A Man of Prayers, Part 2

Hey everyone.

I want to continue to look at Nehemiah and his prayer life, because I think that we can learn a lot from it, not just about prayer, but about our relationship with God.  (The commentary that I have been reading on Nehemiah, Be Determined, by Warren Wiersbe has been particularly helping to me in picking out some useful little from Nehemiah's prayer.  I hope you find the insight useful as well.)  We can really see how Nehemiah views God from his prayer.  Remember, Nehemiah is praying in distress over the state of Jerusalem.

Let's look first at what Nehemiah calls God:

• "Lord" - He addresses God first as his lord and master.  Nehemiah begins by recognizing that God is the one in charge and that he is merely a servant.
• "God of Heaven" - God is holy and is not of this world.  He is greater that the false gods that have been fashioned by human hands and dwell on this Earth
• "Great and awesome God" - Our God is awe-inspiring just to contemplate.  He is great and powerful and we all need his great power at work in us.  
• "Who keeps his covenant" - God's word means something.  If he says something, it is true.  We have to believe it.
• "of love"  God loves.  In fact God is live (I John 4:8).  He keeps his covenant, and his covenant is about love.

In just a few words Nehemiah has expressed a tremendous amount about his God.  He praises God in a number of different ways.  In our prayer, do we recognize the awesome God that we serve?  We should, because He is Lord.  He is awesome.  He is great and powerful.  He is in heaven.  He does keep his promises.  He does love.  In prayer, we have an opportunity to tap into the greatest power in all of existence and we would be foolish to ignore it or fail to recognize it.

As his prayer continues, Nehemiah asks God to answer the prayers that he is lifting up before God both day and night.  Nehemiah makes his requests to God and is consistent in it.  Then he confesses his sin and the sins of his people.  He takes responsibility before God and admits that the Israelites have really only received the scattering that their sins had deserved when they were carried off into captivity.  But Nehemiah is apparently acquainted with God's word because he looks back to Deuteronomy where God promises that He will gather his people back from where they had been scattered if they repent.  He closes his prayer with a request that God would give him success in the "presence of this man."  Nehemiah recognized that the king could make good things happen for him, but that this blessing he sought ultimately came from God, not King Artaxerxes.

Tom        

A Man of Prayers

Hey everyone. 

I have just returned from my one athletic endeavor of the year, Bogota High School's annual Senior vs. Faculty basketball game.  It was fun and we only lost by eight this year.  I held my own with four points and ten rebounds.  Not bad for a man of my age and relative physical condition.

Any way, I wanted to return to Nehemiah and see what else we can learn from him to help us build our spiritual lives and our ministries.  Now to this point we have seen that Nehemiah really cares about God's people.  His concern leads almost immediately to prayer.  In fact we can see throughout the book of Nehemiah that he is indeed a man of prayer.  As I study Nehemiah, I am reading a commentary called Be Determined, by Warren Wiersbe.  Wiersbe states that the book of Nehemiah records twelve prayers altogether.  That is an impressive number in a book that only has thirteen chapters.  That is a rate of almost one prayer per chapter.  It says something about Nehemiah - he understood the power and impact of prayer. 

Perhaps he was familiar with Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain."  He had something big and important to build and he was wise to turn to God to make things happen for him.  In fact, this has brought about a conviction in me that I am foolish if I do not pray.  And I do not want to be foolish. I recognize that I am not powerful enough, strong enough, cool enough or smart enough to build a dynamic ministry on my own power, but if I am not praying that is exactly what I am trying to do.  So after studying this, I have committed myself to greater prayer, and God has indeed blessed it.

Tom         

A Man Who Cares

Hey everyone, last time I wrote about Nehemiah and how he rebuilt the walls in eight weeks that had lay in ruin for over a hundred years.  Now I want to start looking at Nehemiah and what he did to make this happen.

In the opening of the book, Nehemiah is in Susa, the capital of the Persian empire.  He asks his brother Hanani about the condition of Jerusalem.  Hanani had just come from there and reports three things about Jerusalem.  First, the people there live in great trouble and disgrace.  Second, the walls are broken down and third, the gates have burned with fire.  After hearing this new, Nehemiah sits down and weeps. 

Understand that Nehemiah had risen to an important position in the Persian government.  It had been generations since the inhabitants of Jerusalem had been carried off into exile.  Nehemiah was likely born in Persia, and it is possible that he had never been to Jerusalem.  Yet when he hears this news he sits down and weeps and mourns for several days for his homeland.  Even though he had attained a place of prominence in Susa, he did not consider Susa home, nor had he allowed his heart to be assimilated into the more dominant Persian culture.  God's people lived in God's city unprotected, without walls or gates, and Nehemiah cared deeply.  He mourned, fasted and prayed for several days.  Do you think Nehemiah would have accomplished what he did had he not cared so much?  I'm inclined to think that he would not.  It was this concern that prompted everything that followed, the prayer, the hard work, everything.

