Nehemiah 2:1-6
Nehemiah took the time to pray, before he asked for what he wanted. How many times do we just ask for what we want thinking we deserve it?
Listen, if you love Jesus, then you know we deserved nothing but death. I know, that is a hard one to stomach. I also think it is key to everything in this life. Humility of heart.
Jesus died so that I might live, “oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death but Jesus Christ my Lord.” Romans 7:24.
I think in all honestly, this is the key to everything. It is a hard pill to swallow, but only because we rank our importance to the world. “No one is righteous, no not one.” Romans 3:9. I think the problem is that we are too self-involved, selfish, self-destructive, self-empowered, self-centered. Offended yet?
I only bring this deeply important truth into the light because the first step in dying to self and accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is the humility to admit we are nothing without him. The first choice of our blueprint to rebuilding was to mourn, fast and pray. This is a posture of complete humility, bowed down before God and fully admitting we need His strength, His power, His guidance and we need Him to go before us.
Nehemiah could not have had the mercy of the king, if God hadn’t gone before him and softened the heart of the human king that Nehemiah served. In fact, he could have faced actual death. That is power in Christ and we must be humble before we ask God for what we want. It also can change what we actually ask for because we see Jesus instead of ourselves. Many of my wants have changed in my life to something different because of God’s truth.
This truly is urgent I believe. I was listening to my grandkids as we went shopping for school clothes. Their endless desire for this and this and this and this and this and this has to be tempered by the mother, father or grandmother who tell them, “NO!”. We know God wants us to ask. Scripture clearly tells us to ask him for what we want. But he tempers that with these phrases “if you abide in me”, “according to his will”, “if you have faith”, “If you ask in my name”, “whatever you ask of the Father in my name”, “delight yourself in the Lord”. These phrases all have something in common; they have conditions. They are part of the blueprint’s first step. Mourn, fast, pray. Humble yourself before God.
What is the exciting news here? I mean we have died to self. It is quite brutal to lay down our lives to what someone else wants. The absolutely amazing thing is the rest of those scriptures.
“If you abide in me, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive it, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22
“If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:14
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. John 16:23
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
In my own life, when I am focused on me, I desperately fall into a crevice of anguish, lack, fear, frustration, doom. I fall into patterns of shame and bad habits. I have suffered much in this state of mind, and it honestly is a place of complete devastation and disheartening failure. So many people just ask God, then get mad when His answer is no. They think he didn’t answer. But He did, he said no for your good and God’s glory.
Let’s work on posturing our heart to mourn, fast, pray then ask for what we want in humility. I do not know how many times I have received what I wanted when I asked. But I do know that God is long-suffering and an attentive listener. His timing is never fully aligned with mine, because He is orchestrating the best way to give me what I want, help me grow in Him, navigating the best possible scenario through it, and possibly waiting for my heart to change about what I am actually wanting. There is no shame in waiting, there is no peace in immediate gratification either.
Join me soon as I unpack Choice number 3 of Nehemiah blueprint: Set yourself up for success; not failure.
Stay Beautiful,
Susanne
Susanne Moore 