PRINCIPLES OF PRAYER IN NEHEMIAH 1:5-11
PRAYER PRINCIPLE #1
PRAYER PRINCIPLE #1
He prayed to God on the basis of who God is
And I said: I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments
(Nehemiah 1:5)
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Mt. 19:26)
PRAYER PRINCIPLE #2
He acknowledged his sin and the sin of his people.
Please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. (Nehemiah 1:6)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9)
If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear (Psalm 66:18)
PRAYER PRINCIPLE #3
He acknowledged that in themselves, they did not deserve God’s help. They had utterly failed
We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. (Nehemiah 1:7)
PRAYER PRINCIPLE #4
He claimed the promises of God’s Word
Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name. (Nehemiah 1:8-9)
Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name. (Nehemiah 1:8-9)
PRAYER PRINCIPLE #5
He appealed to God on the basis of Israel’s relationship with God. They were His redeemed people
Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. (Neemiah 1:10)
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16)
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (I Corinthians 8:19-20)
PRAYER PRINCIPLE #6
Nehemiah placed his confidence entirely upon God for the solution to this situation. He trusted in God’s mercy
O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer. (Nehemiah 5:11)
O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer. (Nehemiah 5:11)
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. Nehemiah knew that God was his only resource for success. (II Cor. 3:5 )
Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. (Psalm 127:1)
