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Nehemiah's Legacy: A Biblical Model of Prayerful Leadership in Nehemiah 1
May 29, 2025 · 15 min
Explore the defining traits of Nehemiah's intercessory prayer that exemplify his effectiveness as a leader and servant of God.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand May 29, 2025 · 15 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
Explore the defining traits of Nehemiah's intercessory prayer that exemplify his effectiveness as a leader and servant of God. ...more Show the full description Show less Explore the defining traits of Nehemiah's intercessory prayer that exemplify his effectiveness as a leader and servant of God.
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Nehemiah: A Man of Prayer and Leadership 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning. Today, we're gonna begin 1 of my favorite books of the Bible. That is the book of Nehemiah. We're gonna look at chapter 1 verse 4. So it was0:21 when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah, is 1 of the last of the historical books of the Old Testament. There0:32 are, other prophetic books written after Nehemiah, but this is the very last 1 written while the children of Israel about the children of Israel after their time of captivity. Now it covers 40:44 45 BC to 4 25 BC. The author is widely believed to be Nehemiah himself, although Jewish tradition says it was Ezra that wrote the book. If Ezra0:56 did write it, he, would have used Nehemiah's journals because we see, first person reference, in the book. After 7 years of captivity in Babylon, by1:08 way of review here, the Jews went back to Jerusalem in 3 different ways under 3 different men. You recall the first was under Zerubbabel, who led the rebuilding of the temple. That first wave went back1:20 in 5 36 BC after the decree of Cyrus. Then, not quite a hundred years later, but considerable time later, 4 57 BC, Ezra led the second1:31 group followed by Nehemiah in 4 44 BC, 13 years later. Now that was that that third wave, as we'll see here with Nehemiah, were the ones that rebuilt the wall and fortified the1:43 city. Ezra was a priest, great grandson of Hilkiah, the priest who a hundred and 60 years previously had helped Josiah in his reformation of the people or of the nation.1:56 Nehemiah was a civil leader. He was the cupbearer to king Artaxerxes, who was the stepson. Artaxerxes was the stepson of, queen Esther. And2:08 most likely, she was still alive at this point. Now little is known about Nehemiah's genealogy, but some scholars believe that he was a tribe of Judah, a descendant from the line of David, the royal family.2:21 What we know for sure is that Nehemiah's burden for his people led to him being elevated to the position of governor of Judah. And we will see that Nehemiah was a man of prayer. He was a man of purpose, a2:32 man of preparation, a man of persistence, passion, and principle. Nehemiah was skilled in leadership and organization, and this book is an excellent, study2:44 in leadership ability. Now in the first chapter, we discover 1 of the most important and, I think, defining traits of Nehemiah, and we're gonna see it throughout the rest of the book, and that was he2:56 was a man of prayer. As we go through this short chapter, I I want us to look at 4 characteristics of Nehemiah's prayer that I think were central to his effectiveness. Alright. Verse3:08 1, chapter 1. The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hechaliah, It came to pass in the month of Kislev in the twentieth year I was in Sushan, the citadel. Then3:20 that Hananiah, 1 of my brethren, came with men from Judah, and I asked him concerning the Jews who had escaped and who had survived the captivity concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, the survivors who are left from3:30 captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The walls of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire. Now let me stop there for just a moment. About a3:42 hundred years had passed since the Jews had first returned to Jerusalem, yet little progress had been made in rebuilding the walls and the city. Why? Now Ezra returns3:54 and challenged them with the word of God, but something was missing. From Daniel until now, we've not seen the focus on persistent and prevailing prayer.4:06 What I believe we see here in Nehemiah is that it took the combination of the word, which Ezra brought brought 13 years previously, and Nehemiah's prayer4:18 according to the will of God and the word of God to accomplish what they had been able unable to do for a hundred years. It was the combination of the word and prayer. Verse 4. So it was, when I heard these words that I4:30 sat down and wept and mourned for many days, I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. First, we see the purpose of his prayer. We see this in verse 3 and 4 and also in chap in verse 6. It was4:41 interceding for others. He he was not affected by this. Right? He was fine. He was the cup bearer to the king. He had everything he needed. But, you know, 1 of the longest recorded prayers in the4:55 pray know who he's praying for? He's praying for you. He was praying for his disciples and those who would follow him throughout history. Seeing the persecution, the hatred, and the challenges that his followers would5:07 face throughout time, he prayed for our spiritual security, our unity, our joy, our protection from Satan, our sanctification by the word of God. He's he's there at the right5:19 hand of the father. He's not affected by this, but he's interceding for us, and he continues to do that as we read in Romans 8 43. It says, who is he who condemns? Is it5:31 Christ who died and therefore is also risen who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us? Alright. Verse 5, and I said, I pray, lord god of heaven, oh great and awesome god, you who keep5:43 your covenant and mercy with those who love you and observe your commandments, please let your ear be attentive and your eyes open that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray5:55 before you now day and night for the children of Israel, your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you, both my father's house and I have6:07 sinned. Now the second aspect is the posture of his prayer. Now I'm not talking necessarily about his physical posture, although I think that's important. It was the humbling of himself before god.6:18 Reflecting our total and absolute dependence upon god is critical, and fasting is the way that we do that. We humble ourselves before god. Second chronicles 7 14, bow the knee that we're to we're called to to6:30 seek his face, to humble ourselves, and to seek his face and turn from our wicked ways. Few things remind us of our human frailty and dependence upon God more than hunger. It's also a visible6:42 display before God of our priorities, placing our spiritual need for him before our most basic need of food. And then we see his persistence in prayer before god. I prayed before6:54 you now day and night. You know, we have to overcome our spiritual ADD ness. Alright? We must learn to deal with the distractions that keep us from seeking god and7:06 focusing upon him. Again, it comes back to desperation. How desperate are we to see God move? How desperate are we to see God move in the lives of our children or our grandchildren or in7:17 our communities? In Luke 18 verses 1 through 8, Jesus tells a parable, and I think it's instructive about the persistence of prayer because it says then7:29 he spoke a parable then that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. We won't get discouraged. We won't be anxious if we're praying and seeking God. Persistence in prayer7:41 is key to prevailing through prayer. Verse 7. