“While I was in Susa, one of my brothers named Hanani and some other men came from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped captivity and still lived in Judah. I also asked them about the city of Jerusalem. They answered, “Nehemiah, the Jews who escaped captivity and are in the land of Judah are in much trouble. They are having many problems and are full of shame because the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. When I heard this about the people of Jerusalem and about the wall, I sat down and cried. I was very sad. I fasted and prayed to the God of heaven for several days. Then I prayed this prayer: ‘Lord, God of heaven, you are the great and powerful God. You are the God who keeps his agreement of love with people who love you and obey your commands. ‘Please open your eyes and ears and listen to the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night. I am praying for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we Israelites have done against you. I am confessing that I have sinned against you and that the other people in my father’s family have sinned against you. We Israelites have been very bad to you. We have not obeyed the commands, rules, and laws you gave your servant Moses. Please remember the teaching you gave your servant Moses. You said to him, ‘If you Israelites are not faithful, I will force you to be scattered among the other nations. But if you Israelites come back to me and obey my commands, this is what I will do: Even if your people have been forced to leave their homes and go to the ends of the earth, I will gather them from there. And I will bring them back to the place I have chosen to put my name. The Israelites are your servants and your people. You used your great power and rescued them. So, Lord, please listen to my prayer. And listen to the prayers of all your other servants who are happy to honor you. Help me today as I ask the king for help. Make him pleased with me so that he will be kind and give me what I ask for.’ At that time, I was the king’s wine servant.” (Nehemiah 1:2-11 Easy-To-Read Bible)
Bad news will besiege everyone, including you and I, believers. You see, we are not exempt from bad news that impacts us individually, locally, nationally, or universally. News of distress will come to our attention. News of difficult problems will be delivered by news bearing sources when we wanted to hear good news instead. News of brokenness will come to our awareness.
Bad news! Bad news will produce sadness, prompt great grief, and even unleash a flooding of unstoppable tears from our eyes. When any of those effects of bad news happens, go beyond your sad demeanor, replace your grief, generate hope to combat the bad news, put your crying eyes on pause, and start petitioning to the One who can make things better. Yes, go beyond all the negative impact of bad news, and celebrate the good news; that being that you can go to God in prayer. Yes, go beyond the bad and appeal to the good Lord to fix it, even if it is afterwhile. Pray for favor like Nehemiah. Ask the Lord to intercede with his power to mercifully nullify the bad news. Pray with others who honor God as the problem fixer, the Helper in a time of trouble, the provider of everlasting kindness, and the one who can produce morning joy after a time of sorrow.
The sequence: Bad news, pray to a big God to intervene and make things better, and then wait and see how great things can come through your little prayer. Case in point: Nehemiah’s prayer above was about 239 words, not a long prayer at all when you consider that the average number of words that people speak is between 150-200 words for minute. Bad news, look out! There is power in prayer and a prevailing theme stands out even as it relates to just a little talk with the Lord. The theme I am referring to is “small means, but great results through faith.” Do you want some evidence? Well, look at the closing verse. Have a great day. Be blessed!
“So, on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun.” (Nehemiah 6:15 NLT Version)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King