As I examine Nehemiah and look at what he did that enabled him to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem, I have to ask myself, "How much do I care?"  Is my concern for God's people prompting me to pray?  Is it motivating me to work hard?  God has placed each one of us in a ministry.  In my case, it is the Youth and Family Ministry.  As a high school teacher, I walk the same hallways that our teenagers do, and I can say that our teens walk around in a culture where the spiritual walls have been broken down and the spiritual gates have been burned by fire.  They need help to build their own spiritual walls and gates to have protection from the onslaught that the world is bringing at them.  I feel the challenge of this and I want to help.  I want to help our teens as individuals, and I want work alongside my co-builders to help make our ministry here in New Jersey great.   

OK, so we can see Nehemiah begins with concern over the people of God and a burning desire to do fix the situation.  So we will continue form here to see what his concern prompted him to do.

Expert Builder

Hey everyone.  It's President's Day, and I am off work for the week.  Having a bit more time on my hands this week, you may hear from me a little more often. 

In my last post, I finished up a six-part lesson about Samson.  Having finished studying the book of Judges, I have now turned my attention to the book of Nehemiah.  I want share with you briefly why I chose to study this particular book.  My wife and I work alongside Ross Lippencott, Manami Kim and some other great disciples with the teens here in New Jersey.  Together we are working to build a great ministry for our teens.  With that in mind, I read a little booklet written by Dave Pocta on building Youth and Family Ministry.  It was very good, and he talked about Nehemiah a lot.  It inspired me to examine Nehemiah more closely to see what I can learn to more adeptly build the ministry God has placed me in.

I am learning valuable lessons that I want to share, and the truth is that we are all building something, whether it is a ministry, small group or just our relationship with God.  We want to build well.  Think about 1 Corinthians 3:10, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder and someone else is building on it.  But each one should be careful how he builds."  We are all building something.  I would assume that we all want to build it well.  Let's see what Nehemiah can teach us.

Now to understand what is going on in Nehemiah, we have to understand a few things.  First, we need to know that Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and many of the inhabitants of the city were carried off into exile.  Later the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, and in 538 B.C. the Persians allow some of the Israelites to return to Jerusalem.  In 516 B.C. the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem as recorded in Haggai, but the walls (the protection) of Jerusalem still lay in ruin.  It is not until Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem in 445 B.C. that the walls are rebuilt.  Think about this.  Nehemiah comes along to fix something that had been broken for 141 years.  Israelites had been back in Jerusalem for 107 years and had not rebuilt the walls.  Three or four generations had come and gone and no one had fixed the problem.  It appears that they had just accepted that the problem was too big to fix for generations, as if they were saying, "Well, that is just the way things are."  I'm jumping ahead a little, but when Nehemiah comes along, he sets his mind to fix this problem, and completes the work in 52 days.  (See Nehemiah 6:15)  A determined man with a great relationship with God fixes a hundred year old problem in less than 8 weeks.  I don't know about you, but I think Nehemiah might have some things to teach me, not only about building my ministry, but about fixing the 49 year old problems in my character.  I hope you will join me on my journey. 

Turning Strength into Weakness Part 6

Hey everyone.  I'm gearing up for the team lock-in tonight.  It's an awesome time.  I get to help with the inflatable jousting, whatever that means.  Can't wait.
 
Any way, I thought I would take the time to finish up my thoughts on Samson this morning.  Last time we looked at Samson he had pushed the pillars of the temple of Dagon down on hundreds of Philistines as well as himself.  What I want to do is now look back at his life and compare the life that was with the life that could have been.

All the way back in Judges 13, when the angel first appeared to Samson's mother, he said that Samson would be the one who "will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines."  Samson was the Chosen One.  He was selected by God to lead the way in throwing off the yoke of the Philistines.  Now to be fair, he did begin this process and the angel did say that he would "take the lead" in this process.  So he began a work that took a couple of generations to finish.  After Samson came Saul and David, still fighting the Philistines.  But imagine if Samson had not been so easily entangled by his sins, appetites and weaknesses.  (Look at Hebrews 12:1-2)  Imagine if Samson had not been such a lone wolf, instead having great spiritual relationships and really leading the people into battle.  Perhaps he could have led the nation into victory in just one generation.  Samson did some really cool things, but for a number of reasons, he was not what he could have been.  He did not listen to advice.  He did not seem to have any real friends to help him.  He did not take his vows to God very seriously.  An attractive women could get him to behave rather stupidly.  He seemed to forget where the power really came from (God) and believed too strongly in his own strength.  So near the end he gave the enemies of God an opportunity to rejoice.  Had he been true to his vows, serious about his relationship with God, open to advice and not so given to his appetites, this would have been a completely different story.  That is why I have entitled this "turning strength into weakness."  That is what Samson did.  God had given him much strength, but in many cases it was his weaknesses that prevailed.  Compare that to Paul in II Corinthians 12:7-10, where God gave him weakness and turned it into strength.

