[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during July 2020]
I don’t know if it is appropriate to have ‘favourite’ Bible verses – all Scripture should be of great value to us – but one of my regular visits is to the second chapter of the book of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah was a Hebrew in exile but, like Joseph and Daniel, he had achieved a position of great importance in the government of his host state. Where are God’s people in similar positions today? Has politics become ‘too dirty’ for Christians to get involved?
Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king Artaxerxes I, the king of Persia from 465-424BC. As cup-bearer he not only had the responsibility of ensuring that the king’s wine was to his liking (and not poisoned) but he also would be party to most of the great decisions of state.
Despite his closeness to the king, Nehemiah retained a great deal of respect for the monarch – perhaps he had heard about the fate of Joseph’s colleague in Genesis 40. So when Artaxerxes detected that Nehemiah was preoccupied and sad in his presence Nehemiah had cause to fear for his position.
After Nehemiah explained that Jerusalem, the historic focus of the Jewish people, lay desolate and neglected, the king asked Nehemiah “What is it you want?” I suspect that most of us would have blurted out “I’ve got a little list” but it is at that point that Nehemiah sets us an example that we should heed:
“Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king”
Note the sequence – we know that Nehemiah had already prayed at length and prepared a response but still he prayed again before answering. We do not know the nature of that second prayer – was it thanking God for the opportunity to speak or asking God for courage to continue with the request? Either way, it would have been brief and spoken from the heart. It was also successful.
We face many situations where a brief, heart-felt prayer is appropriate but we must not neglect the essential foundation of regular personal prayer and the readiness to act when God requires it.
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
