they knew of the warning
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of judgment to come. Amos 6.
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I hope you're there. Look with me here at verse 4.
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Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves
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out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves
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from the midst of the stall. Who sing idle songs to the sound
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of the harp, and, like David, invent for themselves
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instruments of music. Who drink wine and bowls, and
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anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved
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over the ruin of Joseph. You see that highlight the last
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part. Listen, God is not against nice
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furniture. He's not opposed to good food.
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He doesn't reject wine, oil, or music.
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But He is deeply opposed to the indulgence of these things while
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having total indifference toward the state and the future of the
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church. Notice how this crowd was
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preoccupied with new forms of entertainment.
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That's what it means here when it says that they are inventing
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for themselves instruments of music, not to glorify God like
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David, but to find new new shows, new forms of talent, new
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inventions to stroke one's ego. And yet at the same time there
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is not the slightest concern for the moral collapse and the
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social decay of the spiritual community.
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Notice also here that he does not say at the end, but are not
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grieved over the ruin of Israel. Did you notice that the prophets
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do not waste any words? God is speaking through them.
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He says so clearly the ruin of Joseph.
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Why? Because he wants to convey the
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following message. In the same way.
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Joseph's brothers were heartless towards him while he was in
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anguish, while he was in that pit, while I was crying out for
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mercy. These elite Israelites were
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showing no sympathy, no thought for their fellow brothers in
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time of need. How does this all relate to us?
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Well, it would be unrealistic to say that we all have to feel a
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sense of personal responsibility for the Universal Church, or
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else we would constantly be burdened.
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However, this is a call to reflect if there is any evidence
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of concern in our hearts when something is made known to us,
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especially that which is in our reach, in our community, in our
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local church, in our nation. And one of the ways that we can
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begin, or at least one of the signs that there is a softness
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in our souls for the sanctification and the safety of
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the church, of our fellow brothers and sisters, is that we
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pray about it. We bring it before God.
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We come to the prayer meeting and we say, Lord, pour out your
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spirit. Your church is in trouble.
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Churches are in trouble. This institution needs you.
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Their walls are down. There's no discernment.
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There are no Watchmen. Can you find that in you?
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Or do you relate more to Amos chapter 6, where you're
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constantly consumed with leisure and comfort and one form or
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pursuit of personal fleshly happiness?
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May God help us. Nehemiah shows us one way that
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we actually care and reflect God's heart.
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We pray. We pray about it.
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Now that may seem like an obvious response, but I had a
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question. Why was this Nehemiah's
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immediate response to fast and pray?
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And I think there are two reasons.
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The first one is that Nehemiah had insight.
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He was discerning and he understood the real cause for
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the ruin of Jerusalem. Sin, Sin.
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That's what he plainly states here in verse seven.
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Look at it again. We have acted very corruptly
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against you and have not kept the commandments.
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It wasn't because they didn't have resources.
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It wasn't because they didn't have the favor of the
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government. It wasn't because they were lazy
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necessarily. It was because they sinned.
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He understood their present condition is caused by their
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past rebellion and because of this, he responds in a spiritual
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manner. He goes to God and he repents on
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behalf of the people. Now here's why this is crucial
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to understand. Unfortunately, what you have,
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some people do not pray because they fail to recognize the
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spiritual realities behind their circumstances.
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I am fully aware that there are some people who over
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spiritualize nearly everything, but there are also those who
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don't have any hint of the spiritual influence at all.
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Both extremes are dangerous, and that's why so many never arrive
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at real, lasting solutions in their ministries, in their
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marriages, and many other of their miseries, because they
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have never factored in the spiritual elements behind this
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predicament or this ongoing struggle, and so they never
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applied the spiritual remedies to address them.
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There are people like that. They never think maybe, maybe
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the reason why there's chaos, the reason why there's conflict,
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the reason why there's frustration is because of a
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spiritual thing like sin or disobedience or spiritual
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warfare. And so they don't pray.
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Nehemiah was not like that. He was a very balanced man.
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He prays in this chapter, in the next chapter, he's going to get
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to work and he's going to ask and he's going to do very
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practical things. But here we see that he is doing
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the right thing at the right time.
