Our church continues week 2 of the 6-week “Rebuild” series tonight from the book of Nehemiah. Pastor Bumble will teach from chapter 2 about “Preparations are Needed to Rebuild”.
There is no assigned Bible Reading today so that you can catch up if you missed chapter 1 so far. But we do want you to start thinking about a question:
What are you praying and planning for?
Share if you dare 🙂
Prepare a person.
I did not know Nehemiah was not the same race as the King of Persia. Bumble pointed out a modern example is David Cho, a slave like Nehemiah, rising to a position where the King/President’s life is in his hands. Nehemiah is also a person of character and as he humbles himself, God lifted him up. Nehemiah is a man of prayer and community. He is also a man of compassion. He weeped and mourned many times and for a long time for the burnt gates. As he anchored himself to the word, God gave him the heart to care for His people. May we continue on to pray about our brokenness around us and God use us in that. May we also be generous with our resources in helping those in Vietnam.
Prepare a plan.
As Nehemiah waited for 3-4 months, he planned. Often we pray but we don’t plan or we plan but don’t pray. This was good as I have definitely made both mistakes. He also brought up that some people often pull up the God card. May we plan or do something and make sure we have the proper authority to do so. Bumble told us to say, “God laid this thing on our heart & we will continue to pray about it (i think the second part I missed).” He will show us & help us if it is the right thing. When we plan we should not be too optimistic and see what could go wrong and plan for that. We should also network & get support from our peers as well as get access. We also need a very clear objective and plan for the long-term. I think these are very good application and guidance of how we are to plan with God as our guide.
Preparation of people
May we also see the need of those around us. May we be open to see the brokenness around us and not grow numb or “used to” what’s around us. Leaders also need a partnership and should not lead by ourselves. Man are God’s methods. I hope that God will help us gather and make disciples here at RP.
The Vietnam mission was a great application to what we can do as a response to Nehemiah. Nehemiah also left his comfort and came to us to rebuild and redeem his people and called us to do the same. May we pray, plan, and look to God to rebuild and be compassionate.
Wow! You take such good notes, Kim!
hayy ?
my response:
just wanted to share the act of PRAYING and PLANNING through a recent journey of mine: getting into nursing school. the more i prayed about the subject, the more God revealed and led me down the right track and in more detail so that i could clearly see what i needed to do on my end and what God could do on His. my job was to study with a heart and attitude that is pleasing to God, trust Him, prioritize time and prayer with Him, use my time effectively, and to be curious. whenever i prayed about it, i made sure to ask God if it is His will. *if not, may i not get into nursing school* it was something that has been on my heart and mind for so long, and God finally answered after taking me through a series of challenges that tested my faith; it was like running a marathon. another amazing thing was that God told me to not apply to any backups which freaked me out at first, but He didn’t fail to show me His power and intentions for me. by God’s grace, during the past years, i was able to treat our relationship like a friendship rather than one that only involves me praying for what i want. praise be to God for the opportunity to be a bruin student nurse. i carry this testimony close to my heart because it was one that showed me God’s unconditional love and how in need i am of His grace, mercy, forgiveness, strength, and purity. it shows that God LISTENS and PROVIDES for those who seek Him.
Today was a good reminder that I shouldn’t pray theoretically, but actually do the things that I pray for. I also need to admit that I am part of the problems that I see, but it’s hard to admit that. My pride gets in the way of admitting those things. Lord, I pray that You will help me to lay down my pride and admit my own faults.
Today’s message was actually so pertinent to what has been going on in my life as of now. These past two weeks I have been fasting and praying about my career and summer plans, and in those two weeks God has constantly been speaking to me, and this sermon was one of those ways. I initially planned to wake up early and spend time in prayer and meditation on God’s word and then instead of eating lunch, have a time of silence and solitude and intercession. However, I realized that, although tending to the spiritual leading of God is vitally important, planning, or doing practical active research in regards to my career and summer plans was also important. Finding the balance between prayer and planning is such an important reminder for me as I seek God while distinguishing his calling for me.
I liked in the sermon today how Nehemiah balanced his prayer and planning. It was also amazing at how patient he was and also his expectations that God would provide a way and time for him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem…even having the king of Persia provide the materials as well as escort for Nehemiah.