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“Please remember what you told your servant Moses: “If you sin, I will scatter you among the nations.”” Nehemiah 1:8 (NLT)
Here are four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:
1. 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 can handle this problem, God!”
2. Confess the sins of which you’re aware. After Nehemiah bases his prayer on who God is, he confesses his sins. He says, “We’ve sinned.” He says “I confess . . . myself . . . my father’s house . . . we have acted wickedly . . . we have not obeyed.” It wasn’t Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when it happened and he was most likely born in captivity. Yet, he’s including himself in the national sins. He says, “I’ve been a part of the problem.”
3. Claim the promises of God. Nehemiah prays to the Lord, saying, “I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses.” Can you imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah reminds God of a promise he made to the nation of Israel. In effect, he prays, “God, you warned through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of Israel. But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back to us.”
Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s promised? No. Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised.
4. Be very specific in what you ask for. If you want specific answers to prayer, then make specific requests. If your prayers consist of general requests, how will you know if they’re answered?
Nehemiah is not hesitant to pray for success. He’s very bold in his praying. Have you ever prayed, “Lord, make me successful?” If you haven’t, why haven’t you? What is the alternative? A failure?
Is it okay to ask God to make you successful? It all depends on your definition of success! I believe a good definition of success is: “Fulfilling God’s purpose for my life in faith, love, and the power of the Holy Spirit, and expecting the results from God.” That is a worthy life objective that you should be able to pray for with confidence.
Consider this: If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what you’re doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn’t want you to waste your life.
Question: How are your prayers similar to or different than Nehemiah’s?
About this Author: Rick Warren
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thank you
Does anyone have a suggestion for making the success definition more specific? I agree with asking God to guide me in fulfilling His purpose in my life. But how do I know when I am doing this?
I am coming unglued! My husband has been laid off for seven months, bills coming due. And I know god is faithful. But why am I feeling like this. My husband doesn’t want to talk about it. Like it will go away. I really need to hear from him. They say your trials will make you strong. well mine have been for the 18 years with a disabled child in the house. I could just throw my hands up. I feel like I am done.
Precious Lord,
Thank you for Patty and for her faithfulness to You. Even more, we thank You for Your faithfulness to Your children. Lord, today we bring the needs of Patty’s home to You and we ask You to guide Patty and her husband in conversation and planning with wisdom; we ask that You would provide for their immediate needs to spur their faith on to trust You through the question marks today. Open doors for her husband and give him courage to walk through them. Lord, You alone are the one who can break down the walls in our lives and bring freedom. Grant Patty Your amazing peace today as she exchanges fear of tomorrow for faith in You today. Bless her and grant her strength. Help her to have fresh stability of thought and emotion as You grip her and hold her tight in the midst of this most challenging trial. Guide them through Your word and make their path straight. Show them the next step to take and then the next and the next as You lead them through this maze.
I ask this in the strong name of Jesus, amen.
I’d rather be a struggling faith filled christian than a pride filled, self centered non believer. My struggles in life is what humbles me. Father god keeps me close. He knows my hearts desire. He wants me to lean on him and rely upon his understanding not my own. Lay your troubles at the cross.
thnx a lot 4 the advises