The Passage: Nehemiah 4:7-9
The Point: Prayer must be accompanied by action.
Do you remember how much fun it was to play hide and seek? I remember…since I just played the other day and almost pulled a muscle. One great way to keep from getting chased is to just sit still and stay hidden. However, you also will never make it to base that way. Once you spring into action, you’re likely to be chased or opposed as the case may be. This is what Nehemiah experienced. He had sprung into God-honoring action and was being opposed. The opposition intensified as the wall started to come together. Sanballat and Tobiah were angry at the IDEA of rebuilding the wall and even angrier when they saw it was actually happening. They moved from verbal attack to planning a physical attack. As success increased so did opposition.
Our spiritual opposition is the same way. Satan is angrily opposed to God’s work and has been opposing it from the beginning of time. When we step out of apathy and into God’s activity, we are stepping into a spiritual war zone. So how did Nehemiah respond to the threat of attack? Nehemiah 4:9 says, “And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.” It looks like there were two clear steps:
- Prayer – This initiative started with prayer and it continued in prayer as the battle intensified. Nehemiah recognized God’s promises and power throughout the building of the wall.
- Plans – Nehemiah combined prayer with plans. He prayed AND posted a guard. Combining prayer with plans demonstrates our belief that God hears our prayers giving direction and strength to our plans.
Processing:
- Why is prayer so important when opposition intensifies?
- Why is it so important to combine prayer with plans?
- What does prayer without plans communicate?
Planning:
- What sort of plans does Family Church have to impact South Florida?
- How do you fit into those plans?