Part 9: “Prayer That Honors God”
Neh. 9
Intro – today we bring to an end our fall series in the book of Nehemiah…it’s been quite a journey through the rebuilding of the broken places in our lives…in most cases it’s an ongoing journey as we move toward healing and restoration…partner with the Lord in keeping the walls of our sp. life in a state of repair…
…but the main point is that we are moving…in the direction of healing and wholeness…from brokenness to restoration…from weakness to strength…not staying broken…
…and that we stand firm in the progress we make through the strength that God provides…
Today we bring this series to an end by focusing on chapter 9 which is in many ways a continuation of ch. 8 in which we saw the word of God restored to the people of God who had been deprived of the scriptures for 70 long years…while in captivity in Babylon…
-we saw what affect the word of God has on dry and thirsty souls…what a genuine response to God’s word looks like…(attentiveness, emotional connection, understanding and clarity, joy and obedience…)
…we were challenged to ask God for a greater hunger for His word and commit ourselves to deeper relationship with the Bible…many of you committed to doing just that…
Now in ch. 9, we learn about prayer…another foundational, life-giving spiritual practise being restored to the people of God…prayer…corporate prayer…
…the word of God and prayer…what a combination…two of the most important spiritual activities we can ever give ourselves to…
…the two most important sp. practises we will never outgrow or fully master…two things in which we will always be experiencing higher heights and deeper depths…
eg. Billy Graham now 96…(Decision Magazine) asked what he would have done differently…”spent more time with family… I would spend more time in prayer, not just for myself but for others. I would spend more time studying the Bible and meditating on its truth, not only for sermon preparation but to apply its message to my life.”
* during this series I have been sharing with you my sense of God’s call to our church to deepen our prayer life…our corporate prayer life…there’s a whole new level of prayer waiting to be discovered together…greater faith, boldness, authority in Jesus name…that sees God do miracles…willing to pray God-sized prayers vs. prayers limited by our lack of faith…
…spiritual warfare praying that sees God demolish spiritual strongholds…bondage the enemy has on many lives…
* it’s a “together discovery”…gathering the hot coals together and seeing a bon fire grow, instead of us staying isolated from one another in prayer…
I am so driven by this call from God to our church that I am going to invite us into a prayer focus in the new year, period of concentrated prayer as a church body…create corporate opportunities, call us to take a step further into prayer as a church body…
I’ve said this before, but this is God’s will for His church…Jesus said in Mk. 11: 17: “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations ? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’…we can make the church any number of good things: house of preaching, music, programs for the whole family…and these are good…but the primary call for the church is to be house of prayer for the world…
Now I get it, that prayer with other people, praying outloud with others is intimidating for many of us…some of us would rather have a root canal than pray with others…but it’s time to move beyond whatever fear, excuse, reason we’ve been hiding behind…and step into a new level of prayer as a church body…it gets easier the more you do it…
I also know that some of you aren’t exactly on talking terms with God these days…disappointed, let down, hurt…or some sin is casting a shadow between you and Him and you’re hiding…
…that’s easily remedied…simple confession and asking forgiveness…come back into the light and into His loving arms…
-if it’s a sincere “Who’s got time for another prayer meeting!”…I get that too…not just about creating another church meeting…listen, many of you are already in gatherings with fellow believers where prayer could become a stronger focus and priority…small group, gathering of friends…all you may need to do is invite the others to make prayer a larger part of what you already do…”who am I to make that suggestion?” Well, I’m making it: blame me!
