Honest Prayers - Part 2

Joel has taught us to 

1. Observe the reality of their situation and let it BREAK their hearts. 
2. BRING that brokenness to God through prayer and fasting.
3. BE ATTENTIVE to God as He corrected the error of their ways and answered their prayers.
4. BE READY as God moves on their behalf and does what only He can do.

Nehemiah follows the same pattern as Joel

Nehemiah is the King’s cup bearer

His brother comes to visit him in late autumn. (The month of Kislev) 

Nehemiah 1:3-4

They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

BREAK

When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

Last week we focused on allowing our hearts to break over our circumstances. 

This week I want to focus on fasting. 

• Fasting has been practiced by God’s people since Moses met God on Mount Sinai. 
• One of the most prominent corporate fasts is the 25 hour fast of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) 

We fast

• During times of grief
• During times of repentance
• As an expression of humility 
• When we are seeking special guidance or help from God. 

Fasting teaches us that everything we have comes from God’s word.

Deuteronomy 8:1-4

“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 2Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. 3Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.

This is the same verse Jesus quoted when He was tempted by Satan during His fast in the wilderness. 

Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, says, "More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface. If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. David writes, "I humbled my soul with fasting" (Psalm 69:10). Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear- 

if they are within us, they will surface during fasting.”

Richard Foster says, "Fasting reminds us that we are sustained "by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God: (Matt. 4:4). Food does not sustain us; God sustains us. In Christ, "All things hold together" (Col. 1: 17). Therefore, in experiences of fasting we are not so much abstaining from food as we are feasting on the word of God and on Christ Himself. Fasting is feasting.”

BRING

Nehemiah 1:4-11

When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. 5Then I said,

Covenant Prayers 

“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! 7We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.

8“Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. 9But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’

10“The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 11O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”

BE ATTENTIVE

• Nehemiah prayed and listened 
• He prayed and listened for months.

BE READY

Nehemiah 2:1-4

Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. 

2So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.”

Then I was terrified, 3but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”

With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied

The Plan

• We have been reading Joel chapter 1 and 2 everyday this week. 
• God united our hearts and taught us how to pray last Wednesday night. 
• Our entire church family will fast for 24 hours beginning tonight at 6:00pm
• We will commit to return to the sanctuary tomorrow at 6:00pm to discuss what God has revealed to us. 

I Have Decided…

…to fast and pray.