Nehemiah Nehemiah was one of those Israelites who had been taken into exile. Things had worked out ok for him. He was reasonably comfortable, had a good job actually working in the kings palace. He could quite easily have ignored the plight of those of his countrymen less fortunate than himself. But no. He was concerned about them and so when opportunity arises he enquired. And the answer upset him! His response? He wept, mourned, fasted and prayed. Ch. 1:1-4. Question. Are we concerned about those members of the body of Christ who are less fortunate than we are? Do we enquire about their welfare? When we hear of their loss, illness, dangers in which they live, deprivation and persecution what do we do about it? When one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers, Ps. 137:1-5, 1Cor.12:26. If I carry part of the burden someone else doesn’t have to carry that part. Once we have the knowledge we also have the responsibility to act. Follow Nehemiahs’ example. Vs. 5-11. His reaction started with grief but did not end there. He prayed. His prayer consisted of: Confession. Acknowledging the reasons for Israel’s predicament. Acknowledging that he was no better than the rest of them. Reminding God of is promise to His people. 2 Chron. 7:17. Nehemiah was so concerned that the King noticed and asked what was wrong. Nehemiah could have muttered something about having an off day or something similar but he had the courage to be honest with the king, even though he ‘was very much afraid’, 2:2. We know the outcome. The wall was rebuilt. Pride was restored. The word was read and a people brought back to God. All as a result of one mans concern to ask how his fellow countrymen were getting on! Question. God is looking for someone to carry out a task. Are you available? Will God find you? We all have lots of knowledge about the state of our church and our world. What is our response to that knowledge? Can we preach? Can we teach? Can we go? Someone has said ‘a seeking saviour and a seeking sinner will soon meet’! In the same vein can we say ‘a seeking foreman and a seeking laborer will soon meet? God looked and found Nehemiah. SAMPLE On another occasion He looked and found no one, Ezek. 22:30! Note: There are seven references to prayer in the book of Nehemiah, 1:4, 1:6[2], 2:4, 1:11, 11:17and 4:9. Have a look and see what you can learn.