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He understands the root cause of the problem, and so he addresses
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it at the root. He prays.
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The second reason why Nehemiah prays immediately in response to
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this news is because he also understands the magnitude of the
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work and the miraculous power that would be required in order
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to resolve it. Now we have the habit of reading
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so fast through some of these accounts that we never pause to
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meditate on the real life implications of some of these
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challenges to some of these ambitions and achievements.
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Nehemiah understood that there are going to be some hurdles
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here. Where do I even begin?
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And I have a hunch here that Nehemiah has one thing in mind
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in terms of a challenge, and that is how the king is going to
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let him go. A king who prior to this was
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already convinced that rebuilding the walls in
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Jerusalem would not be for his interests.
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Do you remember in our study of Ezra that there was one section
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where he abandons the chronology of the events that he is
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recording and piles together different examples of the
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opposition's that the Exiles faced upon their return?
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Do you remember that study? Well in one of the examples he
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goes to the future and he mentions what King Artaxerxes
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asked of the Exiles because of the adversaries of the Exiles
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and what they told him. Let's see it again because it
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plays into what we find here in Nehemiah 1.
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Go to Ezra chapter 4. The art Exerxes here in Ezra
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chapter 4 is the same art Exerxes that Nehemiah is
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serving. And notice what Ezra says in his
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account of the persecution that the Exiles faced throughout
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their time in Jerusalem. Ezra 4.
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Look at verse 11. He writes this is a copy of the
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letter that they sent. That is the adversaries of the
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people of Judah, Tardig, Xerxes, the king, your servants, the men
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of the province beyond the river, send greeting.
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And now be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from
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you to us have gone to Jerusalem.
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They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city.
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They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.
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Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the
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walls finish, they will pay no tribute, customer toll and the
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royal revenue will be impaired. This letter that Ezra is making
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known to the reader seems to indicate that there was before
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Nehemiah, after Ezra, somewhere between that, though they are
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contemporaries, they're going to work together.
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Not explicitly clear, but somewhere before Nehemiah makes
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this request to go back to Jerusalem.
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There were earlier attempts to rebuild the walls.
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And the enemies of the people of Judah saw saw this.
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They didn't like it. And so they sent a letter to our
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exertions and say, put a stop to this.
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You're going to harm your Kingdom.
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This is going to cause a rebellion.
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And when you read later on in Ezra 4, he actually listens.
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Now, there are others who do not consider to be this, to be proof
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of previous attempts to rebuild the wall, but claim that these
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adversaries are coming up with this.
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They're exaggerating the efforts of the people of Judah, and they
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are slandering them, and they are lying to the king.
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But whichever view you hold, one thing is absolutely clear.
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The last time Arctic Xerxes received any hint or news of the
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people rebuilding the wall, he opposed it.
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He was not in favor of it. So you can imagine how daunting
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this would be for Nehemiah, who understood this.
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How am I going to convince the king?
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His last recorded declaration and statement was No way is
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Jerusalem ever going to have walls.
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This historical detail is not often taken into consideration
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when considering Nehemiah's prayer life, at least in the
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season of his prayer life. And so it makes sense.
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Then look at Nehemiah one verse 11.
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What was his final request? Oh Lord, let your ear be
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attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of
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Your servants, who delight to fear a name.
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And give success to Your servant today, and grant him mercy in
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the sight of this man. Who is this man?
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The king? I need mercy, fresh mercy, and I
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love that he prays this. His prayer for mercy is more
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powerful when you connected with Ezra 4.
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Why? Because Nehemiah understood that
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there is a persuasive force with prayer not just toward those who
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are neutral towards the things of God, right?
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Sometimes in our human thinking, we evaluate where a person
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stands with spiritual things or the gospel or the Bible or
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Christianity, and we think that person has a better chance of
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coming to Christ. I'm going to spend more energy
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on them in my prayers, my evangelism.
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And sometimes there's wisdom in that, right?
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We don't cast our pearls before swine.
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However, Nehemiah shows us that prayer even works for those who
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are expressly opposed, like Artaxerxes was toward the
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rebuilding of the wall. He still believed.
