Lessons from Nehemiah 4

I know it has been a while since I wrote on my study of Nehemiah, but I am still working on that along with the two other books I’ve been writing about as I read, my Bible study of Ruth for my Wednesday night women’s group, and another book that I just received and have started reading (I’ll probably write on that when I’m done with the whole book). I learned four lessons from chapter four of Nehemiah.

Don’t retaliate—pray! The Israelite’s enemies were mocking them as they worked on rebuilding the wall. Instead of arguing back that they were doing what God wanted and that God was on their side, Nehemiah prayed for God to deal with them. It reminded me of Matthew 5:44, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”.

There have been far too many times that I have tried to fight my own battles. How silly of me! I need to turn to God, pray for those who persecute me and let Him deal with them. If they should be on the receiving end of vengeance, then I need to remember that God said, “Vengeance is Mine,” (Deuteronomy 32:35).

You can do it if you put your mind to it! Even though they were told over and over that there was no way they would be successful in rebuilding the wall, they continued to work on it. Verse 6 says, “for the people had a mind to work.” They were triumphant because they put their mind to it.

Pray together! The Israelites’ enemies were conspiring to work together against them so the Israelites worked together to pray. We learn that it wasn’t just Nehemiah or just the leaders who prayed, but “we made our prayer to our God” (verse 9—emphasis mine). If you are struggling with something, share your need with others. Let them join in as prayer warriors. The power of prayer will never cease to amaze me!

Always be ready to fight the enemy! The Israelites’ enemies were more and more worried about the progress they were making on rebuilding the wall. They agreed to work together to attack the Israelites. Instead of stopping the building of the wall, they decided to continue working and not only take turns being on guard, but also to work with their weapons on their sides so that they would always be ready. This reminded me of the scripture in Ephesians (6:10-20) that talks about the armor of God. We need to always be aware of our enemy, the devil, who is prowling like a lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8)