![]() When Nehemiah answered the king, it was boldly in faith. Therefore, ‘in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God’ ( Php. We must work, and sleep, and do many other things, but all things should be done as if in the very presence of God-for we are in His presence. The same urgent readiness is implied in Paul’s exhortation to ‘pray without ceasing’ (I Thes. 12:12 “The words ‘continuing instant in’ represent just one Greek word, meaning, literally, ‘ever enduring in.’ The picture is one of being always ready to pray, whenever the need appears. Instead of blurting out words, Nehemiah silently prayed for God’s favor and to guide his presentation. We can imagine what all was racing through Nehemiah’s mind when the king asked “What do you request?” (2:4). Maybe Nehemiah was afraid the king might think he had rebellion in mind. ![]() Perhaps he was not opposed to a wall-just swayed by the liberal press. Maybe there was more staring at Nehemiah’s faith: Artaxerxes was the very Persian king who had ordered work on the walls to be halted (Ezra 4:21-23)! To be fair, the king may have acted out of just keeping the peace during the confusion caused by the rebellion of Megabyzes. Persian kings believed that just being in their presence was enough to make anybody’s day, so being sad was an insult! And here Nehemiah was just itching to ask the king to let him go to Judah. That made Nehemiah “dreadfully afraid”! Why if he had such a good relationship with the king? The king asked Nehemiah why he looked so sad, when he had never seen him like that before. “Nehemiah did not ask in haste but carefully bided his time, constantly praying to God to grant the proper opening” ( Expositor’s Bible Commentary).įour months later the Master Timer granted the opening! Nehemiah may have received his position thanks to Queen Esther (479 B.C.) who may have still been alive, and he wouldn’t want to bring discredit to her. Archeology shows an Assyrian cupbearer commanded the fourth highest salary in the kingdom, and a Persian one was no doubt just as valuable. He had to always be deserving of the unreserved confidence of the King. He controlled personal access to the King and couldn’t abuse his. No, as a cupbearer Nehemiah was well-trained in court etiquette. Great, it’s who you know! Just go tell him! Nehemiah asked God specifically for favor with “this man”: King Artaxerxes I Longinum. When we pray “thy kingdom come,” oh, if only it could be today! We must not grow weary and scoff. He showed he was willing to patiently wait on God for the proper when, but he boldly asked if it could be “this day.” Likewise, when we pray for healing, we leave it up to YHVH Ropha for how and when, but why not hope for right away. It appears he asked this each day for the long period he was fasting and praying. Nehemiah asked to “prosper this day” (1:11).At times we may become the answer to our own prayers! Nehemiah was in tune with God’s desires and timing and the result was his prayer that was according to God’s will.Like Daniel who served in Babylonian and Persian government and died about 85 years earlier, Nehemiah humbly confessed the sins of his and his people (Daniel 9).Nehemiah needed to remind himself of the greatness of the Being he was privileged to pray to. ![]() Not because God forgets or needs to be buttered up.
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