Why is prayer so strategic? We’re talking to the Person who knows everything and can do anything!
The prayer of Nehemiah (Neh 1:5-11) may be divided into three parts, clustering in each section around a pronoun: You (vv 5-6a), we (6b-9), and You (vv 10-11). He begins, “Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants” (vv 5-6). You are preeminent, You keep Your promises, and You hear our prayers. That gets to the point! Then in the middle, he turns the spotlight on the people: “I…confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You.…We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses” (vv 6-7). But God had promised that, if they would turn back to Him, He would “gather them from there, and bring them to the place” (v 9) where He had chosen to dwell. Nehemiah then returns to the grand subject of his God. “Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.…please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray” (vv 10-11). Circle every “You” and “Your,” and you’ll see Nehemiah’s strategy, identical to Moses’ prayer on Sinai (Ex 32:11-13). We might borrow the words: Lord, I’m weak, and wobbly in my faith, and sometimes wayward, but I’m Your weak and wobbly child. Hear and help, Lord. I have no one but You. Thank You, Lord!