We have so many of these stories repeated throughout God’s Word. Nehemiah, which is why we have the 52 days of prayer that we are now in. We talked about Nehemiah building the wall and the whole story. Nehemiah 2:3, “He said to the king, ‘Let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my fathers are buried lies in ruin and its gates have been destroyed by fire?’ ”
What if I’m a born again believer in Seattle or Portland? I have a friends who live in Portland with a great church. Why should I be in Portland, Chicago, all these cities? Why should I not be sad that my city is on fire? I’m a born again Christian. Why shouldn’t I be grieved? Yes, I’m mad because maybe businesses are changed. I’m mad because I don’t get to go out to my favorite spot to have dinner. I’m mad because I don’t get to go shopping. But, that’s not what Nehemiah was worried about.
It says in verse 4, “And the king said to me, ‘What do you ask?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven.” You see, he didn’t want to just get money. The king says, “What do you want?” What’s his first response? He goes to prayer. Are you with me today? I want you to hear this! He doesn’t just go, “Yeah!” I hear people say, “Well, the job opened so I just took it.” You better pray. Every good thing that comes is not necessarily coming from God. Just because you get some job doesn’t mean it’s from God. And, just because you fell in love by your eyeballs with somebody, doesn’t mean that’s your wife or your husband! I have people come to me and say, “Woo, Pastor, did you see her spirit?” Usually I say to them, “Shut up! You’ve never seen her spirit! I know what you’re looking at!”
Look Nehemiah 2:8-9, “…a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest or park, that he may give me timber.” That’s what he’s asking for. He said he needed lumber. He says, “Okay, I’ll talk to the guy that runs the keeper of the king’s forest.” The king has a forest! “He gave me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple and for the city wall and for the house that I shall occupy.” Notice something! Nehemiah never asked for that. He got a house. He only asked for the kingdom to be advanced by building the wall and the gates. The king’s generosity said, “You know what? Because you’re going to take care of God’s business, I’m going to take care of your business.” Oh! That faith would come up inside the church of the remnant of God, that the people of God would say, “My God will supply all my needs according to his riches in glory! If I give everything over to God, he’ll not forsake me but he’ll supply everything!”
There is more to this message! You can watch it on YouTube at RockCCBaltimore!
