Oh, the volume in one verse of
Scripture. I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Nehemiah. Find
Acts, and start turning back toward the front. Find Job, and
you'll find Esther, and you'll find Nehemiah. Nehemiah. Chapter 1. I was reading over last Thursday morning the prayer
of Daniel that we considered last Wednesday night. As soon as I began to look at
the prayer of Daniel again, in the reference in the margins
of the Bible, it started referencing the prayer of Nehemiah. So I turned there, and I began
to read this prayer. I thought to myself, I said,
you know, when the Scriptures speak of praying, and I know that there is so little
that I know about prayer. But when we are commanded to
pray, the Scripture sets forth, don't pray, Like the Pharisees
do in the synagogues, they love to be heard. They love to set forth that eloquence. All the while, according to the
Scriptures, they're having their reward. What they're doing is
they're making sure that everybody hears what they say. Boy, and
they're thinking to themselves, man, this sounds good. This really,
really sounds good. So our Lord commanded us when
we pray, He said, don't be like the hypocrites are. They love
to stand in synagogues and be heard of men. Then He said this,
they have their reward. You just got it. But you know, when we consider
The Scripture is setting forth that when we pray, we are to
go into our closet and pray to our Father in secret. And the
Father that hears in secret shall reward thee openly. I've wondered
about that last statement. Shall reward thee openly. And as I began to think on prayer,
And all the things that the Scriptures command concerning this blessed
thought of prayer, the Scriptures, the Scriptures that are given
by inspiration of God, God-breathed, these Scriptures that actually
set forth the accomplishment of God's purpose. This is what
the Scripture says concerning the Scriptures. That His Word
that goeth forth out of His mouth shall not return unto Him void,
but it shall accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. I know concerning these Scriptures,
they all testify of Christ. Well, knowing that the Scriptures
is the basis of everything that we know concerning Almighty God. The Scriptures sets forth that
which Almighty God is purposed to teach, to correct with, to
instruct, I want us to consider, what does
Almighty God have to say about prayer? There are a lot of books that
have been written on the subject of prayer. I remember reading
one one time, or tried to read it, and after I got through reading
it, I thought to myself, I don't know any more than I started
off knowing. What does a man have to say about prayer? I'm
telling you, the most faithful people that I'm sure I would
know, if you ask them, tell me what you know about prayer, I
guarantee you, they're going to tell you, I don't know a whole
lot. But concerning the Holy Spirit's
pleasure, now in telling us when we pray, go into your closet,
Be secretive about it. That's what makes it so hard
when we pray in public. It's hard to pray when other
people are listening. You want to be honest with God.
You want to be honest concerning yourself. And when you know that
other people are listening, it's hard for me to say things that
I would say secretly to the Lord things that I know have crossed
my mind that I want to talk to Him about. And I just can't say
them in front of you. But here the Spirit of God has
taken the prayer of this man and others, many others. We looked
at Daniel. There are things that are recorded
concerning our Lord, what He said. But I thought to myself,
I'd like to just look and consider this morning on this blessed
subject of prayer. What does the Lord have to say? I know that when we pray, we
want to be honest before God. And every one of us is honestly
going to say, I don't know what to say. The Scripture
bears that out. We know not what we ought to
say. I know this. I know we ought
to pray. Luke 18.1, men ought always to
pray and not to faint. What does that mean, not to faint?
