Praying to God and Posting a Guard
December 30, 2001
Dear Friends,
In Nehemiah 4:9, a short, overlooked and profound passage is found which reads as follows: “we prayed to our God and posted a guard.”
As you will recall the story of Nehemiah, Nehemiah was sent to Jerusalem by the king to with the authority to rebuild the wall. He is vehemently opposed by two individuals, Sanballat and Tobiah, and their cronies. The returning Israelites are forced to complete their work in odd fashion – half of them work while half of them stand guard.
When Nehemiah finds out about the plot, he records our focus verse: “we prayed to our God and posted a guard.”
Perhaps you have struggled with the balance between faith and practical action. When faced with a situation, do we take immediate action or wait for an answer to our prayers?
The amazing thing about this little verse is how practical it is for all of us. We all face Sanballats and Tobiahs in life. We are trying to do the best we can and for every block we built on the wall, they tear two down. We are faced with the question of what we are to do about it. We can determine ourselves to work twice as hard. We can sit back and pray that God will provide and answer. Nehemiah provides us with a little key that it might not be one or the other, but both.
So many times when faced with life’s adversity, we will try to overcome with our own strength. We don’t necessarily seek the Lord’s guidance in our endeavor, but depend on ourselves or others. On the other hand, we may be tempted to wash our hands completely of the whole thing and simply ask God to fix everything.
Nehemiah didn’t do just one, but both. He prayed and asked God’s guidance and then acted. His actions were not impetuous or prideful, but an act of faith. We recall that the “faith” chapter of Hebrews 11 is not just men and women who sat around, but people of action. Abel offered. Noah prepared an ark. Abraham obeyed and went out. Sara conceived. Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and forsook Egypt. Rahab received the spies. Their faith in God could not be confined to the mind alone.
In the coming new year, it would benefit us all to pray to God and post a guard. Ask God for the strength, guidance and blessing of success in whatsoever we put our hands to do and then get to work.
“And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.” (Neh. 4:14-15)
Have a great week!
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