Sometimes prayer is used as a last resort, as a spare wheel, but it’s meant to be the steering wheel. God’s Word is ours to be wielded in prayer. How do we live a life of prayer, seeking God earnestly, patiently, and faithfully? In this series, Joel Virgo reflects on Nehemiah and the utmost importance of prayer.

Posts in this series:

1. Prevailing Prayer
2. Prayer Is the Priority
3. Prayer Is Rigorous
4. Pray With Knowledge
5. Pray With Perspective
6. Aggressive and Progressive Faith

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Arguing and Inquiring are OK

One of the things we notice in the Bible, perhaps to our surprise, is that God doesn’t mind us arguing with him. In fact, he seems to welcome it if we do it humbly and on the basis of his revelation. God’s Word is ours to be wielded in prayer. This should be a further incentive to read, memorise, meditate upon, and study Scripture. Ransack the Bible for promises and take them to him in prayer. He invites us to do so.

Besides this, there may be things that God has spoken prophetically about your life, the church, your family, and the city. Such things are not simply to occupy journals from yesteryear. Don’t treat them like museum spectacles behind glass. Seek God with them. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” God does not reward passive fatalism, but aggressive faith. If this seems an overstatement, you need to read the Gospels again. Not to mention the prayers of Moses, Samuel, Elijah, and the apostles in Acts.

Strategic Petition

Nehemiah does not waste time being ‘spiritual.’ He expects things to get done. We need to be persuaded of this principle since there is no end of nonsense talked, and written, by people who seem to see prayer as an exercise in piety. This can especially be so when prayer is discussed in a purely devotional context.

“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man” (Neh. 1:11).

There is a scatter-gun approach to praying which betrays a lack of any expectation. We talk but we give the impression that God is probably not listening and definitely not very interested. Such praying is close to what Jesus describes in Matthew 6:7, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” It’s clear that certain praying gets nowhere near the ears of God since it is a mere religious exercise and is offered up to no one in particular.

Faith Grows With Exercise

Besides mere piety, the other thing Nehemiah avoids in his prayer found in Nehemiah 1 is vain unreality. It seems that true faith grows as it is exercised, like a muscle. We learn to ask for things from God as we learn his ways and get to know him. This is described in John 15, but also illustrated in Genesis 18 when Abraham’s prayers for Sodom and Gomorrah become progressively bolder. Additionally, P. T. Forsyth says, “Lose the importunity of prayer . . . lose the real conflict of will and will, lose the habit of wrestling and the hope of prevailing with God, make it mere walking with God in friendly talk; and precious as that is, yet you tend to lose the reality of prayer at last.”

Modest Prayers

Some will be dissatisfied with modest praying that is based on genuine faith and instead offer grand requests based on phony ‘faith.’ God calls us to consistent partnership with himself, so it is more likely that we will be called upon to pray for incremental, but consistent, growth in kingdom advance rather than the entire salvation of the city by this afternoon. The striking thing here is that Nehemiah does offer up prayer for 5 months, but the only request we know he makes is this one: “Lord give me favour with the King.” Nehemiah, where’s your faith!? Ask God for more! But Nehemiah is wiser. He knows he has a life calling. He is going to have to pray every victory in at a time. Each one is still a miracle.

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“And I said, ‘O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments…’” (Nehemiah 1:5).

Get Your Eyes Off Yourself

Some teaching on prayer suggests that we begin by confession of our sins to get it all out of the way. It is striking that Jesus’ teaching on prayer does the reverse: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt. 6:9). He gets to confession of sin pretty late in the prayer. He would be frowned upon by some, but Jesus is right (oddly).

Jesus knows our frame. He knows we generally don’t need to see our sin as the first item on the agenda at every meeting with God. Better in fact to get our eyes altogether off of ourselves. That way we gain perspective and hope. D. Kidner says, “There is more than [flowery language] in this… opening. It deliberately postpones the cry for help, which could otherwise be faithless and self-pitying. It mounts immediately to heaven, where the perspective will be right, and it reflects on the character of God—not only for its loyalty and love, but first of all for the majesty which puts man, whether friend or foe, in his place.”

