Real Hope: Nehemiah - Building CommunitySample

What Can I Do to Help?

Compassion has a way of affecting us on the inside and the outside. Nehemiah’s grief about the vulnerability his people were experiencing because of the state of the wall made him visibly sad. The king noticed and asked Nehemiah what was wrong.

Nehemiah’s immediate response was to pray to God. He does this when he first hears from his brother and again when he had the opportunity to request resources from the king.

It’s inspiring to see how Nehemiah could talk to God in prayer. In his first prayer in chapter 1, Nehemiah processes what he’s heard about the devastation of Jerusalem. He asks God to forgive His people and asks that God give him favor with the king to access resources to rebuild the gates and walls of Jerusalem. By praying first, Nehemiah had time to process the challenges of the situation and seek God’s clarity for his role.

The opportunity comes for Nehemiah to make his request to the king, and again his first response is to pray. I wonder if the prayer was ‘Help, God!’ Nehemiah stepped forward with courage despite any fears he may have had for himself.

Written by PHIL HENRY