Don't grow weary in asking. That's what it means. 1 Thessalonians 5.17 says, pray
without ceasing. Brother Henry made this comment
on that statement. He said, live in an attitude
of prayer. And he said, much prayer, much of our prayer is
never verbalized. It's thought. I was talking to
Brother Tom Harding the other day, and he said, you know Marvin,
I've thought on this thing of prayer often. And he said, I
think that at times when we don't even realize that we're praying,
that's probably when we're mostly praying. When we're not trying
to verbalize it. Not trying to figure out a way
to say it. If we would be taught concerning
the truth of prayer, the one to whom we pray, Let's hear what
Almighty God has to say. I know that prayer is the immediate
response to the regenerated soul. I know that we approach heaven
when we pray. We try to enter in to the blessed
thought of what we're doing. Nehemiah 1, verse 1, the words
of Nehemiah the son of Hatchaliah, it came to pass in the month
of Chislew in the twentieth year as I was in Shushan the palace,
that Hananiah, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah,
and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped which were
left of the captivity, that is, out of Babylon that we have been
looking at. And concerning Jerusalem, they said unto me, The remnant
that are left of the captivity there in the province are in
great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is
broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it
came to pass when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept. and mourned certain days and
fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. I know this. Prayer has to do with knowledge. I know, I know that that's where
it starts. Knowledge. Almighty God gives
a man, a woman, some understanding concerning who He is. The Scripture sets forth in that
fourth verse when Nehemiah had heard concerning the situation
of his brethren. He said, I sat down and I cried. I was broken hearted. I mourned
for certain days and fasted and I prayed, before the God of heaven. It's a miracle of God's grace
that we know the God of heaven. Not about
Him that you would know Him. Now here's some words that are
set forth. And I know we hear them. But
do we really hear them? I pray that the Lord give me
a heart today to hear what God has to say. I know when it concerns
prayer, we're going to be drawn in the direction of the leadership
of God's Spirit. Here, this man was told about
the people of God. He knew in the first part of
verse 3, they said unto me, that are left of the captivity. He
knew that God had a people. He knew that there was a remnant
according to the election of grace. And he knew that these
people were in a place that Almighty God had raised up. They were
in Jerusalem. But that place was in gross disarray. The Lord in His infinite mercy
and grace had caused Jerusalem to be in shambles. It brought
his people to the bottom. Oh, what mercy! What mercy! Almighty God had caused Jerusalem
to be torn to pieces. And it broke Nehemiah's heart
because he knew the reason. Because of our rebellion. because of our resistance and
insensitivity to Almighty God. But he knew this, God's people
were not forsaken. Not according to His Word. We're
going to see that in just a minute. You rest assured, every one of
God's sheep in this world is going to have tribulation. We're
going to be brought down. We're going to suffer. If you
live godly in Christ Jesus, you're going to suffer persecution.
Satan, this world and its temptations and the things of this life that
draw our hearts, try to draw our hearts, the cares of this
world, unconverted religionists that hate the blessed truth of
sovereign grace, The imputed righteousness of Christ, that
which opposes self-righteousness. Man by nature hates that. Man by nature hates God. He hates the God of this Bible.
And always through trials, the Lord weans His people from this
world. Those things that we suffer,
He's just drawing His people to cry unto Him for deliverance
and to pray for one another. I know that prayer, just going
through and just reading, going through the book of Acts and
reading how the Apostle Paul, Peter, James, these apostles,
how they prayed for one another. 1 Thessalonians 5.25, that's
what Paul said, Brethren, pray for us. Pray for us. I told you before, it's just
the most blessed thought when somebody that truly you feel
the Lord's taught something of God's grace and God's mercy.
And they say, the Lord has drawn my heart to pray for you. Call
your name before the throne of grace and ask God's help, God's
deliverance, God's mercy. You tell them, say, you know,
that means so much to me. Somebody that makes no claim
to know the Christ of this book, the gospel of free grace, and
they say, you know what, my thoughts and prayers are with you. That
doesn't more mean anything to me than a man to man. I think
about when the Apostle Paul before Saul of Tarsus, Pharisee, self-righteous,
Religious, oh, religious to the point to where he just stunk. People that try to be so religious,
and they try to be so high and mighty, and they talk and it
just reaps of just pride. And you think, oh, would you
just be quiet? The first time he ever prayed
is after the Lord stopped him on the road to Damascus. And the Lord called one Ananias
and said, you go over, there's a Saul of Tarsus over there.