The great prayers of Scripture resound with this heavenly perspective. I love the way Peter and John (with their backs bleeding and the threat of execution over their heads) pray with the others, saying “Sovereign God… Now Lord…” (Acts 4). Start with God and his mission. Look to him. That way you get know him better too, and “the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action” (Dan. 11:32). Practically this means we shouldn’t complain too much if prayer meetings are occasionally overrun with worship! It also means that, like Nehemiah, we should plead our relationship.

Pray According To Scripture

Nehemiah prays, “Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your dispersed be under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there’” (Neh. 1:8-9). Nehemiah knows his God and knows the story his God is telling. He knows the way it should be going and the plan God has in getting it there. He knows about Israel’s heritage, Israel’s astounding calling, and Zion’s destiny as God’s great city—and this makes him persistent.

To be continued.

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“And I said, ‘O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments…’” (Nehemiah 1:5).

Revere Him

There are several practical lessons to be learned not only from Nehemiah’s commitment to prayer, but from the manner of his prayer as well. The prayers recorded in Scripture are there for our instruction. Nehemiah is not being liturgical here. It’s more than a traditional salutation. He deliberately begins with an appropriate reverence to God. Nehemiah is aware of the majesty of the God he addresses. He is a worshipper first and lives aware of the greatness of Yahweh.

This is a concept we easily overlook, even over-interpreting our intimacy as sons of God so that it becomes an excuse for cheap dullness in approaching him. People who are aware of God’s greatness will show it in the way they address him. Even the word awesome is pretty devalued in our day. You do not have an “awesome phone” and you have never seen an “awesome free-kick.” The KJV translation uses the word terrible. Maybe that gives us a better idea.

Remember His Greatness

Secondly, Nehemiah is reminding himself of the real situation. The temporal circumstances were overwhelming to him. If he wasn’t careful, he would simply bring that anxiety into prayer and focus upon it exclusively. This is hardly the same as prayer. My dad calls it “worrying out loud” and it is pretty fruitless. Neither does Nehemiah wallow in introspection, reflecting on his shortcomings, which is always an option. Instead he calls to mind God’s bigness and covenant commitments. We are wise to follow his example.

To be continued.

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Heroes Of Prayer

I grew up around praying parents and, in my late teens, learned to love the heroes of prayer. John Wesley would rise to be with God at 4:00am each day; Mary Queen of Scots apparently said she “feared the prayers of John Knox more than all the armies of England”; James Hudson Taylor said, “The sun has never risen over China without finding me at prayer.”

The prayer lives of Knox and Hudson Taylor are inspiring, but depressingly challenging! I would glide between two extremes: inspired and depressed. I guess I never realised it was normal to find it tough. And it just is. Scripture refers to it as “labour” or as “wrestling.” That is a hint. Prayer in the Scriptures is often rigorous. The story of Elijah praying seven times for rain or of Aaron and Hur holding Moses’ arms during battle against Amalek shows men who devote themselves to prayer despite great difficulty (Acts 2:42).

The Flesh Is Weak

There is a rumour amongst charismatic Christians that praying is only really worthwhile if the Holy Spirit leads you to pray (and by this they mean that you already feel like praying). Jesus was much more straightforward: he told the disciples that the spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41).

Here, some of the biographies don’t help. They can give a false and glorified picture. All people will find some challenges in prayer, including prophets like Elijah: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17). Lapses in intensity, concentration, and focus are common. This doesn’t mean that it should be pure and endless agony. It just sometimes starts that way. Press through in cold blood and you’ll get warmer.

Good Intentions Change Nothing

The Puritans talked about ‘praying, until you pray.’ That is a helpful expression. It can, and will, become a delight. If you don’t believe me, read Psalm 16. Prioritise prayer, make a plan, put it in your diary, and keep the appointment. Meaning to do something changes nothing: “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing...” (Prov. 13:4) and don’t just leave it to “the Spirit to lead you.” My experience is that he doesn’t, or not in the way I want him to anyway.

