When Nehemiah learns about the deteriorating condition of those living in Jerusalem, he immediately goes to prayer. Nehemiah says in 1:4, “As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” He continued fasting and praying! This began “as soon as he heard.” There was much emotion associated with Nehemiah’s prayer, but the first step in his life was fasting accompanied by prayer. When the Philistines threatened the lives of the Israelites, they looked to the prophet Samuel first for prayer, not weapons. They pleaded with Samuel. “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” Paul tells the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing.” James tells us that the prayers of a righteous person can accomplish much. In my case, prayer is usually a much later step in my affairs. I will get angry, find someone to blame, try to do something about it on my own, and then I’ll get a hold of myself and finally look to God. Nehemiah begins by looking to God.
God doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way we think He should, but I’m convinced he always answers our prayers. Sometimes, God says “No”. Sometimes, He says, “Not now.” Sometimes, God says, “Yes.” Regardless of how God answers our prayers, we will all benefit from praying. Prayer will calm my emotions as I entrust my daily life and problems to God’s care. Another one of the huge benefits of prayer is that it makes me stop and think. I can’t act or even re-act until I’m done talking with God about the problem. Prayer is how I can wait and reflect before reacting or overreacting. Prayer will help me understand my problem better and bring clarity to the issues. I cannot pray and worry at the same time. Lucado says, “Knees don’t knock when we kneel on them.” Prayer also recruits God’s involvement in all my daily problems. It brings to bear an inexhaustible resource for all my life problems and daily concerns. Prayer is a clear demonstration of my faith in God’s daily presence and interest in the activities of my life. Like Nehemiah, I want to look to God first, then act. When all is said and done, the answer God gives to my prayer isn’t as crucial as my prayer in itself.
Jesus placed a very high priority on His own prayer life. He would go out of His way to find time to pray in times of trouble. This is clearly seen in the Garden of Gethsemane when he had to face the pain of the crucifixion. But we also see that Jesus would separate Himself from his disciples early in the morning to find time to commune personally with the Father. Boice says, “Prayer is important at all times. Paul instructed the Thessalonians to ‘pray continually’ (1 Thess. 5:16). He told the Ephesians to ‘pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests’ (Eph. 6:18). But especially we must pray in times of great sorrow. Jesus did! He prayed at length and fervently. John Ryle said that ‘prayer is the best practical remedy that we can use in time of trouble.’ Should we suppose that we have a better cure for it than Jesus?”[1]
[1] Boice, James Montgomery. 2001. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.