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statues, nor the ordinances which you commanded your servant Moses.7:53 Remember, I pray the word that you commanded your servant Moses saying, if you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though8:05 some of you were cast out to the farthest parts of the heavens yet, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for my name. Now notice the8:16 pattern of his prayer here in in verses 5 through 7. Appealing to god's mercy and character. Lord God of heaven, oh, great and awesome8:28 God, you who keep your covenant and mercy. He's calling upon the character of God, appealing to his character, seeking to defend the character of God is another key to effective prayer. Abraham did this8:40 in in Genesis 8 28 when he was interceding for, Sodom and Gomorrah. Far be it from you to do such a thing to slay the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous should be as the wicked. Far8:52 be it from you shall not the judge of all the earth do right. Moses did the same thing in interceding for the children of Israel, appealing to god's character and his reputation in Numbers chapter 14. And then9:04 he's confessing the sin of the people, confesses confessing the sin of the children of Israel. We must confess our sins, acknowledging that we have done wrong. We take ownership for where we are and the plight9:16 that we're facing, and then god will be ready to forgive. And and this is critical here, verses 8 and 9. He is praying according to the word and the promises of9:27 God. Now we're told in John that if we pray anything according to the will of God, we know that he hears us. And if he hears us, he will answer us. Isaiah 55 119:39 says, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish while I please, and it shall prosper in the thing that I send it. We know that God's word will accomplish9:49 what God has said it would do. Matthew 25 35 says that heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. We need to pray the word of God10:01 because that is his will. We need to pray into that. Verse 10. Now these are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. Oh, lord, I pray, please let your10:13 ear be attended to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who desire to fear your name and let your servant prosper this day, I pray, and him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the10:25 king's cupbearer. So 1 final aspect of this prayer is that he personalizes it. Right? He identifies with those who are in distress. You know, in verse 6, he says, both my father's house10:37 and I have sinned. When we look around us and we see the spiritual distress, we all have contributed to it either by what we've done or not done. And so10:49 we're we're all in this together, and we need to we need to come before God identifying. Daniel did this. This is the the key of an effective prayer. And then, finally, he he presents11:00 himself as a solution. Nehemiah heard the devastation of the city and the distress of the people, and he was moved with compassion and concern so much so that he fasted. He prayed that god would present11:12 a solution and heal the land. He followed god's prescription, humbling himself, seeking the face of god, and confessing sin as we see, as I mentioned earlier, in second11:24 Chronicles 7 14. And during the course, it was a 4 month period that we'll see between chapter 1 and chapter 2, actually 4 and a half months. During this 4 and a half month period, god taps Nehemiah on the shoulder,11:36 speaking to his spirit, saying he is to be a part of the solution. So at the end of this chapter, we see Nehemiah's here am I, send me moment. Oh, lord, I pray,11:48 let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who desire to fear your name, who who want to fear your name, who want to live in alignment with your word and your12:00 will, and let your servant prosper this day. I pray and grant him mercy in the sight of the of the man that was the king, for I was the king's cupboard. So he's saying, lord, the12:12 lord had obviously spoken to him, given him a plan as we'll see in the next chapter. And so he said, lord, give me favor. I I I I will go. I will be a part of answering12:24 the prayer, and that's where we need to be. We need to be willing as we pray and and we the Lord moves on our heart and we cry out. We need to be willing to allow it doesn't happen all the time, but it12:36 may. God may say, okay. I hear your prayer, and I want you to be a part of the solution. What a privilege to be a part of what god is doing. Father, we thank you for your word, and12:48 I thank you for this book of Nehemiah. What an amazing man he was, and what an example of leadership of humility and of effective prayer. In other words, as the13:00 the the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. Lord, I pray that as we're clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, lord, we have that righteousness, but teach us how13:12 to pray effectively so that our prayers would bring about much. We thank you, Lord, again for your word. May the Holy Spirit continue to lead us lead us on this journey. We pray in13:24 Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And, let me again remind you coming up, June the eleventh is our 21 day Matthew Bible Challenge for the family.The Power of Habitual Bible Reading 13:36 I know you're already on this journey, but maybe you wanna challenge your kids, your grandkids to join with you, or maybe you take this to your small group, Sunday school group, take it to your pastor. We wanna get as13:48 many families as possible as we begin the month of June in the Bible reading it together. And here's the old secret. It takes about 18 days to to form a14:00 habit. What if after 21 days of reading the Bible that families developed that habit, and they continued to read through the Bible. It would have a14:11 tremendous impact on families all across this nation. So pray with us that, we would see many, many families join in this 21 day Bible challenge and share it with as many people.14:23 As you know, all they need to do is text the word Matthew to 6 7 7 4 2. That's Matthew 6 7 7 4 2, and we'll send a link with information. Alright. Until next14:35 time. Keep standing on the word.14:39 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day,14:51 you can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Nehemiah: A Man of Prayer and Leadership13:25 The Power of Habitual Bible Reading
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