Pray Before Planning | Nehemiah 1:1-11
“Pray Before Planning”
Today we’re starting a new teaching series on a book of the bible called Nehemiah, and we’re calling this series Rise and Build. It’s a series about God bringing restoration from the rubble, because God uses Nehemiah to restore the broken walls of Jerusalem. The specific text we’re studying today is about praying before planning...It’s about praying before planning, instead of planning without praying. This is important because both committed Christians and people seeking faith are often planning their lives without God. Instead of turning to God, we turn to people, podcasts, books, or ChatGPT for answers. We create self-reliant plans without God, then we treat prayer like an emergency brake—it’s there as a last resort.
But what if we broke that cycle?...What if we turned to God for answers more than we turn to ChatGPT?...What if we prayed, sought God’s guidance, before making plans and decisions about our marriages, our families, our careers, our schedules, our meetings, and conversations?...In today’s text we’ll see Nehemiah treat prayer not as an emergency brake, but as the fuel that drives his planning. We’ll see him praying before planning, instead of planning without praying. Let’s turn to Nehemiah 1 and get into it. If you open the bible to the middle and keep turning left, you’ll find Nehemiah. We’ll be in Nehemiah Ch. 1:1-11. Title of the message is Pray Before Planning, and the big idea is that prayer isn’t about getting God to align with our plans; it’s about us aligning with his...Prayer isn’t about getting God to align with our plans; it’s about us aligning with his...
Here’s your context. The book of Nehemiah was written around 445 B.C.. It’s a historical record of the time when God brings restoration to his people and to the walls of Jerusalem, which had been reduced to rubble. The Jews were living in Babylonian exile for roughly 70 years due to persistent sin, until the Persians defeated the Babylonians. A year later, Persian King Cyrus the Great issued a decree allowing the Jews to return home, and there were three primary leaders who led the way in the restoration of Jerusalem. The 1st was Zerubbabel, who led the way in the restoration of the temple. The 2nd was Ezra, who led the way in the restoration of the Jewish people spiritually. The 3rd was Nehemiah, who led the way in the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem. In ch. 1 we’re about to learn that Nehemiah receives A Troubling Report, but he has A Prayerful Response to that troubling report. We’re about to learn he prays before he plans. Let’s check it out.
Nehemiah 1:1-11 states, “The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: During the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, when I was in the fortress city of Susa.” We’re getting a little more context here, a little more of a historical timeline, which is how you know this isn’t a fairytale. I mean most fairytales start without any historically verifiable facts. They start with something like “Once upon a time,” or if you’re a Star Wars junkie, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away.” But the book of Nehemiah doesn’t start like that. It doesn’t start like a fairytale. It starts with historically verifiable facts about the author, the date, and the location of the events. In vs. 1 we learn the author is Nehemiah. Most scholars agree that Nehemiah is the primary author, and Ezra was possibly a co-author. In vs. 1 we also learn the date is the month of Chislev in the twentieth year. That’s the 9th month in the Hebrew calendar, which was November or December, and the 20th year was during the reign of the Persian King Artaxerxes. Most of us are familiar with King Xerxes, who fought King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans. But King Artaxerxes is King Xerxes son, and that’s who we’re dealing with in the book of Nehemiah. So we have the author and the date, but we also have the location, which is the fortress city of Susa. It’s where the king lived during the winter, and then he’d live in a city called Ecbatana during the summer. Archaeologists have discovered both winter and summer palaces in these regions with Persian king inscriptions, which once again affirms that ch.1 starts not as a fairytale, but with historically verifiable facts.
Again vs. 1, “The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: During the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, when I was in the fortress city of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah, and I questioned them about Jerusalem and the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile. 3 They said to me, ‘The remnant who survived the exile are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned.’ 4 When I heard these words, I sat and wept.” This is the Troubling Report I mentioned earlier. The text says the people are in great trouble. It’s because the wall and gates in Jerusalem have been broken, burned, turned into rubble. Walls back then were essential, because they provided protection, power, and peace for the city. Without walls, the city and people were vulnerable to enemies. So when Nehemiah hears this troubling report, he’s filled with grief. The text says he sat and wept.
