Authenticity is what a lot of Christians are going for these days.
We want to be genuine seekers of God, not compromising and not “faking it till we make it.”
It’s a hard line to walk and if you are off your line by just a step, people will sniff it out and it will turn people away from you.
Nehemiah has a chord of authenticity and as I read the book of Nehemiah, I can’t help but be drawn into his life and root for the guy. He’s a genuine man of faith, not ritual smack dab in the Old Testament.
In the first chapter, we see him hear bad news for the first time and it tears his soul apart… I wrote about this in my post titled “How do you handle bad news?”
The very next thing we see Nehemiah do is pray – and it goes like this:
Pray to Honor
“I said, ‘I beseech you, Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,” Nehemiah 1:5
We Honor God first because it re-affirms to God what we believe about Him and it re-positions us to remember who we are talking too.
Notice how Nehemiah speaks to God’s position as Lord God of Heaven and to His character as great, awesome, faithfully loving, and full of integrity.
Both God’s position and character go hand in hand. Should He be a tyrant, all powerful, but not loving or faithful to His word? Should He be unable to live up to His commitments as all loving, but not all powerful.
These are primary to the character of God and as we look upon His face and see His commitment to love us in His great power, we rest assured that we are in good hands.
Further, it gives us the perspective we need to:
Pray to Confess
“…Hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against you, I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. Nehemiah 1:6b – 7
When we dwell upon the grander of God, we cannot help but see ourselves falling short of His glory.
Nehemiah confesses his sin and the sins of his people to God (even though he’s just a cupbearer) because He recognizes that the covenant (vs 5) is a two way street.
God has held up His end, but we have fallen short and by being honest and open about our condition, we tell God that we trust Him to show us His love and grace, rather than His judgment.
Pray to Remind
“Remember the word which 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 those of you who have been scatter were in the most remote parts of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chose to cause my name to dwell.’ They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.” Nehemiah 1:8 – 10
Nehemiah then reminds God of His promise – both the blessings and the curses. He then reminds God that His people are the one’s whom He redeemed… The same people who are currently scattered in exile.
In other words, he is saying, “Please share your grace to your people, whom you love! They are yours Lord!”
Pray to Request
“O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man. Now I was the cupbearer to the king” Nehemiah 1:11
Nehemiah ends his prayer with a request for success and compassion.
Nehemiah heard about his city in ruins, and it pained him. But, what could he do as a cupbearer? Not much – As a man led by God though, everything.
As we’ll see in the chapters to come, Nehemiah isn’t just a man of authenticity – He’s a man of vision as well.
Magic Bullets
Is this a magic bullet prayer formation that will cause God to give you whatever you ask for? NO. I don’t believe such a prayer exists. God isn’t a robot and neither are you.
However, I do believe this prayer structure is good for recognizing the power of God as well as the love of God.
I’ve been praying in this style each morning during my devotions, and I like the guided structure that allows me to still be me while honoring God at the same time.
Final Thoughts
I’d encourage you to pray this way for a week and see how you like it. Notice in vs 6a that Nehemiah was praying day and night – the only consistent advice proven to work is that persistence in prayer does pay off.
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