…we all have to decide where to invest our energy, time, priorities…let God be a part of that discussion and ask Him to show you what He wants you to do and where He wants you to be…
…open to Neh. 9…prayer…
The Setting of the Prayer 8:18-9:5
Prayer That Honors God
…prayer that God loves…that delights Him…that He responds to…
I God-centered worship vv.5-6
-read vv.5-6…
-we don’t open prayer with worship and adoration just to be polite, respectful to God…starting a letter “Dear Sir…”
-we start in prayer this way to honor Him, place Him first, declare His Lordship, rule and reign…to remember Who He is and what He can do…
-beginning with worship and praise builds our faith and sets us free to pray with boldness…
-you’ll notice as we go through the prayer that the “pray-ers” continually come back to who God is…
Prayer is not first and foremost about us…(it is to some degree, “give us this day our daily bread”… but not first and foremost)…prayer that honors God is first and foremost about God…Who He is, how great He is and how worthy He is to be addressed, adored and worshipped…
-that’s the starting place and the returning point for prayer that honors God…
II thankful remembering / review of God’s deeds and goodness vv.7-31
-prayer that honors God is not only a focus on Who God is, but also on what He has done and is doing…and remembering with thankfulness…
-vv.7-31 – long section!!
-it’s a history lesson of how God dealt with His people Israel from the time of Abraham through the Exodus, the wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, entering the promised land, the period of prophets, then ending up in the time just prior to Israel’s exile to it’s enemy nations…
-it’s a review of Israel’s history that describes with deep thankfulness, God’s faithfulness, compassion, unfailing love, provision, protection and victory…AND, sadly, His people’s stubbornness, rebellion, unfaithfulness, sin and disobedience…
-the point of it all is, despite the rebellion and disobedience of His people, God remained faithful and loving and did not give up on them, but was always willing to bless and restore them…
-couple of highlights: read vv.16-21…and v.31…
** can you think back on your life and see how good God has been to you and what He has done for you and how obvious it is that you are blessed?
…good to remember what God has done with thankfulness…good to remind God of His words, promises…what He says in the Bible…eg. when praying for the salvation of someone… 1 Tim 2:4 “…who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
-prayer and the word of God…praying God’s word back to Him…this is prayer that honors God…
One of the great faith-builders in prayer is remembering what God has done and can do and asking Him to do it again…
Hab. 3:2: “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known…”
Prayer that honors God also includes…
III humble confession of sin vv.32-37
-saw it in 9:1-2…and also in vv.32-37…read…
-this is the posture of our heart that God is drawn to…a heart that is humble and contrite and aware of our sin and brokenness…doesn’t presume to demand anything from God…comes only as a humble and needy…depending upon God for help…placing our hope in Him and Him alone…
The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:14 “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
-don’t think that confession in prayer is something you do only when you’ve sinned…it’s a posture of the heart that admits God is holy and we are not…always declares our dependence on God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness…
IV commitment to obedience
-God-honoring prayer leads to action…to a commitment on the part of God’s people to change their ways and do what God has told them in His word…
-read v. 38…
-and chapter 10 contains the details of that “binding agreement”…essentially to obey God’s decrees and commands given through the law of Moses…several of them in particular…
Prayer that honors God is prayer that leads to obedience…because God will impart His will, plans, instructions for us when we pray…when we pray with a willingness to do what He says…and that’s when we have a choice, to do what He says, or to go home and forget all about it…
2 Chr. 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
Prayer Action Plan
-we are doing something very similar here at Northgate called “Setting Your Church Free”…at a weekend retreat in Sept. we celebrated the strengths and highlights of our church’s 45 year history…and we also confessed the sins of our church and identified the sinful strongholds that God wants to free us from through prayer…
-we came home with the draft of a Prayer Action Plan that we are still working on…will be hearing more about it in the new year…similar to what we see in ch. 10…
It’s built exactly on the pattern we see here in Neh.:
* celebrating God’s goodness and blessing…
* confessing how we have missed the mark in the past
* committing ourselves to following God’s word and commands…
* Bethsaida’s story…
Conclusion and Response
-ask the Lord to teach us to pray…learn how to pray in a way that honors Him…as a corporate church body…to increase our desire to pray…to call us to a new level of prayer…same as last week with the Bible, no person can convince you to do this, it has to be a Spirit-motivated desire…
-more to come in the new year…
-I want to pray for you, for an increase of that desire for prayer right now…(show of hands)
-also want to pray for God to help our church discover the new level of corporate prayer He is calling us to …gather some of those live coals together and fan into flame the fire of prayer…
* several stand and pray brief prayers of worship and adoration that focus on God…(stay behind for prayer…)
Worship…