Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule: Nehemiah 1-3; Luke 18
Devotional Thought:
Title: “Prayer is a Priority” Nehemiah 1-2
I am concerned that too many Christians today are praying for someone to volunteer to serve the Lord, but are unwilling to raise their own hand. We have people praying that God would send a missionary to the unreached people in the 10/40 window, send a soul winner to share the gospel with a lost loved one, bring in a person to the church who will fill the vacant Sunday school class teaching position, lay upon some members heart to work as a volunteer staff with the youth group, provide a ride for some shut-in, but who among those praying have raised their hand and volunteered? In this first chapter of Nehemiah, we find him volunteering for a job that needed to be done. Nehemiah was in a position where he could have easily made an excuse as to why he couldn’t meet that need. No one would have blamed him for simply praying for the walls in Jerusalem to be rebuilt. He could have even been the messenger to spread the word about the need, but no one would have blamed him for not going. After all, he had an important job to do right where he was. He was the king’s cupbearer and Jerusalem was so far away. There were too many hoops to try to jump through to make this work; therefore, Nehemiah could have simply shook his head and said, “I sure hope someone will rebuild the walls in Jerusalem. It is a disgrace to have them all broken down.” However, we find quite the opposite. Nehemiah was so concerned that he wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed regarding the condition of the walls in Jerusalem. Nehemiah immediately took what responsibility was his and that which was corporately his as an Israelite. He confessed his sins of disobedience regarding the clear commandments of the Lord, and acknowledged that this condition was directly related to their disobedience. Then he begs the Lord for mercy to allow him the privilege to lead the operation. Nehemiah began to pray through the hoops and seeming obstacles that would hinder his involvement and asked the Lord to remove the obstacles and provide the avenue for him to serve in this manner. How many Christians use the obstacles as a reason to not serve, rather than asking the Lord to remove them so they can serve. Nehemiah is a great reminder that the priority of prayer is acknowledging the Lord and His will regarding needs, oppression, and opportunities. Maybe today, instead of merely praying for someone to meet a need that has arisen, God wants you to raise your hand and volunteer for the opportunity.
Personal Requests:
• Lord, please help me to never forget to pray, but please help me to always be the willing vessel you could use to get your will accomplished.
• Lord, please help me to never become a scoop shovel Christian who is always shoveling the responsibility onto someone else. Please help me to always be willing to volunteer for the privilege to serve you.
• Lord, thank you for the obstacles, oppression, and opportunities you bring that remind me that I am dependent upon you, but that you desire to use these as growing and stretching opportunities.