Today, I focused on
Nehemiah's 'Prayer of Dependence' specifically. As I looked at all the
prayers, in a way, all of them are a prayer of dependence culminating in the
conclusion of Nehemiah's prayer.
"We
are your servants, the people you rescued by your great power and might.
O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who
delight in honoring you. Please grant me success now as I go to ask the
king for a great favor. Put it into his heart to be kind to me."
(Nehemiah 1:5-11a)
Observations/Interpretations:
I asked myself how do we know Nehemiah showed his
dependence on God?
Nehemiah did 3 things to
show His dependence on the Lord:
1. Nehemiah acknowledged
that they were the Lord's servants.
2. Nehemiah acknowledged
that they were the people rescued by God's great power and might.
3. Nehemiah acknowledged
that success comes if the Lord hears them and listens to them.
Nehemiah realizes that it
is hard to get prayers answered if he lives life his own way
independently of the Lord. This is evidenced by him telling the Lord
that there still are those who delight in honoring the Lord. He needs
success in going and asking the king for a great favor. He realizes
without the Lord's help the great favor will not be given. This was
evidenced to me by his request to the Lord to 'put
into the king's heart to be kind to him.'
Implications:
I asked myself what are the implications for my own
life?
Instead of depending on myself to do everything, I need to depend on the
Lord Jesus to lead me in what I am going through so I can help others in
what they are going through. This cannot happen without my utter
dependence on the Lord. When I have depended on myself, I have failed
miserably.
I am reminded of the Bible verse from Proverbs 3:5-6 that I read today:
"Trust in the Lord completely and lean not on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct
your paths and crown your efforts with success."
We live in such an individualistic society that it
can be so tempting to just depend on ourselves in the degrees we have,
the money we have, the talents we have, the career we have, the family
we have, the church we have, etc. But none of these can help us
without the help of the Lord Jesus that can only come through prayer to
the Lord of Heaven and Earth as we look to the Lord enthroned above and
lift our hands to Him.
There have been many times that I was dependent on
myself to get things done. The mentality was my way or no way. My Lord
had to show me many times that I needed to trust in the Lord completely
and not on myself. I needed to acknowledge him in all my ways and that
He would then direct all my needs and crown my efforts with success.
Apart from the Lord I can do nothing of value.
"Apart from me you can do nothing!" (John 15)
The more I was
self-sufficient, the more I found myself in trouble. I am talking about
self-sufficiency without the Lord in the picture. It is self-sufficiency
that led to the Fall of humanity and sin. Yet, how many times I go back
to that kind of self-sufficiency. I thought I had the answers to change
things but without the Lord's help, the answers will not come to fruit
properly. I am reminded of God's Word that states unless the Lord builds
the house, our toiling is in vain from Psalm 127.
Nehemiah knew that God
alone could rescue His people once again.
Nehemiah could have gone
and asked the king the great favor whatever that was going to be. Yet,
he subjected himself to a prayer life of dependence on the Lord. That is
so uplifting to see him turn to the Lord in his direst circumstances and
not depend on his abilities alone. He asks the Lord to put it upon the
king's heart to grant Nehemiah the great favor. I learned so much from
the character of Nehemiah.
You too can on this National Day of Prayer. The
United States of America realizes the importance of looking to the Lord
for dependence and deliverance so a National Day of Prayer has been
declared the first Thursday of May. But our prayer should not be limited
to just on the National Day of Prayer.
I
ask you now dear friends, where is your D.E.P.E.N.D.E.N.C.E on this
National Day of Prayer?
Dear friends,
it can be so easy many times to just depend
on ourselves to get things done. We can focus on our own abilities,
degrees, money, talent, fame, etc to get things done. But as history
shows and our current generation shows, all the degrees, money, talent,
fame etc will not accomplish a lot of things without the Lord's
intervention. Only
dependence on the Lord, instead of
ourselves, can help us achieve the things of our lives no matter how
complex or trivial when we commit our works to the Lord.
I am reminded of Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your work to the Lord and it will succeed"!
Amen!
"We
make the plans but the final outcome is in the Lord's hands" (Proverbs
16:1)
"We
should make the plans counting on the Lord to help and direct us"
(Proverbs 16:9)
Nehemiah understood those biblical principles! May we
understand these biblical principles too. Jesus promises to intervene in
our lives.
Friend, will we let Him?
Or
will we be bound by the circumstances we are in and our own
self-sufficiency?
What choice will we make?
Will we continue to be independent apart from the Lord or will we come
to surrender to Him completely?