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If I pray and if I seek and if I wait on God, he can change
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anything and anyone, including the hearts of kings and rulers
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and magistrates. Don't give up praying for your
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loved ones. Not just those who seem to not
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care, just do whatever you want, but those who attack you for
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your faith, those who told you why do you come to this place on
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Friday nights, hang out with us, you'd lose your mind or
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something. Prayer is just as effective for
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them. Nehemiah is going to show us
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that in the very next chapter. Now I'm aware that we have many
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other verses to look at, but there's one more thing that I
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want us to look at here before we go on.
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Notice how in verse 4, Nehemiah says that he sat down and wept
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and mourned for days and I continued fasting and praying.
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Does anybody have an idea how Nehemiah how long Nehemiah
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prayed for? If you have an idea, you can
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answer. Any clue?
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Four days, 10 days, two weeks. This is where time stamps in
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narratives and in different parts of the Bible should never
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be ignored. Look back at verse 1 of this
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book. The words of Nehemiah the son of
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Hakalaya now happened in the month of Kislev in the 20th
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year, as I was in Susa, the Citadel, the month of Kislev in
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the 20th year, OK, this corresponds to November,
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December. Go to Nehemiah chapter 2, verse
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one, in the month of Nissan in the 20th year of King
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Artaxerxes, when wine was before him.
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I took up the wine and gave it to the king.
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Now I had not been sad in his presence.
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This is when Nehemiah is going to receive permission to go to
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Jerusalem. Now the month of Nissan falls
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approximately between the months of March and April.
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So we can say based on this that Nehemiah was in this contrition,
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the state of prayer, seeking God, raising up his voice to the
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heavens for a solid four months. I'm not sure about you, but that
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changes the way I understand this man's desperation.
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And when we come to Nehemiah chapter 2, we will spend more
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time looking at the whys and the hows of this duration of prayer.
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But I want to just make note of one thing, and it's how this
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reveals something about one way we can know that God may be
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directing us toward a certain work.
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One way you and I could discern a ministry, a service, a mission
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that God is leading us to is by the persistent, steady burden.
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We feel for it. Nehemiah's reaction to this news
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was not short lived, was it? The timeline confirms that he
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was not just emotional for a couple of days and then it all
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fizzled out. He couldn't shake it off.
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And sometimes an ongoing yearning to see a need met, to
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see a work done in God's Kingdom, is a signal of a path
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that we may need to pursue. Be cautious now, because
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righteous desires, no matter how intense they are, are not always
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signs that God is leading us somewhere.
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As important as those feelings may be in those convictions
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growing are, they need to be accompanied by wise counsel.
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They need to be treated with persistent, serious prayer, And
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they need to always, always, always be waited on, patiently
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waiting on the Lord to confirm. What Nehemiah models for us,
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though, is that when a burden is birthed, don't ignore it.
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Tap into it, explore it. And with that, his testimony
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shows that if it's from God, he will confirm it.
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And the way it's confirmed for him is that the door will swing
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open and what he felt and what he was wrestling with and what
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he brought before God ended up being authorized by God because
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Providence approved it. If you and I want to see genuine
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fruit and longevity in ministry, it has to be birth and passion.
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I'm not saying you have to feel giddy and excited for whatever
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ministry you are connected to on an ongoing, unbroken basis.
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However, if there is no passion, if there is no drive, if you
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don't dream about it to some extent, if you don't talk to God
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regularly about it, what are you doing?
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And if you're just going through the motions, guess what the
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fruit of it is going to show? But Nehemiah here is showing us
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a very important sequence. There's something birthed in his
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heart, something that will later be birthed in prayer, and it's
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going to manifest in the remainder of this book in terms
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of fruit and effectiveness. Let's actually get to the
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content of the prayer, shall we? We're not going to look at all
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the insights, but let's look at some.
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You know, as I read this over and over again, something stood
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out to me. Something began to glisten, and
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it was how Nehemiah referred to himself and the other parties
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involved who belong to the Lord and serve the Lord.
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Let me show you what I mean. Look at verse 6.
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He says, Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to
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hear the prayer of your servant. Underline that you're saying
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why? We'll keep reading that.
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I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel,
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Your servants. OK, look at verse 8.
