Great Leaders Pray

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with the great lesson from Nehemiah.

I’ve always loved the book of Nehemiah; there’s so much in it about prayer, especially leadership and prayer. Like for instance: When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem had been broken down, he says in verse 4, (now get this) “I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Okay, now, his prayer for Jerusalem’s walls to be rebuilt goes all the way through verse 11. Virtually the whole first chapter is the ambitious prayer of a real leader. But then, right after his larger-than-life prayer, Nehemiah, in the last verse, lands on this humble note. He adds a postscript, as it were, and he says, “Oh, and by the way, I’m just a lowly cupbearer in the king’s palace. I’m not a contractor who understands the science of building big walls, no, I’m just a cupbearer.” What humility! The lesson here? God’s leaders are prayerful, and they are humble. They have a sane, but lowly estimation of themselves. Nehemiah prayed about going back to Jerusalem to build big walls, but, he makes clear that he’s just a lowly cupbearer. A humble cupbearer.

And look at this next lesson. Four months later, and as many prayers as, I am sure, that filled those months, Nehemiah finally gets a chance to go before the king. When the king notices his sad countenance, and asks him what he wants, Nehemiah says in verse 4, “Then I prayed to the God of heaven and I answered the king.” Wow! Like, he had already spent four months in prayer, but right before he responds to the king, (get this) he prays again, as if he hadn’t prayed enough. That, to me, is remarkable. But what is more remarkable is that all this prayer expanded his vision and his confidence, because he no longer saw himself as a cupbearer; now, after 4 months of prayer, Nehemiah saw himself as a wall-builder. He says to the king, “Let me go rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,” and the King, for all we know, could have had his head for such a request.

So, prayer had turned Nehemiah into a man of vision — “let me go build walls,” he says to the king. That’s a far cry from being a cupbearer just four months earlier. Prayer also turned Nehemiah into a man of courage before a king who could’ve sent him to the gallows for even asking such a thing. When God’s people spend a great deal of time in prayer, their courage in Christ grows. When leaders spend time — a lot of time — in prayer, they become better leaders, they become courageous leaders, and they become visionary leaders!

Now let me explain: these lessons about Nehemiah didn’t come from a book, or a Bible study; they came from reading through the Bible so many times. Ken and I are just finishing up our tenth year reading through God’s Word, and the more we read, the more the Holy Spirit shows us wonderful insights like these. And my husband and I love it when the Holy Spirit shows us something fresh, new and insightful from the Word of God. So, given that this is the last week of 2017, Ken and I invite you to join us in reading through the Bible in 2018. Just go to my Facebook page or to joniandfriends.org/radio and download the same chronological reading schedule that Ken and I are going to be using next year. In the meantime, have a great week getting ready for your next chapter in your walk with Christ in 2018. Thanks for listening today on Joni and Friends.

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