The Lord desires our
surrender. He will take care of the rest. That is exciting to know!
Jesus promises us: "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a
branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you
cannot be fruitful apart from me. "Yes, I am the vine; you are the
branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much
fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)
That is God's promise for
you and me. What is more exciting is when Nehemiah asks the Lord to put
it into the king's heart to grant him the great favor, the King does
grant it. This should
excite you and me when we are dependent on the Lord.
Friend what are you going through right now?
Do
you need to get into grad school?
Do
you need a job that pays your bills?
Do
you need financial assistance?
Do
you need a relationship that is broken to be mended?
Do
you need a family miracle?
Whatever it maybe, you can bring the situation into the Lord's Helping Hands.
He can put it into
people's hearts to grant you what you need. Yes, He can! More than that
He strengthens us and rescues us in our pain. We may not always get what
we want but He will give us what we need in His perfect timing.
My loving wife Chandra
and I had to live in different countries for more than 17 months apart.
It was so painful for me and I desired her to be next to me so I can
hold her, hug her, kiss her, do ministry together, spend precious time
together, etc but due to visa problems Chandra could not come to the
U.S. until recently. Without depending on the Lord in our lives, we
could have become distraught, etc but we knew the Lord has His wonderful
plan for our lives. Yes, it was very hard to be married and then be
separated due to visa reasons but Lord in His mercy allowed me to visit
my darling wife on 3 separate occasions where we spent precious time
together. On the third occasion, she was able to come with me on New
Year's Eve. During that time, our love for each other grew too and she
motivated me so much in ministry though far apart. In His perfect
timing, we found favor with the immigration and now she also has her
green card and social security card. Yes, there was a wait but our wait
was dependence on the Lord. Thank you Jesus. There are other areas we
are still depending on the Lord for everyday we need His dependence on
our lives.
Dependence on the Lord is not just praying
individually but involves intercessory prayer too as we learned from
Nehemiah. So many of my brothers and sisters from
Transformers small group and Oakland
International Fellowship prayed for me and my wife to be united
soon. So many from facebook and our own families have interceded on our
behalf as we all depended on the Lord. Now, we are together by His grace
and answered prayer. Thank you Jesus!
For the first time, we can come together for the
Night of Prayer at Oakland International Fellowship on N. Dithridge
Street at 7:30 p.m., as husband and wife, as the Lord leads us.
Friend whatever you are going through please don't
give up even if time is flying by because the Lord will intervene in His
perfect timing.
Wait upon Him and do not
give up. He is your Lord and loves you so much. He is your Inheritance,
Rock, Food and Drink. He will guide you in the path that you should go.
He is the One that can change hearts. Wait on Him and don't give up.
Turn God's Word into a prayer as you read it and meditate on it.
"Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge. I said to the
LORD, "You are my Master! All the good things I have are from you." The
godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them!
Those who chase after other gods will be filled with sorrow. I will not
take part in their sacrifices or even speak the names of their gods."
(Psalm 16:1-4)
"LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all
that is mine. The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a
wonderful inheritance! I will bless the LORD who guides me; even at
night my heart instructs me. I know the LORD is always with me. I will
not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is filled
with joy, and my mouth shouts his praises! My body rests in safety."
(Psalm 16:5-9)
"For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your godly one
to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the
joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever."
(Psalm 16:10-11)
God's promises are for
you and He can change hearts whatever you are going through. That is
exciting to know.
"We
may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall." (Proverbs
16:33)
This shows that the
Lord is in control. When we depend on Him it will be exciting knowing we
are in His care. May we depend on Him whatever we are going through
for He looks after us and gives us the strength and endurance through
what we face. He can also give us our desires according to His will, as He promises us.
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he shall give the desires of your
heart. Commit everything you do to the Lord and trust in Him to help you
do it and He will." (Psalms 37:4-5)
Jesus loves you not because you think you are a good person or bad
person according to your standards but because it is HIS nature to LOVE
HIS CREATION and shower them with HIS GRACE. Jesus can do that because when Jesus died on the cross to
save humanity, Jesus died for our past, present, and future sins to
cover us in His righteousness.
But to receive that righteousness in our lives we have to accept the
GIFT OF GRACE given us. It is by His GRACE we are saved not through
works so that none can boast.
Come as you are to the Lord acknowledging
your sin before Him as you confess and repent of it, knowing you need
the Lord and His grace to save you. For when you depend on Him, you will
be depending on His grace and mercy to save you for we cannot save
ourselves.
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)