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Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses.
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Out of all the things that you could have said about Moses,
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what did you choose to say? Your servant?
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And he does it twice. Look at verse 11.
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We already saw, but let's revisit it.
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Oh Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your
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servant and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to
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fear Your name. So throughout, throughout this
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prayer, Nehemiah identifies himself.
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He identifies those who are the people of Israel.
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He identifies those who are praying with him.
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He even identifies Moses as what God's servants.
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And this is a humble reminder that no matter the nature of our
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ministry, whether we are leading people like Moses or we are
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behind the scenes and helping a guy like Nehemiah build some
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walls, all of us are no greater than this.
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We are simply servants. Whatever your gift looks like,
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whoever knows your name or doesn't know your name in the
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sight of God, we are all merely servants.
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You know, this attitude that Nehemiah displays here reminds
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me of what Christ didn't suggest but commanded.
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Actually, when I was thinking about it today, I thought in
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teachings about serving the Lord, sacrificing for the Lord,
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pursuing some kind of ministry for the Lord.
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This verse that I'm about to tell you to turn to is rarely
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brought up, rarely brought up, Luke 17, verse 10.
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And I wonder if you've ever heard this being used to exhort
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us to properly view ourselves and ministry for Jesus Christ.
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This is Jesus Christ telling His own and us how we should view
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ourselves in light of serving him.
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Luke 17 verse 10. I will wait for you because I
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want you to see with your own eyes.
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So you also, when you have done all that you recommended, say we
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are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our
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duty, and that's something. Did Jesus recommend this?
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And he says, when you've done your ministry, say this.
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Now, why would Jesus say this? I'll tell you why, because there
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are many Christians who are tempted to think that we're
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doing God a favor by serving him.
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That's why. Or that or something special for
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serving him. Look at me, what I do.
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I serve God not just on Sundays, Fridays, and Wednesdays.
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Who cares? Look what I do.
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This church wouldn't survive without me.
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Oh, they might be able to go on, but it'll be a struggle.
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I think you know what Jesus says to you and I.
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You're a servant and you're doing your duty.
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God is not in our debt when we serve Him.
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That is the least that you and I can do after what He has done
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for us. It's the least that we can do if
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we actually understand how our Christ served us.
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If I have 10,000 lives to live, I'll give you all of them to
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your service. So the Lord is really bringing
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us back down to reality here because we have a tendency of
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having this sense of superiority, maybe self worth,
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self praise, and Nehemiah's prayer reminds us of a new
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covenant attitude. As we continue here, I want us
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to consider something else. We see again here in verse 8 and
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verse 9 that one of the greatest recorded prayers in the Bible is
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biblically informed. Look at verse 8:00 and 9:00 for
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a second. Here he says, Remember the word
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that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are
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unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples.
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But if you return to me, keep my commandments and do them though
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your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from
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there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I
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have chosen to make my name dwell there.
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So what's what's Nehemiah doing here?
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Showing us the importance of being saturated with the Bible
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in order to be effective in our prayers and intercessions.
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Right. This is something that we've
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seen over and over and over again.
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But there is an added layer of inspiration here with Nehemiah.
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Was he born in Jerusalem? No, he's born in exile.
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Was there a temple in Babylonia to draw inspiration from?
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No. Yeah.
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There was a community of Jews there, even God fearing Jews,
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but just imagine the atmosphere, imagine the temptations.
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And yet what I see in Nehemiah is what we saw in Ezra, that he
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was committed to knowing God's word, to loving God through the
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Word. And it shows up in his prayer
30:43
language. And not only does he say
30:47
something about Nehemiah's absolute commitment to the
30:52
truth, it shows him and it shows us the the secret to fuel in our
30:59
prayer lives rehearsing God's character, his abilities, his
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works, his ways, and his faithfulness.
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In fact, that's exactly what he brings up here in verse 10.
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Look at it with me. He says they are your servants
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and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and
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by your strong hand. Notice this.
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They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by
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your great power and by your strong hand.
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There's something happening more than just Nehemiah reminding
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himself that the people of Israel are in covenant with God,
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therefore God will be faithful to his covenant people.
