Daily EncouragementSample

This is surely the most outstanding example of emergency prayer to be found anywhere! It was a crisis indeed. The king had questioned Nehemiah’s sad appearance and now asked, “What is it you want?” The first question had made him very much afraid, for a cupbearer who appeared less than happy in the king’s presence was likely to lose his head, let alone his position. The second question must have filled him with a different kind of fear as he sensed the opportunity for rebuilding the city of God which the king’s favour would present. In the same moment as he answered the king, he prayed to the God of heaven.

Such prayer is real prayer. Says Bishop Lightfoot, “It is not in the moving of the lips, but in the elevation of the heart to God that the essence of prayer consists.”

Such prayer reflects an intimate relationship with the Lord. It is prayer in the spirit, in “the Spirit of sonship” who calls God “Father” (Rom. 8:15). Such prayer speaks of direct access to him - a privilege which is constantly exercised. (Neh. 5:2).

Such prayer is not panic prayer, like the prayers of a soldier under fire. Men who pray as Nehemiah did pray a great deal in secret. In the deepest sense, they pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17).