Nehemiah 2:4-8
‘Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which is by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.’
God will put ideas in our minds or burdens in our hearts. In today’s example it was a burden. He spent days mourning and praying about it. In that time he got ideas about how to repair the situation. They involved him. He thought through them. It involved getting passes through regions and permits for building materials.
The first task is to pray. We are to do it. We are to ask our friends to join us in prayer. Not just a toss up prayer, but time spent in it over time. We are bathing our ideas in prayer.
If it involves us we should think through it. He knew he needed passes, permits and he had a time estimate. Jesus said in Luke 14:28, “Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?”
All of this fits under the category of “Thy Kingdom come”. This is part of the Lord’s prayer. As we are walk with God puts His desires in our hearts. Just as Nehemiah had the burden for Jerusalem and the Jews. We get ideas to spread His Kingdom. Sometimes they are of God, sometimes not. We test them. In this case, the king could have said, “No”. A no might not have ended Nehemiah’s involvement. He might have been a support person, someone who prayed. Other influences may have been possible for someone with his connections.
What a privilege it is to be used of God to build His Kingdom. Sometimes the ideas are ours and are ok. Other times they are bad ideas that should die. Some times they are His and will work. Hopefully we will learn about the bad ideas early and let them die without much investment. But His ideas could build and work and His Kingdom will be furthered.
What a blessing that He gives us godly desires. He opens doors and blesses. Before Christ our lives were built on unstable things. They were shaky foundations that would fall. However, in Christ they stand. Matthew 7:24 says, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” This is mainly speaking of Words in the bible. However, it also applies to the plans that God blesses in our lives.
Thank You, Lord, that You want to use us in establishing Your Kingdom. Help us to pray through and wisely plan.