Lord, I've heard of him. He said, he's a chosen vessel
unto me. Behold, he prayeth. First time. Well, I think, you know, I want
to know something about that. I want to know something about
prayer. I'm so prone to vain repetition. Things that just, I mean, you
know, get a kind of a pattern going. Lord, keep me from that. Help me. Pray for me. I ask you, pray for me. Pray
for this assembly. How many times have we talked
about the miracle of God's grace that Katie Baptist Church is
still here? I'm telling you, Of all the churches
that I know of, I'm trying to think right now, I'm trying to
think if there's one that I know of that's been almost 60 years,
that the Lord has allowed the candlestick of the glorious gospel
of Christ to remain. I don't know. I can't think of
one right now. There may be one. But if there
is, there are not many. It's a miracle that we're still
sitting here this morning. Pray for this assembly. Pray
God, allow this place according to His everlasting purpose, mercy
and grace. Pray for those that God's called
out of darkness. Pray for those that the Lord
shall call out of darkness. I know this. The Lord Jesus Christ
said, John 10, 16, All the sheep I have which are not of this
fold, this yard of Judaism, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one foal, one pasture, one
shepherd. There are some folks sitting
here that have sat under the gospel a long time. I don't know. I don't know. Some that I have
good hope in. I pray God have mercy. Here was
Nehemiah. He said, when I heard about the
remnant that was left of the captivity there in the province,
walls broken down, he said, I heard those words and sat down and
I wept. mourned certain days, fasted
and prayed before the God of heaven. When God's people suffer,
a believer suffers. I hear of those that are sick
and afflicted. Carl, I hurt with you. I hurt
with you. We've got some folks, Gene Humphrey,
Bob, Mark, Linda, different ones, wives of pastors
that we know. And I think on them. I pray,
Lord, like when Martha and Mary concern their brother, he whom
Thou lovest is sick. Lord, have mercy. I know this
concerning prayer. True prayer continually seeks
for mercy according to God's covenant. Compassion for Christ's
sake. Look at verse 5. I said, I beseech
thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God that keepeth,
keepeth, keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love Him
and observe His commandments. You know, we draw near to our
Lord according to His covenant of mercy in Christ. What other ground do I have?
How am I going to approach a consuming fire? I'm telling you, a moth would
have a better chance of flying into the sun and getting out. than a rebel against God would
have approaching Him without a substitute, without a mediator,
without an accepted priest. Lord your covenant, reverently,
we approach Him who is the sovereign of all glory. He's God. Lord God of heaven. Lord, You
who have purposed to have mercy and compassion upon us according
to Your good pleasure, not because of that which we've done or that
which You saw we do. Almighty God has chosen a people
because it pleased Him to do so. And everything that was demanded
for their salvation, their justification before God's law, Almighty God
has prepared, ordered, ensured. They needed their sin debt paid. He's a just God. And He sent
a substitute. One that He alone accepted. They needed righteousness. And
that substitute, that representative, walk before God Almighty and
earned as their head, as their Lord, as their husband, righteousness
before God. And Almighty God charges them
with it, imputes that to them. And it's theirs! That's their
salvation. That's what David said. He hath
made with me an everlasting covenant. ordered in all things, and sure,
this is all my salvation." He didn't utter one thing that he
had done. Not one thing concerning his
ability. He made with me an everlasting
covenant. This is all my salvation and
all my desire, although he make it not to grow. Have you ever
wondered what that last phrase means? Although he make it not
to grow. Here it is. David said, my salvation,
my redemption in Him. It's perfect. Perfect. It's fully answered. Complete. No room for anything
to be added. He makes it not to grow. He's not waiting on me to add
my two cents. He's not waiting on me to add
my free will. It is finished. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
said. When a believer prays, he prays to the God of glory. Praying for God's people according
to God's everlasting covenant. Lord, you have shown mercy to
me according to your covenant of grace, your mercy, your kindness,
your compassion, your longsuffering. And I know when a believer prays
according to the teaching of these scriptures in recording
this man's prayer, and remember, these scriptures are given for
our instruction. Our correction, instruction in
righteousness. That's why God recorded this
prayer. Not to heap praises upon Nehemiah, but to heap praises
upon the Lord of glory who showed mercy to Nehemiah and to those
like him. I know this when a believer prays.
