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A HEART FOR SERVICE (II)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 2
Nehemiah 1:5-11

Daniel 9:3-19

 

“…yet made we not our prayer before
the LORD our God, that we might turn

from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.”

 

A HEART FOR SERVICE (II)
 
Christian service does not begin when the acts are performed. They begin with the heart of the one who will perform the acts. The acts of Christian service are born in the heart of the Christian who will serve. The glimpse of Nehemiah’s heart given to us does not only reveal a diligent and caring heart, it was also a prayerful and conscious heart. F.B. Meyer in his book “The Secret of Guidance” said, “The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”
 
And prayed before the God of heaven (Neh 1:4). Nehemiah’s initial response to the news that burdened his heart greatly was to pray to God. His desire to set things right or to alleviate the misery of his people did not precede prayer. We err and stray when we, in our desire to help, hurry to act without first tarrying to pray! The foundation and basis for every Christian’s act of service is communion with and obedience to God. Nehemiah’s compassion and desire for Jerusalem reveals to us the concern and burden of his heart, but his decision to pray and seek God’s grace and guidance reveals the alignment and allegiance of his heart.
 
Nehemiah’s desire to help drove him to pray, and the content of his prayer reveals his knowledge of God’s Word. It is clear that, as he prayed, he was conscious both of God’s Word and his own person and nature. He had read both his “Bibles” and related them correctly to the issues burdening his heart. Spurgeon said, “He who lives without prayer, he who lives with little prayer, he who seldom reads the Word, and he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high – he will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren. However, he who falls in secret on his God, who spends much time in holy retirement, who delights to meditate on the words of the Most High, and whose soul is given up to Christ – such a man must have an overflowing heart. As his heart is, such will his life be.”
 
THOUGHT: What do I do with my cares? Do I take them to God in prayer?

PRAYER: (Read Psalm 86:1-11.)

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