Nehemiah was devastated by the news from Jerusalem. He wept and set himself to persevering, committed prayer. Vv.5-11 are a summary of his praying over those months. Although it deals with a very specific situation, it is very important and has much to say to us.
And he is not alone is praying; others too revere the name of the Lord and are seeking him (v.11). Such prayer has a place in our private prayers but also as part of our corporate prayer.
1. The God on Whom He Calls (v.5)
As Nehemiah begins to relate his praying, he focusses on the God to whom he is coming and 2 things in particular stand out:
i) The God of Power - He reminds himself that he is coming to the "God of heaven", a title which stressed the absolute power of God. It was a title much in use during and after the exile and reminded the people that whatever power their enemies had, their God had greater.
Though they and their land were small and insignificant in the eyes of the world, the God to whom they belonged was the God of heaven. Nothing was beyond him; he is "the great and awesome God" (v.5).
ii) God of the Covenant - The great and awesome God of heaven, is also the God of the covenant. He had made a special relationship with the people of Israel and Nehemiah is calling on him not simply as the God of almighty power but as the God of faithful love. In the prayer Jesus taught, the same 2 aspects are brought together: 'Our father, in heaven'.
Knowing who we are praying to and keeping that in mind is essential to this type of committed, persevering prayer.
2. Humbled and Contrite (vv.6,7)
In the presence of this awesome God, Nehemiah adopts the only posture that is in line with such an awareness of God: he comes to him in genuine humility. He continually refers to himself as God's servant and identifies himself with those "who delight in revering" God's name (v.11).
In the light of God's character, such humility brings confession of sin, both his own and that of the people. There is no pointing the finger here, no dodging the blame. It's easy to look around and blame others for the state of the church, local or national, but the example being set by Nehemiah here demands that we begin with ourselves. Have we lived as we ought? Are there aspects of our lives that are grievous to God? Are we not guilty just as much as others?
He isn't specific in terms of sin here, which of course we need to be, but maybe that helps us. If certain sins were listed, we might say 'No, not guilty of that, so that's me off the hook'. Nehemiah knows he is part of the problem - "His own sinfulness is part of that broad canvas of wrong which accounts for all the displeasure of God which his people has known" - and we are too.
Nehemiah is acutely aware that he and they are guilty before God; they have no merit to claim the favour and blessing of God. All they can do is confess their sin and look to God's mercy. There is here no presumption of blessing, as though they deserved it or that it was automatic with the pull of a few spiritual switches. Here is one man casting himself and his people upon the mercy of God.
The fact that God had made a covenant with the people of Israel did not "dispense with the need for mercy", rather, "covenant and mercy go hand in hand" such that "Nehemiah's confession is and appeal to the mercy of God" (Throntveit).
If the church is to be revived and renewed, it will only be on these grounds: that we belong to him and he is gracious and merciful. But the condition for knowing such blessing is a genuine turning to him and confessing of our sins.
3. The Grounds for Help (vv.8-11)
Having set himself in humility before the great and awesome God of the covenant, Nehemiah gets to the heart of his prayer.
i) Calling the Past to Mind - The first aspect of his asking is his recalling the past: he "places the present need in the context of God's long history of dealing with his people" (McConville). This is something we need regularly to do and that the Lord's table helps us with.
But he does so in a very specific way, by recalling and echoing in his prayer the very words of scripture: V.8b - Dt. 28:64; v.9 - Dt. 12:5; v.10 - Dt. 9:29. God's word is to have a key role in both fuelling and framing our prayers. Reading scripture and reflecting on it should lead us to pray and when we do, we will find that we are, even without realising it, taking up the very words of scripture to plead before God.
Nehemiah pleads God's promises before him. Yes, God's word was fulfilled in the return from exile but those promises spoke of the full restoration of the people and that was still some way off and so he prayed. We too must take up God's word and pray it, asking him to fulfil his word which is 'yes' in Jesus.
ii) Your People - A key aspect of this recollection of scripture is Dt. 9:29 where Moses pleads with the LORD not to blot out his people, reminding him that they are just that, his people. They belong to him and his glory is bound up with them. Just as Moses stood in the gap and prayed, so too did Nehemiah, for the glory of God and the sake of his people.
The same holds true today, in that "now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 3:10). Here then are our grounds too for praying that God would bless and protect his people and grow his church: his glory is bound up with it.
4. Prayer to Heaven for Life on Earth
All of which leads into a specific request. He asks God to grant him success that day with 'this man'. His prayer has been getting more & more specific and finally comes down to this.
Again, we see this in the Lord's Prayer. The prayer for the coming of God's Kingdom is followed by reference to daily bread. The God whose kingdom must and will come is the Lord who feeds his people daily and delights to do so as an aspect of his covenant love towards them. General and specific prayer go hand in hand.
As yet, we don't know who 'this man' is but are told, by way of an aside, that Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king. Here we're being brought back down to earth, to Nehemiah's day to day existence.
What this points us towards is the relationship between praying to God in heaven and acting for God on earth. Nehemiah will be appearing before this man who has earthly power and influence. Having humbled himself before God and recalling the great promises of God, he is ready to ask specifically for help that day. And he is ready to be part of the answer that God may give to his months of praying.
The situation for the church in our land surely is such that we need to reflect deeply on Nehemiah's prayer and ask the Lord to help us to pray before him as those who are broken and contrite, who are believing and expectant, who stand ready to do God's will. May he so help us. Amen.
