Making Requests Known to God
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me to Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. Nehemiah 2:5
Read Nehemiah 2:4-11
In his concern for the nation, Nehemiah began praying to the Lord while doing his work in the palace of Shushan. This was an upright prayer with his hat on. In all probability the king did not even notice it. Nehemiah had not fallen down upon his knees; neither did he fold his hands or close his eyes. What did he pray? We do not know with certainty. One thing we do know; according to Psalm 139 the Lord is acquainted with all our ways; He understands our thoughts from afar off; not a word has been uttered but the Lord knows it.
It is wonderful that the Lord has given us this example of Nehemiah making his requests in prayer unto God, with his hat on, while doing his daily work in service of a foreign king. The Lord God heard that prayer, just as He hears all things and takes note of them. Is that not encouraging for us today? Nothing escapes the Almighty and neither is it considered trivial or unimportant.
Even nature itself, teaches us that the Lord is mindful of all His creatures. He hears the ravens when they cry. But when the Son of Man hung upon the cross during the three hours of darkness upon Golgotha, He cried out in great agony and abandonment: My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? The Lord Jesus was not heard in the hour of His greatest need. Yet, He arose from the grave and even now He intercedes for His people as their eternal High Priest in heaven. This God continues to encourage us to cry out to Him with all our heart, even today.
Thought: Why did Christ Jesus teach the Lord’s Prayer while prayers raised with our hat on are sometimes more heart-felt than our formal prayers?
Psalter 162: 1,2 (based on Psalm 62) My soul in silence waits for God, My Saviour He has proved; He only is my rock and tower; I never shall be moved. My honor is secure with God, My Saviour He is known; My refuge and my rock of strength, Are found in God alone. For God has spoke o’er and o’er, And unto me has shown, That saving power and lasting strength, Belong to Him alone. Yea, loving-kindness evermore Belongs to Thee, O Lord; And Thou according to his work, Dost every man reward.