Devotion for Friday 21 May

Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,

Our watchword for today is taken from the Book of Nehemiah, Chapter One verses 6 and 10, “Let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to listen to the prayer of Your servant which I prayer before You, day and night, for Your servants, confessing the sins, which we have sinned against You. Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned. Now, these are Your servants and Your people whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand,” (Amplified Bible). Nehemiah served the Persian King, as his cup-bearer, a very important official role . The King was in his twentieth year of being the ruler and Nehemiah served him in the palace in Shushan. A group of Nehemiah’s family members came to bring him news of the terrible state that Jerusalem was in. Nehemiah wept and cried before the Lord and prayed that God will guide him what he had to do concerning this devastating situation. Nehemiah fasted and prayed for months and then, one day as he brought the cup of wine to the king and queen, the king asked him why he was looking so terribly sad. Nehemiah asked King Artaxerxes and the queen if the king would allow him to go to Judah with letters to allow him safe passage so that he could restore the gates of the city and tend to the graves of his family. The king not only gave him a letter for safe passage, but sent captains of the army and horsemen with Nehemiah. The king also instructed the keeper of the forest to send wood in great amounts to help with the building and restoration project. Nehemiah’s faithful work in the palace of the Persian king was rewarded by the help that the king gave to Nehemiah regarding Jerusalem and the temple worship being ultimately restored, more than a century after the exile. God used the Persian king to further God’s plans and purposes to bring Israel back to her Lord. Nehemiah went to speak to the magistrates and people in Jerusalem. He encouraged them and told them that the hand of the Lord was with him. God has heard his prayers and has even worked in the heart of king Artaxerxes to help to restore the temple. The broken people started to work with Nehemiah, for he was an inspiring leader who led by example. They started to reconstruct the broken city walls and more and more families started to work together repairing the outer walls of the city. As the project grew and the people saw their success with the help of the Lord, they were greatly encouraged. Nehemiah acted as the leader Joshua did. He came to the people and showed that he and those with him, followed the Lord. They were obedient to the laws of the Lord, despite the outward situation. God blessed Nehemiah’s work and gave him favour with the people. He also had victory over his enemies who tried to stop the building project. Peace follows where the Lord works, there where his faithful servants are working at building and repairing the gaps in the wall. These gaps can be physical gaps; gaps of broken walls and broken safety. More often these gaps are emotional and spiritual gaps; gaps of broken relationships, broken communication and broken worship. God calls on his children to stand in these gaps and rebuild the walls that witness to the safety and security, the peace and calm in the lives, minds and hearts of people – the community of God’s children.

Nehemiah’s great leadership and his restoration plan for his fellow Jews grew out of his sorrow for the the people of the Lord, who became like sheep scattered, being without a leader. Through his prayers and fasting, calling on God to listen and hear him and to give him an answer, God came to Nehemiah. God gave him the vision of restoring Jerusalem and the Temple, bringing the people back to the Lord. Nehemiah was not rebuilding alone, he had received God’s blessing and God’s blue print for his work. God gave him help and support from the most prominent king of the time, and favour with his people. God worked in the heart of the prophet, priest and scribe, Ezra, and together they worked and rebuilt the city of Jerusalem and the temple with the people of Judah and the surrounding cities. Finally worship to God was restored and exercised with great joy and fervour. Prayers change people and places.

The Apostle James writes in his Letter in Chapter Five, verse 6, “The prayer of the righteous is power and effective,” (NRSVB). Scholars teach us that this writer, James, is the brother of Jesus Christ. He has witnessed the mighty work of God through his brother Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus, when he was still a boy, after a feast in the temple, was so busying talking about the scriptures and work of God to the rabbi’s and scribes in the temple, that he forgot to leave with the group journeying home. When his parents could not find him in the group of pilgrims, they went back to the temple. There they found Jesus in discussion with the religious leaders. Jesus was surprised that his parents were so concerned. He asked them if they didn’t realize that he had to be busy with the things of his heavenly father. They marvelled at this Son of Man, the Son that God entrusted to their care and upbringing. James knew Jesus’ life was a life of prayer and constant communication with his Father in heaven. Jesus taught his disciples that without God no one can do anything. “I am able to do nothing from Myself, but only as I am taught by God,” John 5 verse 30. James urges the believers to continue to pray, for their prayers are never in vain. The prayers which are offered to God on behalf of others are prayers that are standing in the gaps. Times come in the lives of men and women, believing men and women, when their hearts are hurting and their powers and hope are low. In these times, the prayers of other believers sustain suffering and hurting fellow-believers. Through the work of the Holy Spirit prayers restore people and strengthen their faith. Let us bring our prayers to the Lord, praying for his world and her people, for his will to be done and his name to be honoured. God is love and he fills his children with this love to be willing to stand on their knees in the gaps bringing the world and the despairing to see Jesus, the Hope of the World.

Father, we thank you that you hear our prayers! Help us to pray to you without ceasing, this we pray in the Name of Your Son, our Lord Jesus, Amen.