“They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. Please, Lord, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.” Now I was the cupbearer to the king. And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. So, the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. And I said to the king, “May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So, it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.” (Nehemiah 1:10-2:6 New American Standard)
In my preparation to teach a couple of Bible Study classes this week, I looked at the passage above. It is, as you can tell, from The Book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah had started praying in the November- December timeframe, in the month of Chislev. When he gets the desired answer to his prayer, it is in the in the March-April timeframe, in the month of Nisan. Approximately four months passed before Nehemiah got his answer. In the meantime, Nehemiah kept praying day and night. Note: This does not mean he only prayer twice. That’s something you should get a lesson related to prayer.
Now, while I want to advise you to remain persistent in prayer, I am led this morning to share with you something additional beneficial about “The Two Rooms.” You see there is the “room” in which you petition God and there is a “room” where you get the answer to your prayer. Let me name the rooms. There is the Prayer Room and there is the Waiting Room. Know that sometimes after you pray, in the Praying Room, “He may not come when you want Him to, but He is always right on time.” Furthermore, while you are waiting, keep praying even when you are in the Waiting Room. And, s you can tell from the text, there is more to it when you are in the “Waiting Room.” Like Nehemiah, keep doing your job. Keep aiming for excellence in doing your job, whether it be in your work or your witness. Waiting does not mean you stop working. Amen!
My friend, when you find yourself in the Waiting Room after spending a lot of time in the Prayer Room, as one old preacher used to say, “Keep on keeping on.” In other words, keep doing what you are expected to do. Hope I made this plain and simple. Think about it! Be lifted up! Have a great day! Be blessed!
“Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.” (Romans 12:11-13 The Message Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King