So now apply.  We all have dreams, things that we would like to see God accomplish in our lives.  Are we doing things that can make those dreams reality?  Or are we making the same kinds of mistakes that Samson made?  To be sure, we all have weaknesses.  We always will.  But, the question is, are we allowing God turn these weaknesses into strength, or are we allowing the strengths God has given us to become weakness?            

Turning Strength into Weakness Part 5

Hello everyone.
It's Christmas Eve.  Soon I will be in the kitchen making cornbread and pie for tomorrow's big dinner.  I thought that I would take some time to continue the story of Samson.  My hope is that soon my blogging will catch up with my Bible study.  So here we go:

We pick up the story after Delilah cuts off Samson's hair, he becomes like any other man and is captured by the Philistines.  Judges 16:21 tells us that the Philistines then blinded Samson, then bound him and set him to grinding their grain while in their prison.  But here is what they do after that, They would go to the temple of their false god, Dagon and thank him for delivering their enemy into their hands.  At times they would bring Samson out as a form of entertainment, so that they could laugh and rejoice in their victory over this man of God.  Because of his weaknesses and sins Samson gave the enemies of his people and the enemies of God reason to rejoice.  He made the true seem small, and made the false god, Dagon seem the victor.  Praising Dagon, they said: "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands." 

What I want us to think about here is how the Philistines were using him as entertainment, laughing at Samson and his God.  Samson was in the position that he was in because of his weaknesses: He didn't listen to advice, he didn't take his vows seriously, he began to think to highly of himself, forgetting that his power really came from God, not himself.  Plus, I've never even mentioned how easily he could be played by an attractive woman (which could be a whole other lesson.)  We need to think about this.  We all have weaknesses.  We all have sins that dog us and are difficult to overcome.  How much effort do we make to overcome them.  If our efforts are on the level Samson put forth to overcome, we may put ourselves in a position some day, where the enemies of God are laughing at us.  We do not want worldly people celebrating our downfall.       

It's kind of depressing, so I will try to nose up the plane a little. We know the story and its bittersweet ending.  Samson regains his faith and God returns his strength.  He pushes the pillars of of the temple down, killing everyone in it.  In this one act he shut the mouths of those who were laughing at God.  Sadly, Samson is killed as well.  But he is remembered for his faith in Hebrews 11:32, the chapter we refer to as the Faith Hall of Fame.  To this point Samson has served as a bad example.  I haven't had much good to say about him, but in spite his many weaknesses, the Hebrew writer lists him along side Gideon, David and Samuel as men of faith.  So if we have been messing it up, we can make start making changes now so that God's enemies do not have the opportunity to rejoice.

Tom 

Turning Strength in Weakness Part 4

Hello.
It's almost Christmas.  Today is the first day of an 11 day weekend for me and my family.  I have trying to get some things done around here today, and to continue the story of Samson is the last item on today's agenda. 

When we last looked at Samson he had made a series of mistakes that had risen out of his refusal to listen to his parents, a lack of seriousness about his vows to God and a lack of real spiritual relationships.  Today thoughts about Delilah and how he literally turns his strength into weakness because he forgets where his real power comes from.

The story of Samson and Delilah begins in Judges 16:4.  Samson marries Delilah.  The rulers of the Philistines offer Delilah a great deal of money to find out the secret of Samson's strength.  Delilah asks him the secret first in 16:6.  Samson doesn't really seem to take any of this stuff seriously and makes something up, telling her that if someone ties him with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, that he would become as weak as any other man.  So after he falls asleep, with the Philistines hiding in the room, she binds him with bowstrings.  Then she yells, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you."  Samson jumps up and snaps the bowstrings like they were thread.  Delilah gets angry and continues to pester Samson.  So he makes something else up, which she, of course, tries and again fails.  The third story that Samson makes up in verse 13 and 14.  If you try to visualize this, it pretty hilarious. It's almost like Samson is trying to what he can get he to believe.  Any way. He tells that if she weaves the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on a loom and tighten it with a pin, he would become weak.  So she does, and again yells, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you."  He jumps up, strong as ever.  In my mind's eye, I see Samson ready to fight the Philistines dragging a loom along in his hair.

Any way, Delilah pesters him until he tells her the truth.  Verse 16 says, she nagged him until he was sick to death of it.  He tells her that if she cuts his hair he will become as weak as any other man.  Now this is the point where I started thinking, "Samson, how stupid are you?" He has to know that she is going to do shave his head.  She already done far more ridiculous things.  So Samson gives up the one of his vows that he seemed to take seriously.

Now here is what I want you to think about.  Samson had told her that if she cut his hair, he would lose his strength.  He understood to be true intellectually and he told her any way, knowing that she was going to do it.  never-the-less, after she cut his hair and shouted, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you," he jumped up thinking he would shake the Philistines off, just like he always had before.  I think that Samson had lost sight of where the power was really coming from (God) and really been trusting the wrong source of power (himself).

It is important for us to realize that the power in our own lives comes from God.  When we start trusting in our power we are in for trouble.  Samson lost sight of this and had a colossal fall.  Unfortunately for Samson, in this part of the story he only serves as an example of what not to do.

Tom