Again vs. 4, “When I heard these words, I sat and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.” Notice the Prayerful Response of Nehemiah. He receives a troubling report, but he has a prayerful response to that troubling report. He doesn’t start planning, doesn’t start trying to figure out a solution, doesn’t pick up a single tool to start building. The very first thing he does is pray...He prays before he plans...In Hebrew Nehemiah’s name means “Yahweh comforts,” and he’s praying because he believes that. He’s praying because he believes the Lord will comfort and guide his hurting heart. But this isn’t a one and done prayer either, because vs. 4 says that he did this for a number of days. In ch. 2 we’ll learn that he prayed for roughly 4 months! The implication is that he kept praying, he kept seeking the Lord for comfort and guidance. So what we’re learning here from Nehemiah is that we need to be praying before planning. We need to be praying, seeking guidance from the Lord, before trying to fix whatever walls are broken in our lives. If your marriage is broken, you need to pray! If your family is broken, you need to pray! If your life is broken, you need to pray! You need to pray before planning, and here’s why. It’s because your plans stink!...Your plans stink compared to God’s, and so do mine.
Look if your plans are so good, then why is your marriage and family still broken?...If your plans are so good, then why is your life still broken?...If your plans are so good, then why are you still dealing with the same broken issues?...It’s because you’re making your own plans instead of seeking God’s plans, and your self-reliant plans aren’t working. If you’re a skeptic, maybe it’s time to give up your self-reliant way of life that isn’t working, and seek God’s help...If you’re a believer, you’re probably praying about your broken issues, but are you really seeking God’s help with those issues?...Are you really seeking God’s plans, or creating your own plans and expecting God to align with those plans?...Are you praying before planning like Nehemiah, or praying without planning like the world?...Nehemiah’s praying before planning, and in vs. 5-10 we get a glimpse of his prayer. As we study it we’ll see it follows a similar pattern to The Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught. It’s the pattern of Adoration, Admitting, and Asking. Nehemiah gives adoration to God, he admits his sins to God, and he asks for things from God. Listen to what he prays.
Again vs. 4, “I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. 5 I said, Lord, the God of the heavens, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands.” There’s the adoration part of his prayer. He says God is great, awe-inspiring, and a gracious covenant keeper.
Vs. 6, “Let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to hear your servant’s prayer, that I pray day and night for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we committed against you. Both I and my father’s family have sinned. 7 We have acted corruptly toward you and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances you gave your servant Moses.” There’s the admitting part of his prayer. He says I confess the sins WE committed. He’s confessing both his and the Israelites sins. It’s because he knows the physical walls breaking down are the result of their relationship with God breaking down. He knows their exile is the result of their sin, and they need restoration with God more than they need restoration of the walls. When we have unconfessed sin, our greatest need isn’t answered prayers; it’s restoring our friendship with God. We want answered prayers, but God wants a restored friendship. If you have unconfessed sin, your most effective prayer is confession. You need to confess your sins, before asking God to bless your plans.
Vs. 8, “Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. 9 But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.’ 10 They are your servants and your people. You redeemed them by your great power and strong hand. 11 Please Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to that of your servants who delight to revere your name. Give your servant success today, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.” There’s the asking part of his prayer. He’s given adoration to God, he’s admitted his sins to God, and now he’s asking for things from God. He’s asking for two things from God. The 1st is for God to please remember the covenant promise made with Moses. It was a promise to give grace, to forgive, to bring restoration back to the Israelites after turning back to God. The 2nd thing he’s asking is for God to give him success in the presence of the Persian King Artaxerxes. In ch. 2 we’ll learn that his prayerful plan is to ask for the King’s permission to restore the walls in Jerusalem. So his prayer isn’t replacing the need for action; it’s fueling his actions! He knows he still needs to take action, which is why he’s praying for God’s blessing and the success of his actions.
