Nehemiah

Part 2: Proper Prayer And Planning

Before We Start A Work…

• Every good work we endeavor for the Lord should begin with prayer.

• Next it needs careful planning.• Is it God’s work? If so it won’t

fail.• How many endeavors never

mature because they weren’t God’s work and didn’t begin in prayer?

A Season For Prayer

• Some historical considerations

• Jerusalem fell in 586 B.C.• 50 years later 50,000 Jews

returned.• Nehemiah begins in the

20th year of Artaxerxes – 141 years after the fall.

• That’s a long time!

After He Learns Of Jerusalem’s Woes…

• Nehemiah 2:1 – “And it came about in the month of Nisan….”

• 4 to 5 months after meeting with Hanani in the month of Chislev

• Notice: Artaxerxes had stopped the work in Jerusalem years earlier.

• Ezra 4:21

How Did Nehemiah Proceed?

• Prayer and fasting• Neh. 1:6 – “…let Your

ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants….”

Hiding His Feelings

• Dangers of being a cupbearer.

• Nehemiah 2:1-2 – “…now I had not been sad in his presence. So the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.’ Then I was very much afraid.”

Prayer Should Begin All Works

• Matthew 21:22 – “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

• 1 Peter 3:12 – “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Answers To His Prayers

• Nehemiah 2:4-6 --Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.

And for credentials…

• Nehemiah 2:7-8 – “…let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River…to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams”…And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.”

And a small army…

• Nehemiah 2:9 – “Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.”

Making Careful Plans

• Figure it out before you talk it up.

• Nehemiah 2:11 --So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

Quiet Evaluation

• Nehemiah 2:12-16• Inspected walls at night

by himself.• Took stock of the rubble

and destruction.• Knew what was needed

before ever presenting himself to the rulers and workers.

Get To Work

• Nehemiah 2:17-18 -- Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.”