The secret of effective prayer (Neh 1:1-11)

On holiday, I visited a church and listened to the leader of the service pray. He said, ‘Thank you, Lord, that we have had a good week. Please give us a good week ahead. Amen.’ My first thought was, what about those who did not have a good week? Not only was such a prayer quite meaningless, but it also unconsciously betrayed beliefs about God that amounted to being thankful for ‘good’ things and a request for more of the same. God might as well have been a vending machine and prayer the coin slotted in. Yet, it strikes me that despite not being so obvious about it, our prayers can carry the same underlying convictions that God is there for our convenience to provide smooth sailing in life. We know, of course, that prayer is important, but how should we pray? And what makes prayer like Nehemiah’s effective?

Facing a crisis

Our reading opens in the twentieth year of the Persian king, Artaxerxes (Neh 1:1; 2:1), who is likely the one who sent Ezra to Judah 13 years earlier (Ezra 7:1, 8).[1] Nehemiah’s intense grief at the news from Judah (Neh 1:3) suggests that this is a fresh event rather than the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem some 140 years earlier. We know from Ezra 4:8-23 that during Artaxerxes’ reign the Jews started re-building the city wall and the hostile local population wrote letters to Persian officials insinuating that this was the start of a Jewish rebellion. The events described in Nehemiah 1 likely refer to the result of this.[2]

Persistent prayer first

Although Nehemiah, as cupbearer in the Persian court, is a confidante and informal counsellor of the king and therefore influential, he responds to the crisis first with prayer. Later he will show himself decisive and a man of initiative, but he understands that without God’s help he cannot succeed (Neh 1:11). Neither is this a perfunctory gesture followed by speedy action – he continues to pray from November-December of that year (Chislev, Neh 1:1) until next April-May (Nisan, Neh 2:1). This is a man persistent and trusting that God works His purposes in His time.

Prayer in the context of a committed relationship

His prayer shows that he understands God’s character as not only great and powerful, but also faithful and committed to those who respond by living for Him (Neh 1:5). Covenant here expresses the relationship between two parties who pledge themselves to each other and ‘lovingkindness’ (Hebrew ḥesed) means God’s loyal love or covenant faithfulness. Love, when applied to the relationship with God, is not primarily about the emotion but about wholehearted commitment that is expressed in action (Deut 6:5; 10:12). Happily married couples know that emotions of love wax and wane, but as we ride the waves, our commitment and care for each other need to continue through the ups and downs. Although putting love and obedience to God together may feel jarring for us, Jesus Himself affirmed the connection: if we love Him, we will obey Him (John 14:15). In His own life He demonstrated that obedience keeps the love relationship going with the Father (John 15:10).[3]

Coming as forgiven sinners

Nehemiah also recognises his own status as a sinner who does not deserve anything. He mentions no specific sin, but it is noteworthy that he includes his family (my father’s house) and himself in the confession (Neh 1:6). At the same time, he does not let guilt take over his life and neither does he cower. Rather, he turns to God in trust because he knows the Lord’s promises of renewal for those who turn to Him, and his confidence is rooted in God’s faithfulness.

While our prayers may not mention all the elements that Nehemiah’s does, the point is that our requests are brought to God in the context of a loving and mutually faithful relationship. There is no room here for demands or manipulation, but neither need we shrink back. Although our commitment is imperfect, we can approach the Lord as forgiven sinners, confident that if we come with a genuine desire to live for Him, He will not turn us away.

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[1] If this is correct, then the king in question is Artaxerxes I. Ezra returned to Jerusalem in 458 BC and Nehemiah in 445 BC.

[2] Ezra 4 quotes the letter and its reply out of chronological order to demonstrate how local hostility was an ongoing issue not only during the temple building but in the later period as well. See my post on God’s purpose in our difficulties.

[3] Jesus talks of the problem of loving parents more than Him or the necessity of hating them if one wants to follow Him (Matt 10:37; Luke 14:26). Clearly love and hate are used here not in the sense of affection and personal antagonism respectively, but as expressions of our choices and priorities.

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