He prays with importunity. I looked up that word. Continual
solicitation. for the eternal good of God's
elect. Now listen to these words in
verse 6, Now let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes
open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which
I pray before thee now, day and night. for the children of Israel,
thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel
which we have sinned against thee, both I and my Father's
house have sinned." You know, there is a confidence that
a believer has. The Scripture uses this word,
let us enter with boldness. That word is assuredness. Let
us enter into His presence confidently. But buddy, not on our ground,
not on our sakes, not for our good, not for anything we've
done, but for God's sake, God's Christ, God's imputed righteousness
to us. Let us enter in. Listen to these
words. Let thine ear now be attentive,
and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy
servant. Boy, I'm telling you, without
a substitute, that's an arrogant statement. Who is man that thou art mindful
of him? Who does man think he is? I'm
telling you, this is the mercy of God. Lord, that I would pray
unto you and ask day and night, importunity, praying. I want you to turn over to Luke
11. I'm going to show you something
that was a real blessing to me. Luke 11. One of the disciples had asked
our Lord, let's just read it. Let's read Luke 11, 1-4. That as He was praying, as the
Lord was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, now just
think, this is what's going on. The Lord is praying and the disciples
are listening. When He was praying in a certain
place when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him,
Lord, teach us to pray. As John also taught his disciples,
he said unto them, when you pray, say, Our Father which art in
heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily
bread, and forgive us our sins. For we also forgive every one
that is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. Now that model prayer right there
was not given for us to use as vain repetition, to pray that
just because anybody that can read and has a mind to remember
can read that and then rehearse it again. Here was the Lord of
glory. that was teaching His disciples
something about prayer. Can you imagine? Well, He's here
now. He said, where two or three are
gathered together in My name, I'm in the midst of you. And
here He is now, teaching. But then He gives an explanation
of what He had just told them, and that's found in verses 5
to 13. Now, let's listen to this. And he said unto them, Which
of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight,
and say unto him, Friend, Lend me three loaves, for a friend
of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to
set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble
me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in
bed, and I cannot rise and give thee. And I say unto you, though
he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet
because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many
as he needed." And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given
you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth. He that seeketh findeth. To him
that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he
ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he
shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him?" Now let me tell you what this Scripture
is not saying. It's not saying that we can badger
God into giving us what we want. It's not saying that if we just
keep on and keep on and keep on, that we will finally, after
He just grows weary of hearing us on and on and on, He'll end
up giving us what we want. Because I'll tell you this, We
really don't know what we want. We don't know what we need. The whole context of what he
was just saying is concerning the forgiveness of sin and the
deliverance from the curse of the law. His disciples had asked him to
teach them to pray. And here's our Lord, He who knew
our frame, He who had suffered the things that we suffered,
yet Himself without sin, He who knew what it was as the Man,
Christ Jesus, the God-Man, He knew what it was to walk by faith
and to knock in the thick darkness of God's good pleasure and providence
for Him. For our sake, He knew what that
was. And so here He is with perfect
wisdom, perfect knowledge, the omniscient God. And His disciples
ask Him, Lord, teach us how to pray. Teach us truly what to
ask for. Teach us. According to your wisdom
and your pleasure, teach us, Lord, what truly is the need
of our heart. That's what to ask. Friend, let us hear the message. the heart of prayer. Let us hear
the foundation of all prayer. Here it is right here. It was
given in that illustration. He said a certain man, back in
verse 5, had a friend that he went to at midnight and said
unto him, Lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine in his journey
has come to me and I have nothing to set before him." Now listen
to me. Here is the true need of every
object of God's mercy. This man, according to our Lord's
teaching, This man had a friend that came to him and he had nothing
to give him. That friend is the law of God. The law of God. Now you that
know him, you are the objects of his mercy. The law of God
is your friend. He is the schoolmaster. that
brings you to Christ. He's the pedagogue. The one that
directs you. He's not the one by which you're
converted, saved, by the deeds of the law shall no man be justified. But the best friend that you
ever had was the one that drove you to Christ. God's law. He had a friend. He said, my
friend has come to me at midnight. in the darkest hour of my need,
in the middle of the night, when I was the most asleep, most groggy,
came to me and I didn't have anything to give
him. What am I going to give him? What am I going to give
him? Here's what my friend that came
to me at midnight demands. Do and live. Don't do, and you're
going to die. And by the grace of God, this
friend, the law, that drove this man to another friend, a man
that Scripture says was in bed and had his children with him,
he knocked, and he says, Friend, I need some bread. I need some
bread. I need something that's going
to satisfy Him. My friend that drove me to you,
I need to satisfy Him. And the only thing that I can
give Him, the law, that's going to satisfy Him is what you supply. That's the only thing that I've
got. Scripture says, He says, trouble
me not. Oh, he said, trouble me not.
Doors shut, my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and
get thee. Boy, I tell you what, it reminded
me of that Syro-Phoenician woman. She said, my daughter is grievously
ill. She's sick. And the Lord said,
it's not fits, it's not meat, but I should give the children's
bread to dogs. She said, I'm not going anywhere.
