“Always be prayerful” (Romans 12:12)
I came across an article written in the December/January issue of the “Christian Focus” magazine by Rev. Rick Warren entitled “A Leader’s Prayer Life”. And with the focus on the RTCA Global Day of Prayer on May 8th I thought it timely to give you the highlights of the article.
His article said that for Christian Leaders there is a model prayer from the first chapter of the book of Nehemiah. When Nehemiah heard about the downfall of Jerusalem, he prayed for four months. This was not just a casual prayer. It gives us a pattern for successful praying.
Here are the 4 secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:
- Base your request on God’s character.
Pray like you know God will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You are a God that can handle this problem! (By doing this first Nehemiah was acknowledging whom God is- and that is praise! Nehemiah is starting off with the right perspective of God. You base your prayer on God’s Character.)
- You’re great- that is God’s position
- You’re awesome- that shows God’s power
- You keep your promises- God’s covenant
- Confess the sin in your life.
After Nehemiah based his prayer on who God is, he confessed his sins. He says, “We’ve sinned.” Look how many times he uses the word “I” and “we”. He says…”I confess…myself…my father’s house…we have acted wickedly…we have not obeyed.” He was asking forgiveness for things that caused his nation to go into exile and for the sins of his father- but he recognized all have sinned and that he needed to humble himself before God and ask forgiveness. He confessed on a personal level and on a national level. Which is exactly how we need to approach the RTCA Global Day of prayer on the sins of ourselves and for our national ministry and for our national governments.
- Claim the promises of God.
Nehemiah is praying to the Lord and saying, “I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses.” Can you imagine saying- “remember” to God? God had told Moses that if Israel was unfaithful they would lose their land, and they did. But God also said if they would repent, He would forgive then and restore the land to them- and God did! All through the bible you will find God’s people reminding God what He said He would do. David did it. Abraham did it. Moses did it and the prophets did it!
Does God have to be reminded? No! Does God forget His promises? No! Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised and that He never breaks His promises or covenants with us- we are the ones that do all the forgetting and breaking!
- Be specific in what you ask for.
If you want specific answers to prayers you need to make specific requests. If you make general prayers, how will you know if they are answered? Nehemiah is not hesitant to pray for success. He is bold in his praying. Have you ever prayed, “God make me successful?” There is nothing wrong in praying for success if what you are doing is ultimately for the glory of God! If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what you are doing in your ministry, family, business and life, you should be doing something else. God does not want you to waste your life.
So read the following first chapter from Nehemiah and I pray it will help in your prayer life. Blessings to you and on your life, family and ministry or business!
Edward Smith
Then I said:
“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands,
Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you.
We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,
But if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
“They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
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