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This is Nehemiah also reflecting on what God has done with this
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people, giving him the hope that he can do it again with this
31:44
people. You have redeemed this people
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from Egypt with all the impossible challenges, with a
31:52
tyrant like Pharaoh, with with, with a Red Sea.
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You brought them out. Surely, Lord, you can bring them
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out of this ruin. So you see already that Nehemiah
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is energized and he has an anchor in this place of praying
32:07
for weeks and months because he knows God has done it before,
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God can do it again. And the only way that you can
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even have a a chance of tasting that kind of faith is if you
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know what God has done. Can I ask you something?
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What stories in the Scriptures do you visit in order to
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strengthen your faith? Are you familiar enough with
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them to apply them to virtually any situation that comes to you?
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We should be able to get there and as primary and foundation as
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that is, we should also be aware of what God has done in history,
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what God has done in people's lives around us, what God has
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done in our parents lives if they've served the Lord, our
32:50
pastors lives. Fellow brothers and sisters, we
32:52
should accumulate testimonies in order to know how to pray like
32:57
Nehemiah prays. You know, in the years that
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we've been praying for a building, I found myself doing
33:05
something repeatedly. And my wife can testify to this
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too, whenever she was in the car with me, that if I wasn't too
33:13
distracted thinking while driving safely, not too
33:17
distracted with my mind here, sometimes I would drive by
33:21
different buildings, especially buildings, church buildings with
33:23
nice parking lots. And I would say out loud, God,
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if you did it for them, you can do it for us.
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Just just simple, just simple words to the Lord and just
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tangible observations that God, if you did it for that ministry,
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do you love us any less? Surely not.
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And he doesn't love us anymore. He's done it before.
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He's helped different ministries, I'm sure, overcome
33:54
obstacles and and permits and persecution and neighbors that
34:00
might cause even more headache. All these things.
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And the MI shows us that we need to know that if we're going to
34:07
be able to stay in the place of prayer long enough to see
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answers. And we've seen answers, haven't
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we? Now, as we continue, I want I
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want us to just look at the final verse here.
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And I can tell you this with a great confidence that we can, we
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can spend an entire separate session on this one verse alone.
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It is packed, packed, packed with incredible observations.
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And I just want us to consider a couple of them here before we
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close. We learn here that Nehemiah's
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final words are mentioning not just his commitment to pray and
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his desperate need for God to answer his prayers, but that
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there are other people who are praying with him.
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Did you pick up on that? Look at it again.
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Oh Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your
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servant. That's Nehemiah, and to the
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prayer of your servants. Who else is praying with him?
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Evidently he made this need known to them.
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He got a prayer group to join him, to partner with him.
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And the only thing that we know about them is what?
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That they delight to fear God's name.
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What a fascinating phrase. Delight to fear God's name?
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That seems kind of absurd on the surface.
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If there's any delight in relation to fear is to have less
35:27
of it, not more of it. Unless, of course, these
35:33
servants with Nehemiah comprehended the treasures that
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come with fear in God, that made them fear God and want to grow
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in reverence, in awe of him the way he deserves delighting to.
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It's a delight for me to stand in awe of God.
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I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
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What a thing to be said of anybody who delight, one
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translation says, who desire to fear your name.
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If your heart fears God tonight, rejoice in that.
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If it doesn't, if you can be honest with yourself and say, I
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know preachers talk about the majesty of God and the awe of
36:18
God, but I believe in a theory, but I don't feel it in my soul.
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Ask God for it. He can do something in you.
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I'm sure He can open your eyes, certainly, and you don't need to
36:32
be a preacher to have it. These are unnamed fellows.
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Which brings me to my next point.
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There's something to learn here about leaders and non leaders.
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So allow me to speak about this for a moment.
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For those who are leaders now or aspiring leaders, I want you to
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notice that Nehemiah acknowledged these servants in
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prayer. Even though he would be
36:57
platformed by name, even though he would be the face of this
37:00
massive revival and a movement of great restoration of historic
37:04
proportions, he would be the main guy.
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And yet I see something noble about Nehemiah.
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He understood the value of those who serve alongside him in the
37:15
background. This is a hint that he
37:19
understood that he would not be able to do this on his own.
