Nehemiah—Man of Compassion and Prayer

Over the past few weeks I have been reading and studying the Book of Nehemiah in preparation for a sermon series that will be will taking place on all the campuses of First Baptist Church.

When you think of Nehemiah, you immediately think of a builder and a governor, but you don’t immediately think of a man of compassion and prayer. Yet, that is exactly who Nehemiah was.

We correctly think of Nehemiah as a man of action, a man who did something that no one else could do. He was able to get the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt and the people living in security.

The walls had been incomplete and ineffective for 100 years. Many of Israel’s enemies wanted to make sure that the walls of the city were never reconstructed. Until Nehemiah took it upon himself to care about the needs of the city of Jerusalem and the people of Israel, the walls were not rebuilt.

All of this is history, but it’s also history that Nehemiah was a man of prayer. The book bearing his name and written in the first person is a book filled with prayer. Nehemiah had a deep concern for the people living in Jerusalem, He prayed to the Lord God on their behalf. His deep devotion to God and compassionate concern for hurting people led to the amazing rebuilding of the wall in only 52 days. Nehemiah said that “the good hand of God“ was upon him.

You and I need to learn the lesson of Nehemiah. We need to be people of compassion and prayer, people who depend on God and seek His guidance and direction.

What a great combination Nehemiah modeled for us, a man who had compassion for people and a man of fervent prayer to the Lord God.

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