Nehemiah 9:1-37 Prayer

Nehemiah 9:1-37

Praying and Repenting of Sin

This is the longest prayer recorded in the Old Testament. Therefore, there are truths to be gleaned from the prayer and the approach to prayer.

As we seek to build the city of God in the city of Rome, we have to remember that we do not do the work with effectuality. We do what is given as it is given. If work goes forward it is because Father has granted it in his grace (Matthew 16:19). If we discover good work to do it is because Father has prepared it for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).

However, when there is work to do, one of the most often reflected means of getting work done is prayer.

Prayer consists in worship (thanks and praise), Gospel founded requests with the Gospel’s mission as the basis for our asking and submitting, confession and repentance.

Prayer is not a lucky charm that is to be added at the beginning or end of events as the token “Christian” behavior that some how brings an extra measure of mojo to prevent a crappy day or crappy whatever we are about to do.

Prayer is not a transitional tool in a worship service from one event to another so that people can move around and make the performance better and smoother.

Prayer is part of the work of missions and our growth in Christ while doing his mission.

Let’s begin by noting something vital in the amount of material in this text.

With almost a 2 to 1 ratio God is the focus of this prayer as opposed to the people.

Father is exalted in the recounting of his excellencies.

The people confess their folly and the folly of their fathers.

There is one request toward the end (verse 32).

You: 1. Are the LORD 2. Alone have made the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth, the seas. 3. Preserve all of these 4. Are worshiped by the host of heaven 5. Chose Abram and brought him out of Ur and gave him the name Abraham 6. Found his heart faithful before 7. Made a covenant to give his offspring the land of Canaan 8. Kept your promise 9. Are righteous 10. Saw the affliction of the fathers in Egypt and heart their cry and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh 11. Knew of Egypt’s arrogance against your people 12. Made a name for yourself 13. Divided the sea so that your people went through it on dry land 14. Cast your people’s pursuers into the depths 15. Led them in the day by cloud and at night by fire so they would know where to go 15. Came down on Mount Sinai and gave them right rules 16. Made known your holy Sabbath 17. Gave them bread from heaven and water from the rock 18. Told them to go in to possess the land you swore to give to them 19. Are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 20. In your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. 21. Gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst 22. Sustained them for 40 years in the wilderness and they lacked nothing 23. Gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. 24. Multiplied their children as the stars of heaven 25. Brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess 25. Subdued before them the inhabitants of the land 25. Were rebelled against by your people 26. Sent prophets to turn your people back to you 27. Gave your people into the hands of their enemies who made them suffer 28. Were cried to and heard their cries and according to your great mercies gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies 29. Had evil done to you by the people 30. Abandoned to the hand of their enemies again 31. Heard when they turned back to you many times and delivered them according to your great mercies 32. Warned them in order to turn them back to your law 33. Bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets 34. Gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands 35. Did not make an end of them in your great mercies or forsake them because you are gracious and merciful 36. Are great and mighty and awesome and keeps covenant and steadfast love and do not let the hardships seem little 37. Have been righteous in all that you have caused to come upon your people 38. Have dealt faithfully 39. Gave warnings 40. Gave great goodness to your people in the land that they have squandered that you set before them 41. Were not served or turned to by your people although you disciplined them 42. Gave land and good gifts to your people who are now slaves in that land you gave them because of their sin 43. Have set kings of other nations over them who take the yield of the good land given to the people and rule over the lives of the people

They: 1. Egyptians acted arrogantly toward God’s chosen 2. Went through the midst of the sea on dry land 3. Were given the way to go 4. Acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments 5. Refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders your performed among them 6. Stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt 7. Made themselves a golden calf as their god 8. Given the way to go in 9. Took possession of the land 10. Were given kings, lands and peoples that they might do with them as they would desire 11. Captured fortified cities full of good things they did not have to work for 12. Ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in God’s great goodness 13. Were disobedient and rebelled against the LORD and cast his laws behind their backs. 14. Killed the LORD’S prophets 15. Committed great blasphemies 16. Cried to the LORD 17. Had rest 18. Did evil again 19. Turned and cried to the LORD 20. Acted presumptuously and did not obey the LORD’S commandments and sinned 21. Did not serve the LORD or turn from their wicked works.

So, what do we learn from this text about prayer while we are building the city of God in the city of Rome?

1. Prayer must be informed by Scripture 9:3

Scripture reading/study and Prayer are twin disciplines that must go together. Muller found that he could not pray effectively unless he prepared his heart through the reading of Scripture and kept the Scriptures open in front of him. He would trail off into sleep, or he would begin to think about his day’s schedule or requests that were petty and not centered on the Gospel.

