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Nehemiah Bible Study 

A Life of Prayer in the Midst of Crisis 
Introduction: (Nehemiah asks some visitors who had just come from Judah about the Jews who remained in Jerusalem having survived the Babylonian Captivity).

"They replied, ‘The survivors there in the province who escaped captivity are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.' When I heard these words I sat down and wept, and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven," Nehemiah 1:3-4.

A. Called to Obedience.

The Hebrew word for "obey," shamea, also means to "hear." Jesus said, "Let those with ear to hear, listen," on numerous occasions.

What may God be calling you to do in your personal life or ministry? Are you listening?

"So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. Then I got up during the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem," Neh. 2:11-12.

B. Worshiped God.

What is essential for YOU to be able to worship God?

"I said, ‘O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love and keep his commandments...'" Neh. 1:5.

C. Persistent and Committed.

Name a situation in which you were persistent, refusing to give up? Have you prayed through any situation with such dogged persistence?

(The phrase "day and night" appears in only a select number of biblical texts, usually referring to continuous activity. Check them out: Gen. 8:22; Ex. 13:21; Jos. 1:8; Ps. 1:2; 42:3; 55:10; Is. 60:11; Jer. 33:20,25; Lam. 2:18; Lk. 18:7; Ac. 9:24; Rev. 4:8; 7:15; 12:10).

"...let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel," Neh. 1:6.

D. Humbled and Repentant.

My pride despises humility and the need for repentance. Are these two attitudes critical for worship and prayer? Can you see a value of repenting on behalf of someone else? (Compare the scripture below with Ezra 9:6-15; Nehemiah 9:6-37 & Daniel 9:4-19).

"...confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Both I and my family have sinned. We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses, " Neh. 1:6-7.

E. Grabbed and Held Unto God's Promises.

What are some of the promises of God in Scripture that you have held on to in order to make it through a difficult situation? What impact did that Scripture have on your life?

"Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, ‘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 outcasts are under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place at which I have chosen to establish my name,'" Neh. 1:8-9.

F. Prayed with Confidence and Boldness.

We are encouraged to approach God in boldness through Jesus (Heb. 4:16). What helps you to be bolder in prayer? Or, what do you need to "get out of your way" to be bolder?

"They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great power and your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name," Neh. 1:10-11. (Compare with Moses' prayer in Deuteronomy 9:26-29).

G. Expressed Himself Specifically.

What is your most passionate prayer at this moment in your life?

"‘Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man'...Then the king said to me, ‘What do you request?' So I prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestor's graves, so that I may rebuild it,'" Neh. 1:11, 2:4-5.

H. Took Action.

Name what it is that God is calling you to do, laying it on your heart, in your ministry in 2000?

"So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a date. Then I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, let letters be given to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may grant me passage until I arrive in Judah; and a letter to the Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, directing him to give me timber to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy," Neh. 2:6-8.

I. Gave Glory to God.

"And the king granted me what I had asked, for the gracious hand of my God was upon me," Neh. 2:8.

J. Was Ready to do Battle.

Do you anticipate conflict in what you feel called to do?

"Now when San-bal'lat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews. He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, ‘What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish - and burned ones at that?' ‘Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn our taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight; for they have hurled insults in the face of the builders,'" Neh. 4:1-5.