Again vs. 11, “‘Give your servant success today, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.’ At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.” Okay so after praying, Nehemiah informs us that he’s the king’s cupbearer. This is a big deal, because it meant the king trusted Nehemiah with his life. The cupbearer’s job was to taste everything the king ate or drank to make sure it wasn’t poisoned, which was one of the primary ways kings were assassinated back then. So it was a terrible job because his life was at risk, but it was also a very critical job because it meant the king trusted him with his life. He trusted Nehemiah with handling his food and drinks. But Nehemiah having that specific job was part of God’s bigger plan, because it allowed him to get close enough to ask the king about restoring the walls. Nehemiah being the king’s cupbearer wasn’t an accident; it was preparation for God’s greater plan, which we’ll learn more about in ch. 2. We’ll see him go from praying to taking action. We’ll see him go from sitting and weeping to rising and building. But in ch. 1, there are two primary lessons we can learn from Nehemiah. The 1st one is...
#1 We need to pray before planning. – We need to pray before planning like Nehemiah. We need to train ourselves to make prayer our 1st response, not our last resort. In fact one of our codes, our core values at City Awakening is we want prayer to be our 1st response and our continual response. We want prayer to be the fuel driving our plans and decisions, because God’s plans and decisions are always greater than ours. Corrie Ten Boom states, “The devil smiles when we make plans...But he trembles when we pray!” He smiles when we make plans because he knows our plans will eventually fail. But he trembles when we pray because he knows God’s plans will never fail. City Awakening is the devil smiling at your plans or trembling at your prayers?...Are you praying before planning or planning without praying?...Are you surrendering your plans to God or expecting God to surrender to yours?...The more self-reliant you are, the more prayerless you are. A self-reliant person is a prayerless person, and your prayerless self-reliant plans will eventually fail. Michael Reeves states, “We live in a world where people believe they’re self-sufficient. They don’t need to cry out for help, and Christians are swept along. We’re becoming like busy Martha doing many tasks, but failing to sit with Mary at Jesus’ feet…In prayer we show how much we really want communion with God, and how much we really depend on him…We must breathe in Scripture, and breathe out prayer. Breathe in, breathe out; that’s the Christian life.”
#2 We need to be faithful cupbearers. – We need to be faithful cupbearers, faithful with whatever role the Lord gives us, because it’s all a part of God’s greater plan for our lives. I mean for Nehemiah, waking up every day as a cupbearer must have felt pointless. But it wasn’t pointless, because it was a part of God’s greater plan for Nehemiah to rebuild the walls. We even see this in the story of Esther, where Mordecai tells Esther she’s been put in her royal position for such a time as this, which was to save the Jews from genocide. My point is the role you have now at home, school, or work might feel pointless to you, but it isn’t. It’s all preparation for the greater things God wants to do in your life. Jesus said in Luke 16:10, “Whoever can be trusted with very little, can also be trusted with much. Whoever is dishonest with very little, will also be dishonest with much.” This means God might be withholding certain things from your life not because he doesn’t want you to have them, but because you aren’t faithful enough to handle them yet. If he opens the door for some of the things you’re praying for, it’ll wreck your life because you aren’t ready for them yet. But being faithful with the smaller things prepares you to be faithful with the bigger things. God takes all his people through cupbearer phases. So it doesn’t matter if your role is changing diapers, studying for school, working at a job you hate. It’s all preparation for the greater things God wants to do in your life like he did with Nehemiah. We need to be faithful cupbearers, faithful with whatever role Jesus gives us, and keep praying before planning like Nehemiah.
The big idea of the message is that prayer isn’t about getting God to align with our plans; it’s about us aligning with his...Prayer isn’t about getting God to align with our plans; it’s about us aligning with his...We’re often planning our lives without God, but our self-reliant plans keep failing and leaving us with broken walls. Nehemiah teaches us to break that self-reliant cycle by praying before planning. So give up your self-reliant way of life that isn’t working, and turn to Jesus for help. Surrender your entire life to him today, instead of expecting him to surrender to yours. Confess your sins to Jesus, believe he died on the cross for your sins, and seek to align your heart with his heart. Seek his guidance by praying before planning, instead of planning without praying. Pray before having difficult conversations with your family, friends, or other people. Pray before sending that angry text. Pray before making changes in your education or career. Pray before every major decision in your busy schedule, so you can have a less busy heart. Above all else, pray for your heart and plans, to become more aligned with Jesus’ heart and plans.