Prayer moves the heart of God.

Nehemiah 1/Ps 5 Pray and Wait Expectantly

Our prayer often sounds like this: God are you listening? Is my prayer falling upon deaf ears? I don’t see any movement from God. Nehemiah had to learn this principle: prayer warriors must be a “waiter and a listener.” We must use our time reflectively and then wait expectantly for God’s timing to happen. Like Hannah, Jeremiah and Daniel, and many others, Nehemiah did not just pray once but many days—in fact, it was four months before there was a breakthrough.  How long are you spending in a mode of prayer?

Like David in Psalm 5 Nehemiah began his prayer by asking; Lord carefully consider; or pay attention to my cry. Nehemiah knew he was a servant of King Artaxerxes but his real king was Jehovah. Like the psalmist, Nehemiah came in a mode of repentance. “I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed against you – both I myself and my family have sinned.” [Nehemiah 1:6]

Use today to pray for yourself, your family, your church, and your country. Use your time wisely. Spend time in prayer and “then wait expectantly for an answer” knowing that God rewards the godly and protects them with His shield.