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He's he's actually even relying on his prayer partners and he
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mentions them in his prayer before God.
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And we should go beyond that and even express our appreciation
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from time to time to those who are serving behind the scenes.
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So leaders, take note of this. Even though God has called you
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to perhaps guide and and possess vision, understand that you were
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never called to do it alone. You can't do it alone.
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Neither can I. But secondly, we learned that
37:54
it's possible to effectively contribute to the cause of
37:57
Christ and not be a leader and not even be known.
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Do you believe that the Holy Spirit could have mentioned
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these servants who prayed with Nehemiah by name?
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He could have. If you doubt that, we've studied
38:08
a lot of names, haven't we? God is not shy of including
38:13
names if He wants to include names.
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But when He doesn't mention a name, sometimes there's insight
38:19
even in that. And what I find here is that
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these individuals who served God and served Nehemiah were not
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known, but they played a major part in what we're going to see
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in the following chapters because they prayed.
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Here's what that means. Unfortunately for some,
38:40
fortunately, I don't enjoy saying this, but for some, their
38:43
incentive to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in the context of
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the local church or any kind of ministry is to have a sense of
38:51
recognition. It's to be respected.
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Oh, and if they can get a title, like all I need is a title, if I
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can have a title along those other guys who have titles, Oh
39:04
yeah, that's what I'm looking for.
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Please listen, don't enter ministry if you are very aware
39:12
of your low self esteem. I'm not saying you can't be
39:16
tempted with self esteem. I can't.
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I'm not sure you're saying that you can't be discouraged.
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But if you are pursuing service to the Lord because you need
39:26
identity in that service, danger for you and danger for the
39:29
church that you're serving. I know it sounds innocent.
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I know it's almost like it's kind of harmless.
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Actually it's not. It can cause a lot of problems.
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Instead, you and I have to come to a place and ask this
39:43
question. Am I willing to sacrifice my
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time? Am I willing to serve and give
39:46
my energy towards whatever God asked me to if I never received
39:50
praise for it? If you and I fear His name like
39:56
these servants did, we will. We will, because when you stand
40:03
in awe of God, the appreciation of man has little value.
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That's the problem. We get this thing all mixed up
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and we, we, we crave the pat on the back and we crave the
40:19
accolades and we crave the attention and we crave people
40:22
say, oh, he's doing something effective, he's doing something
40:26
great. He's doing something popular.
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As much as Nehemiah is so inspirational, I find equal
40:37
inspiration from these servants that we'll only know in heaven.
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They feared God, they loved God. Think about it, the reason why
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they were willing to pray with Nehemiah is because they
40:52
delighted to fear the Lord. No other ambition, no other
40:59
agenda. And I'm sure they celebrated the
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fact that Nehemiah would be the leader of this whole movement.
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Final thought for us tonight. What came to mind here and
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meditating on these verses that prayer unlocks more rewards than
41:22
we often remember. The ultimate prize of what
41:25
Nehemiah does here in chapter 1 is that the king will indeed
41:28
give him the mercy that he asked God for and that he will have
41:32
the favor and more than just a favor to go because you have to
41:35
understand how difficult this is.
41:36
This is not just a normal job where you put in your two weeks
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notice thinking I have another thing.
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Thank you for all the benefits and the opportunities.
41:43
No, he was one of the most trusted individuals in the
41:46
Kingdom. It would not be so easy for him
41:51
to leave his post. So yes, we're anticipating that
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God is going to answer this prayer, but I want you to see
41:58
that God gives him much more than that.
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And one of those examples is how Nehemiah speaks about the king
42:05
in this verse. Look again at verse 11.
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O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your
42:10
servant and to the prayer of Your servants, who delight to
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fear Your name and give success to Your servant today.
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I mean, he mentioned servant 3 times in this one verse, and
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grant him mercy in the sight of this man.
42:25
Now don't make the mistake of taking Nehemiah's reference to
42:30
the king as this man as an expression of disrespect or
42:32
disdain. That's not what's happening here
42:35
because the very first recorded words of Nehemiah in chapter 2,
42:38
when the king calls upon him, is May the king live forever.