I ain't leaving. I ain't leaving. You're right. You're right. You're right. I'm a dog. But dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from the Master's table. And the only thing that I need
is what you can supply." And he told her, he said, great is
thy faith. She wasn't going anywhere. And
I'm telling you, a believer won't either. I say unto you, Because of His
importunity, God Almighty gives His people a heart, a willing
heart in the day of His power, and they will not leave. Will you go away also? Peter
said, Lord, where are we going to go? You have the words of
eternal life, and we are sure that You are the Christ. I say
unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he
is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise
and give him as many as he needeth. I say unto you, ask, and it shall
be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened for everyone that asketh, receiveth. He that seeketh, findeth to him
that knocketh, it shall be opened." You that know Him, you that receive
Christ Jesus, how did you receive Him? By faith. As you therefore receive Christ
Jesus, so walk in Him. He that asketh. Do you know a
believer asks every day? Lord, have mercy on me. Lord,
help me. He that seeketh, and seeketh,
and seeketh. He that knocketh, and knocketh,
and knocketh. This is the way a believer goes
through this life. And this is the way he's going
to die. You that know him, don't you
need him as much right now as you ever did? Has there ever
been a time that you needed Him more than you do right now, the
more you know of Him, the more you know that you need Him. Lord,
that I might know you, that I might be found in you. If a son...
There's a key. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that's a father. If my son of one of my daughters
calls me up and says, Dad, I need you. I need you. What father is going to turn
away a child that he loves? If a son asks bread of any of
you, will you give him a stone? If Gabe called me up and asked
me for something, am I going to give him something just to
mock him? If he asks a fish, am I going to
give him a snake? Ask for an egg. Am I going to
give them a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
Him?" There's the key to it right there. The Lord teaches us to
pray. You call upon Him in whom is
all your hope. I tell you what, Paul says when
the law came to him, he said, I died. He said, I was alive
once without the law. You let a man or a woman that
knows nothing of the grace of God, no conviction whatsoever,
they hear about the law of God and its demands and stuff like
this, that doesn't mean anything to them. They're more concerned
with their external body. They're more concerned with this
physical body than they are with their eternal soul. Lord, teach
us to pray. I tell you what, you call upon
Him who is satisfied. The law of God. That law that
you're going to have to answer to apart from Him. Lord, have
mercy on me. Old blind Barnabas. Who did you say was coming through?
That's Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth. An old blind
Bartimaeus started crying out, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. And the more they tried to shut
him up, the louder he got. And you know what the Scripture says?
And Jesus stood still. And Jesus stood still. A believer is honest when he
prays. In fact, Nehemiah, we'll wrap
this up in verse 6, The latter part of verse 6, We have sinned
against thee, both I and my Father's house have sinned. We have dealt
very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments,
nor the statutes, nor the judgments which thou commandest thy servant
Moses. Lord, we have not kept your law.
Lord, we have not obeyed you. Lord, we've not. That rich young
ruler that came to the Lord, and the Lord said, what does
the Scripture say? What does the law say? And he named off all. He
said, those I've kept from my youth up. No, he didn't. No,
he didn't. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners, and you find a sinner, a sinner! Brothers,
God said that's a precious thing. You find one that needs Christ. Why? You know why? He doesn't
have any place to hide. Where are you going to go? Where
are you going to hide before God Almighty who sees things? Every one that Almighty God calls
out of darkness, this is His attitude. It's like that prodigal
son. I've sinned against heaven and
before you. Just make me a hard hand. You mind if I just be here? But
I'll tell you this, a believer prays believing that there's
mercy with the Lord. Verse 8, Remember, I beseech
thee the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses, saying, If
ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations.
But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and let me ask
you this, what is the commandments of God? Here it is. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is His commandments. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn unto Me. Keep My commandments.
Do them. Though there were of you cast
out into the uttermost part of heaven, yet will I gather them
from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen
to set My name there. Oh, when God sets His name, in
a place. I'm telling you, this side of
hell, here's the greatest curse. Here's the greatest curse. There's
going to be a famine at the hearing of the Word of God. That's the
greatest curse that God would ever put on a place. He would
not send His Word there. I'm telling you, where there's
no gospel preaching, there's no hope. No hope. God Almighty is going to get
His people under His Word. But when God withholds the gospel
of free grace, I'm telling you, that's a destitute place. Now
these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed
by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech
thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant.
to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name."
Isn't that a blessing? If you have a desire to be respectful
before God Almighty, reverent before a desire, a heart to be
and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him
mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer,
though the Lord had raised up Nehemiah, and gave him a position. He was in the palace in Shushan,
he said. But I'm telling you, the things of this world had
not stolen the heart of this believer. He did have. He had a good job. But he served
the God of heaven. And he knew him. And God kept
him by grace. Lord, through this prayer, blessed
by the Spirit of God, teach us something. I'm not praying for
Christ's sake. Amen.