Asking God to Act: a reflection on Nehemiah 1

“‘Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.’ I was cupbearer to the king.” (Nehemiah 1:11)

At the end of his prayer in chapter 1, after praise to God and confession of sin, Nehemiah finally calls upon God to act. Asking God to both hear and respond, Nehemiah lays before God specific requests for favor with King Artaxerxes (called “this man” in his prayer). Nehemiah would, in a sense, be taking his life into his own hands by approaching the king. If the king didn’t respond well, Nehemiah could not only lose his job as cupbearer, a role with specific responsibilities and special honor, but also could lose his life. He is asking God for something amazing and beyond his own capabilities.

It is not that Nehemiah is so great, but that he has faith in a great God. Nehemiah prays out of a broken heart and in the face of a broken world, trusting that God will do something. He may be a part of it, or he may not, but Nehemiah brings it to God. As A. W. Tozer, a writer and pastor from the 20^th century, once wrote: “God is looking for those with whom He can do the impossible – what a pity that we plan only the things that we can do by ourselves.”

It is not us and our power that is key. Neither is it our eloquent words that are effectual, no matter how important words might be. Prayer is powerful because God is powerful, and God has so ordained to make prayer a channel of His work.  Unfortunately, we do not always avail it as much as we can. I love the prayer of Martin Luther King, Jr., on this theme, that reminds me of Nehemiah: 

“Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.”

Nehemiah, like others, including MLK, became the answers to their own prayer. Perhaps we may have some prayers like that in us, just as Nehemiah did in his time. And perhaps we, too, may become part of God’s answers to our own prayers.