Tips for Effective Prayer

• Set the right goals. Make them challenging enough to motivate you, but still doable.
• Get to prayer meetings. You’ll learn a lot.
• Learn what distracts you and outplay them.
• Keep close to a pencil and paper. Make notes if any thought keeps stealing your focus.
• Be around people who know how to pray and ask to join them. That can be the most instructive thing of all.
• If you have the gift of tongues, use it a lot. You are praying the mind of the Spirit (Rom. 8:26-27) and edifying yourself (1 Cor. 14:4).
• Be accountable to someone. Tell them to ask you how your prayer life is regularly. Encourage them to abuse you when you don’t pray!

Resist discouragement—It’s from the devil. Your Father loves you. And resist pride. Remember you come to God because you need him, not to impress him or anyone else. He is already perfectly impressed with his Son and, therefore with you, whether you pray or not.

To be continued.

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“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 1:4).

Prioritising

Some leaders may object to the idea of consistent prayer because they’re “too busy,” but this just shows the same independence as the disciples in Mark 9:29 . However, we will make time for things that are important. When I was a schoolteacher, some kids would explain their lack of homework with “I forgot.” I would then ask why they hadn’t forgotten their clothes. The idea behind their explanation was that homework was that unimportant.

The idea that we are too busy to pray is insanity. What could you possibly be doing that is more important? Martin Luther saw it rightly. He once said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” D.A. Carson also put it succinctly: “If you are too busy to pray, you are too busy. Cut something out.”

Put Your Bricks In First

In a business example, a businessman filled an empty bucket with bricks in front of some junior executives. He asked if the bucket was full. Some thought so, but most said “no.” The businessman then filled the gaps with pebbles and sand, asking after each new ingredient whether it was “full now?” Finally, he poured in water until the bucket overflowed. He asked the junior executives the meaning of the exercise. After a moment of dumb silence he explained, “If you want bricks in a bucket, put them in first.’’

In all things, we are to consider prayer to be the “bricks” that must go into the bucket first. All other things follow afterwards.

To be continued.

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“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure”
–D.L. Moody

A Man Who Kneeled

Nehemiah is a man who adopted a kneeling role. Instead of trying to look productive, we must instead be productive. Seeking God earnestly and patiently is the most productive use of our time. It is no mere escape route, but a wise response to grim reality. It gives us the perspective that we need, and it changes history.

How did Nehemiah respond to news of desolation back in Jerusalem? Nehemiah 1:4 says, “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” He wept, and then threw himself into lengthy prayer and self-humiliation.

Why Not Take Action?

As we read the book of Nehemiah, we appreciate that the man is no passive flower. We have a man of swift, decisive action; a creative and brilliant strategist who made things happen. He’d engineer and generate things through a mixture of ingenuity and belligerence.

So then why did he not do something? It would surely beat all this wailing. Begin a PR campaign, start lobbying, get on talk radio, or at least write a blog. Instead he mourns. And in doing so, he’s “blessed,” according to Jesus (Matt. 5:4).

Knee-jerk activism, however impressive it might look, reveals a feeble grasp of the situation and a sinful confidence in independent methods. Nehemiah prays and mourns (with fasting) for five months because he doesn’t have a choice.

Do You Pray?

The biggest danger for any generation of leaders is prayerlessness. Much in the church that begins from a spirit of genuine humility and prayer is carried on in proud self-sufficiency. Arthur Wallis once said, “A move of God will last as long as the Spirit of prayer that inspired it.” You can tell when this happens. It’s when prayer is used as a last resort, as a spare wheel, but it’s meant to be the steering wheel.

There are certain battles we simply cannot win without prayer. The more I lead, the more frequent such battles seem. Jesus made this clear with the statement regarding the demon that would not submit to his disciples in Mark 9:29: “He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer.’” This is a striking text if you reflect on it: what had the disciples been trying with this demoniac? Of course they must have prayed, but that is not the point being made here by Jesus.

It is one thing to hit a crisis and pray in reaction, which is what the disciples were doing, but it is quite another to live a life of prayer and have reserves of spiritual force, wisdom, and peace from which to draw when Satan is threatening. This is the lifestyle Jesus wanted his twelve to live.

To be continued.

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