Mr. Andrew Giffen: “Prayer” (Nehemiah 1)

From the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom, we have the sermon Prayer by Mr. Andrew Giffen, and this sermon is the first in a series on the Book of Nehemiah. Mr. Giffen draws his points from the life of Nehemiah and how he approached prayer: 1) Nehemiah identified with the need, 2) he turned to the Lord God in prayer, 3) he prepared his heart, 4) he prayed in line with God’s character and will, and 5) presented his petition. On the fourth of these points, this is what Mr. Giffen tells us:

Perhaps the thing that I find most helpful about Nehemiah’s prayer is his example in verses 8 to 10, of how to pray in line with God’s character and will. Have a look at verse 8 and following. Nehemiah prays to God saying:

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.

Nehemiah appeals to God’s character and God’s promises. He makes sure that he aligns himself with God’s will as he prepares to present his petition. He is going to ask for something that is consistent with Israel being God’s chosen people, that is consistent with God’s promise to gather back his scattered exiles, and that is consistent with the name of God being honoured, verse 9.

If you and I want our petitions to be granted we also need to pray in a way that is consistent with God’s character and will. Nehemiah bases his prayer on God’s promises, and is therefore able to ask with confidence. You and I can do the same. We can pray with confidence when we pray in line with God’s character and will.

It is a bit like if you have a friend who has promised to give you a meal the next time you need one. He has promised to feed you. Well if you go up to him and say you want to borrow his car, there is no guarantee that he will lend it to you. He hasn’t promised you a car. He might be able to, he might be generous, he might think you need it and give you the car, but there is no guarantee at the outset. However if you go to your friend and say, I need a meal today. Your friend will feed you because it is something he has already promised, already agreed to. He is willing.

In a similar way, we today can pray with confidence whenever we ask God for something he has already promised. Whenever we pray in line with God’s character and will. But how do we do that?

You could base your prayers for the church on God’s promise to build his church (to save people). Or you and I could pray for ourselves and others in the church based on God’s promise to work in the lives of his people to make us more and more like Jesus (to sanctify us). Or we could pray for situations of sickness and death based on God’s promise to bring us into our eternal dwelling (the new heavens and earth, free from sorrow, sickness and pain).

It is a good discipline to think about the things we are praying for and ask how we best pray for them in a way that is consistent with God’s character and will. Yes, we can pray generally for the success of an event, or on a more personal level success in a job interview or important meeting. But actually we should be wanting the church event to go well so that God’s name is honoured, his church built. We should want our job interview to work out so that God provides us with enough to live on, our daily food. Those are reasons that are consistent with God’s character and will. And I think like Nehemiah we would do better to pray with God’s character and will in mind.

There’s some pretty sound advice for anyone who would like to strengthen his or her prayer life; if you’d prefer to listen to the sermon it can be downloaded here.