Rebuilding The Walls

The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”

With a prayer to the God of heaven, [Nehemiah] replied, “If it please Your Majesty and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”

Nehemiah 2:4-5

While Nehemiah was serving as chief cup bearer to King Artaxerxes in the Persian palace in Susa, he received a report on the tragic situation in Jerusalem. The returned exiles were in constant danger, with no protection; their houses were rubble; the city gates had been burned; and the walls were broken down. Although the Temple had been rebuilt, the city itself and the lives of its people were in ruins.

Upon reading the grim news, Nehemiah sat down and wept. He mourned, fasted, and prayed to God for days and weeks. But he didn’t stop there. When the king asked what was wrong, Nehemiah didn’t lean on his own understanding. Instead, he again prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah had been praying for his people for four months. But now, the original language says that he “breathed” a brief prayer to the Lord and then stated his request.

Nehemiah’s prayers continued when he got the go-ahead from the king to leave for Jerusalem. Even with the Lord’s favor and help, the Israelites had much hard work ahead. Yet Nehemiah bathed the whole process of rebuilding Jerusalem in prayer. He prayed when they were assailed by enemies from without. He sought God when derailed by problems from within. And when the enormous task of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was completed in only fifty-two days, he didn’t boast in himself but gave God the glory and credit.

Whether it is a wall, a family, a church, or an individual life that needs rebuilding, it’s not too late for God’s help. Nothing is impossible when we surrender it into his hands. The same God who responded to Nehemiah’s prayers and undergirded him all the way to restoration stands ready to help you succeed.

Father, I surrender ________________ to you. Please come into my life with your restoring power, and hear my prayers as you did Nehemiah’s. As you prove yourself mighty, may you receive much glory.

Prayer is not flight; prayer is power. Prayer does not deliver a man from some terrible situation; prayer enables a man to face and to master the situation.

William Barclay(1907–1978), Scottish author and minister