Monday, April 14, 2008

A GREAT BIG PRAYER, Nehemiah 1:5-11, Part 1

A Great Big God

Nehemiah 1:5, "And I said, "I beseech Thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments."

Most of us have prayed many, many prayers, but I’m sure amongst those hundreds or thousands of prayers there are some that stand out in your memory. Perhaps it was your first prayer, carried forth to the throne of God by the Spirit, for salvation from sin. Or, maybe it was some subsequent prayer where you asked God to intervene in your life is some specific manner. We have before us one of the great prayers of Scripture. In fact, in looking at this prayer of Nehemiah, I’ve entitled my message “A Great Big Prayer.” It is one of the great prayers in all of Scripture...

A prayer that literally spans the continents.
A prayer that spans 100s of years and many generations of time.
A prayer that moves God to move the heart of a king.
A prayer that begins a work that will affect the lives of thousands of Jews and the history of a nation.
A Revival Prayer - And we see the result of it in the rest of the story that is laid out for us in the book of Nehemiah.
A Model Prayer - ACTS. All the elements of a model prayer are found here in Nehemiah’s prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

Nehemiah's prayer was a great big prayer to a great big God. According to the ACTS model prayer should begin with adoration of God. And, of course, we see this order to things in other prayers as well. The disciple’s prayer begins, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.” In the book of Acts, the threatened congregation prayed together, “O Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them.” The Psalms, which are for the most part prayers to God, overflow with praise to God for who He is and thanksgiving for what He has done.

Prayer is an activity of worship and worship is, by definition, acknowledging the worth--the glory--of God. As an activity of worship it is imperative that we think rightly about God. We need to think about who we are praying to. We need to see Him and think about Him according to the truth that is revealed about Him in the Scriptures. Near Easter time one of our church members shared with me that he had seen an interview with a couple who were speaking to the power of prayer. They were testifying to how prayer had improved their marriage relationship and were encouraging others to make prayer a priority. Only problem is that they said that it didn’t matter at all who you prayed to, and in fact they simply prayed to themselves. Now there may be some earthbound benefit to that kind of prayer, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the power, love, and wisdom of our creator God.

Nehemiah spoke to God by name in his prayer--Jehovah Elohim. Jehovah, Yahweh, was the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses, “I am that I am” (Exod. 3:14). It is a name that spoke to God’s unique relationship with the nation of Israel, but more than that “Yahweh” is a name that speaks to God as the “self-existent” and “eternal” God of the universe. He has always been and He will always be. He is the unchanging God. Though our circumstances may change, He never changes. Elohim is a term that is used of God, of false gods, and even of men. It is the plural of the Hebrew, “El,” leaving room for the truth that is ultimately revealed--that God is a triune God. The term has built into it the thought of power and strength. And we are reminded that God is the omnipotent God. “Nothing is too difficult for Him.” And as believers we need to remind ourselves in our prayers that because He is omnipotent, “He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20).

He is the God “of heaven.” Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven.” The God to whom we pray is in a transcendant place. He is not a god made of wood or stone. He is not of this world. He is far above it.

He is the great and awesome God. The term “great” is a particular Hebrew term which means “to be great or strong or powerful or important.” The same term was used by David when he declared of God, “You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (2 Sam. 7:22). He is an “awesome” God. The term is translated “terrible” in the KJV and means “to inspire reverence or godly fear or awe.” I like how Webster’s puts it, “Submissive and admiring fear inspired by authority or power.” In the Gospel accounts it tells us how Jesus rebuked the win and hushed the sea to calm the storm. When the disciples saw it “They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:41). His power inspired in them a reverent fear. They were awestruck by Him.

And we need to remember who it is that we are praying to. He is the powerful creator of all things who merely spoke creation into existence. He is the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. He is the God who “is able to do far more abundantly beyone all that we ask or think.” As the song puts it, “Our God is an awesome God He reigns in heaven above, with wisdom, power, and love, our God is an awesome God.”

He is the God who preserves the covenant. The term “preserves” comes from a Hebrew term which means “to keep, guard, keep watch and ward, protect, save life.” It is translated “keepeth” in the KJV. This term is best appreciated by way of contrast. Israel was not faithful to do their part of the covenant. They did not keep watch over it. They didn’t care about it, they forgot about it, they disobeyed it, they failed. But not God. Despite their disobedience, He did His part. He remained faithful, and is to this day, faithful to the promises that He made regarding Israel. He is a faithful God. He is faithful to do what He has promised to do. That is most helpful in our prayers to remember. In the midst of his great trial, when he had witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah cried out, “This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your Faithfulness.” (Lam. 3:21-23).

He is a God who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness. The term lovingkindness is the Hebrew “chesed.” According to Nehemiah 9:17 God is “abounding in lovingkindness.” The term is a term that is full of meaning and used repeatedly of God in His relationship with Israel in the OT. The term is sometimes translated “mercy” or “steadfast love,” but it best understood as the culmination of three different virtues--strength, steadfastness, and love. Lovingkindness is God’s steadfast commitment to bestow favor on His people. It includes the concept of mercy, which is spoken to in 9:17 and which Nehemiah no doubt was thinking about in his prayer.

So what we see here in these few verses is worship. Nehemiah thinking about God according to the revealed truth about God and praying accordingly. So we should be encouraged to pray to God that way. God is eternal, omnipotent, great, awesome, faithful, merciful--our prayers need to measure up to the nature and character of God.

A. W. Tozer, “O Lord God Almighty, not the God of the philosophers and the wise but the God of the prophets and apostles; and better than all, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may I express Thee unblamed? They that know Thee not may call upon Thee as other than Thou art, and so worship not Thee but a creature of their own fancy; therefore, enlighten our minds that we may know Thee as Thou art, so that we may perfectly love Thee and worship Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Nehemiah’s prayer was a great big prayer because it was prayed to a great big God. And He is such a God to you today. Only you stand, believer in Christ, in a privileged position to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace with your prayer needs. “Thou art coming to a King; Large petitions with thee bring.”

Pastor Jerry Conklin

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