Prayer is not given as a means to get anything we want to ask for. Prayer is a practical ministry tool to get the mission done.

The only guarantee we are given about prayer is that all requests in “Jesus’ name” will be granted because God is a good Father who loves his kids and desires to give them good things.

The questions are “what is Jesus’ name?” and “what is good for me?”.

Jesus’ name is very clearly what represent’s Jesus’ mission, and therefore has his name attached to it. To speak in the name of another is a claim to represent that person and their business as an ambassador comes to a foreign country in the name of the president of the country that he comes from and represents that president’s agenda and not his own.

What is good for me is also very clearly what represents Jesus’ mission and therefore fulfills Jesus’ created purpose in me, his creature. Good is defined by God as fulfilling man’s created purpose of making much of God on a global scale.

There are some things that are very clearly going to be answered as we pray. Such are great commission focused prayer, and evangelistic prayer for the lost. (overcome unbelief so that the Gospel may be seen and believed upon) (If you would save this person, overcome their unbelief and hardness of heart that they may believe and be saved)

Some things may not be answered. (requests to avoid suffering). Jesus himself prayed for the cup of the cross to be bypassed but submitted to Father’s will not his flesh’s desire to avoid the suffering of the cross.

We must begin to allow Scripture to inform our asking and interpret Father’s answer according to Scripture. If he does not answer in the affirmative, we do not get bitter and angry and walk away. We bend the knee and trust his goodness to us and worship.

2. Prayer must be Gospel focused in our requests 9:32
This lone request, in the entire prayer, comes toward the end and is a plea for the work of God to not be forgotten and neglected by God while they are subjected to foreign kings.

This is a Gospel plea. This is NOT a request for delivery. This is a request that Father NOT regard the subjection lightly, but that Father remember his covenant promise and cause the promise to Abraham to be completed.

If Father treated their subjection to other kings lightly, he would be neglecting the promise because he would be putting a Persian fence around the promise.

If Father treats their subjection with the utmost sincerity the Persian subjection is just a temporary blip that will be over at some point so that the mission can go forward.

In essence, the request is that the mission would go forward and that Father not forget the mission.

A. Prayer must focus on the person of God (who is Jesus) and his character
1. This is the basis of all our confidence that what we ask that is his
will get done.
B. Prayer must focus on the mission of God and his means of doing the
mission
1. This is the tangible ministry factor of prayer
a. (Habakkuk 2:4) “...the righteous will live by faith.” We
wait trusting that although things seem counter to what
is to be the tide will turn in God’s promised time.

3. Prayer must be honest about sin
We must not gloss over our sin before Father. We cannot hide details.

We don’t inform God in our confession of our behavior. We are exercising honesty before Father.

1 John 1:9 does not teach that confession is effectual. It teaches that confessing people are the one’s who know they possess eternal life. Persistent and unrepentant sin is not the mark of a Christian (1 John 3:6, 9).

4. Prayer must display repentance 9:1, 2, 38
The people came with fasting, sackcloth and dust on their heads. This was a way of showing mourning and humility. The people made a resolution to keep the covenant faithfully.

With the external methods the people were confessing they and their fathers were guilty.

With the covenant they were turning their behavior to the proper direction.

Their confession led to their action.
We can’t be satisfied with just saying we messed up, but our confession must lead to actions to correct one’s behavior.

Not just feeling bad about sin
2 Corinthians 7:10 says that worldly grief produces death. The reason is that it does not take into account Jesus’ work as our “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3) who takes our sin and gives us his righteousness so that we can move from sorrow to salvation, forgiveness, new life and joy.

Not self-righteous repenting
We don’t seek to uncover other people’s sins and bring them to God (Luke 18:9-14)

Not Gospel denying repentance
This is where people try to earn favor with God or feel better if they make themselves suffer somehow for their sin by punishing themselves or want to view hard things that happen as God getting even. They actually feel better.

This denies the effectiveness of the cross.

We don’t seek to pay God back. Rather, when we sin, we are sorrowful, repent immediately and enjoy the good God gives because of Jesus’ perfection imputed to us and enjoy the fact that I am not guilty.

This is why Luther said that when one sins, sin mightily (explain that this is not a license to sin, but a recognition that when we do sin God’s grace is greater than the might of my sin)




Application
1. Read the Scriptures to learn God, his mission and how to pray
2. Pray for Jesus’ things
3. Base your appeal on the advance of the Gospel and bend the knee to the sovereign goodness of God and rejoice
4. Tell Father your dirt
5. Repent from eating dirt and feast on the Gospel
6. Make all necessary adjustments to run toward the Gospel
A. 1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest
after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
B. Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for
the flesh, to gratify it’s desires.