42:43
That is respect. He didn't look down upon his
42:47
employer. He didn't look down upon this
42:50
king. Instead, lean into this.
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As Nehemiah continued to spend time in God's presence, as he
42:59
continued to deal with the truths that he's studying in
43:02
God's Word and put them into practice in terms of praying
43:05
about it and allowing his heart to believe it, his perspective
43:12
began to change. Especially when you compare what
43:17
he says here in the last verse of his prayer with the first
43:20
words of his prayer. Look back at verse 5, Nehemiah
43:22
1/5 And I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome
43:28
God, what a way to address the Lord.
43:32
He begins by exalting His absolute sovereignty, His glory,
43:39
His infinite beauty and power. And then as He comes here to the
43:45
end of his prayer and refers to the most feared and powerful man
43:49
in the Persian Empire, when compared to the truth of who God
43:52
is, He is just a man. Do you see this?
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He's just a man. As he glued his eyes, and more
44:01
importantly, the eyes of his heart, and as he exercised the
44:04
words of faith, and as he meditated on who he was speaking
44:07
to, whatever pomp, whatever pride, whatever power art exerts
44:13
he's possessed, it began to fade.
44:18
So here's what you and I have to understand.
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Nehemiah was praying for the Lord to do a work in the city of
44:23
Jerusalem, and all the while the Lord was doing a work in
44:26
Nehemiah. Can God change the problem that
44:34
you're praying about? Absolutely.
44:35
Believe it with all your heart, but also believe this.
44:38
He's going to change you in the process.
44:43
And in this case, what you have here is Nehemiah's understanding
44:46
of who God is. And even the greatest obstacle
44:49
that he had was not so much of an obstacle in light of who God
44:55
showed himself to be to this man.
44:59
So Nehemiah received an added reward, and that was a
45:04
revelation of the majesty and might of his God.
45:11
Prayer carries power not just for predicaments, but for our
45:16
own personalities and our own perspectives.
45:22
You will never lose if you pray. You will lose a lot more than
45:26
you think if you don't. Do you believe that there is
45:30
much more that we can get from these verses?
45:33
I think so. For for the sake of our time
45:36
tonight, let's pause and pray. Lord, we delight to fear your
46:01
name. You're worthy to be feared.
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And if any of our hearts have lost that sense of awe, use the
46:17
truths, Lord, from these verses that have been pressed against
46:21
our hearts to mold us and to sharpen our understanding of who
46:31
You are, who we are studying about, who we are speaking to
46:33
even now. Lord, much has been said and
46:40
there was more that could be said, but we say thank You for
46:43
the portion that has been presented to us this evening.
46:49
And we pray that when we learn something of You and what You
46:55
ask of us, that it would move us genuinely, that it would do more
46:59
than just tickle our brains, but that it would stir our hearts.
47:12
Lord, thank You that You do not change.
47:18
And what You long for and expect and desire out of many men and
47:25
women that we find in the Scriptures is no different for
47:28
us. So, Lord, if you're looking for
47:33
people who have concern for your church in a very real and
47:37
personal way. If we don't have that, birth it
47:40
in US. Lord, if if we are overcome by
47:49
the size of our obstacles, help us understand that you've given
47:53
us this weapon, this grace, this gift called prayer that can do
47:57
so much more than we think. But we, we bless your name, we
48:04
honor your name. We Revere you, Lord, and we
48:07
believe that you've brought us to the book of Nehemiah for such
48:09
a time as this. You will equip us efficiently
48:13
for this next season as a church, and we will glean from
48:16
it. And Lord, by your help, we will
48:18
apply all that we hear that we may see the fruit of it in our
48:22
days. We honor you now in song.
48:25
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
48:28
Amen. Well, I think the precinct will
48:33
come now and tell us what song we will sing together.
48:38
If you feel like you need to stay seated and just continue to
48:41
pray and talk to the Lord before you make your way out of here,
48:43
you can do that. But if you feel like you need to
48:45
stand and glorify God and sing it, you can do that as well.
48:48
So whatever you are inclined to do, as long as you are focused
48:52
on the Lord, let's take these next few moments and worship
48:54
Him.