There's Hope For TodaySample

The city of David is a mere shadow of its former greatness. The walls lay in rubble. A cadre of exiles have been repatriated; a dispirited people without hope or heroes. Strong armies dominate the region, insuring that Jerusalem shall never again rise to prominence.

For the Jew, Jerusalem is an unending nightmare – a testament to God’s severe judgment. She is a bankrupt city, a hopeless shell, listless and reproached. But as another gray morning is dawning over Jerusalem, God is working for her redemption through a king’s servant named Nehemiah, some 700 miles to the east.

As Jerusalem shakes herself from slumber, Nehemiah is praying. He has been praying for four months. His plan is audacious, as are all great plans born in the sweat and tears of prayer. He has no experience in urban renewal. He is unqualified as an engineer. Nehemiah has risen to a place of honor among his captors, yet he remains a slave. He has nothing to work with, and yet he will succeed in restoring the ancient city. His success is insured before the first stone is moved – insured by four months of prayer.

No great work for God is ever birthed except for the labor and travail of prayer.