Pray & Watch

“And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night” (Nehemiah 4:9). Nehemiah, as an unlikely character, sets the standard for the church’s response to adversity. I’ll explain why he was an unlikely character in just a second. First though, as he was leading the reconstruction of the Jerusalem wall and faced opposition both from foreigners and even some Jews. So, this guy is running on pure conviction that he is doing the right thing – much like Ezra. Its in light of this context that verse nine of chapter four comes to. Nehemiah led the people to do two things in a very important order: pray to God, set watchman on the wall. First, they sought the Lord’s favor, then they sought to defend the Lord’s work.

There is an important pattern there for us: seek the Lord, then do the work. Its when this pattern has not been followed that the people have God have suffered the most. In Isaiah 22, for instance, the people “depended on the weapons of the house of the forest” but “did not depend on Him who made it, nor did [they] take into consideration Him who planned it [their invasion] long ago” (Isaiah 22:9-11). So, how do we, as 21st century Christians, maintain faithfulness to Christ in a time of discouragement? Here’s the one-two punch:

1. Seek the Lord:
   1. Do not forsake gathering with the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:25). The assembly of God’s people, gathering around the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments are vital elements to the body of Christ. Here we “stimulate one another to love a good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).
   2. Be faithful in prayer with the body, with your family, and alone. Cry out to the Lord for wisdom (James 1:5) and ask him to lead you personal repentance (Joel 2:12).
2. Do the work
   1. Focus on maintaining a faithful witness to Christ in the place where he has planted you. Pray and watch for opportunities to share the love of Christ with your coworkers, family, and neighbors.
   2. Invite your neighbors to dinner. God has planted you in specific places so you would have specific opportunities for gospel ministry. One church historian has written about the spread of the early church: “It is clear that the enormous spread of the gospel in those first centuries was not due to full-time missionaries, but rather to the many Christians who traveled for other reasons – slaves, merchants, exiles condemned to work in the mines, and the like.” (J. Gonzalez, 116)

That last point brings us back to the first point. Do you know who the man was who firmly led Jerusalem in the construction of the wall? His name was Nehemiah. Do you know what he was doing before he led that effort? He was the king’s cupbearer. Folks, I will never dismiss the need for faithful, godly elders to lead the body of Christ through hard times. I will, however, always also emphasize, as Scripture does, that God uses the WHOLE church for the purpose of gathering lost sheep and glorifying the name of Christ Jesus.