Seasons of extraordinary prayer

"The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2 That Hanani, 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, and concerning Jerusalem. 3And 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. 4 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..."(Nehemiah 1:3).

Nehemiah was not a prophet, priest or King and yet God used him to not only rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down, but to bring great spiritual and social reformation to his people. Nehemiah was born during the period of Israel's captivity to the Persians.

Under the Reign of Cyrus the King of Persia, he allowed the Hebrew people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and restore the worship of God. Around 49,000 Israelites accepted the call to return to Jerusalem and despite much opposition they were able to rebuild the temple. But after a number of years the walls of Jerusalem, that helped to keep Jerusalem from being over run by the enemy, fell in disrepair. The opposition that the Israelites were experiencing, along with their sinful deeds contributed to their neglect of the walls. The neglect of the walls by the Jews made them vulnerable to the enemy and in danger of being destroyed, along with the temple.

When Nehemiah, a cup bearer to the King, heard about the grave conditions in Jerusalem, his heart was broken and he sat down and began to weep. But Nehemiah didn't just weep. With great anguish of heart Nehemiah fasted and prayed for a number of days to the God of heaven. God heard the prayers of this one man that cried unto God with great anguish of heart, and God moved the heart of the King of Persia, who gave Nehemiah the opportunity to travel to Jerusalem. With the help and backing of the king, Nehemiah made it to Jerusalem where he led the people to repair the walls of Jerusalem. From the moment he arrived in Jerusalem he was met with much opposition, which continued during the building of the walls. But Nehemiah kept on praying and leading the people to keep on working and in a record 52 days the walls were repaired; followed by a period of spiritual revival among the people.

The great preacher Jonathan Edwards shared these thoughts on the revival in New England in 1740: “It is God’s will through His wonderful grace, that the prayers of His saints should be one of the great principal means of carrying on the designs of Christ’s kingdom in the world. When God has something very great to accomplish for His church, it is His will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayers of His people; as is manifest by Ezekiel 36:37 and it is revealed that, when God is about to accomplish great things for His church, He will begin by remarkably pouring out the spirit of grace and supplication (see Zechariah 12:10).”

Where are the Nehemiah's today who in anguish of heart pour out their souls in prayer unto God to bring spiritual awakening to the lost and revival to the church. If we do not see in the church today believers in great anguish crying out to God in seasons of extraordinary prayer over lost souls and the weakness and powerlessness of the church, we can not expect to see a revived church or a great harvesting of souls. The condition of our world, the lost and the church is calling for seasons of extraordinary prayer. May God begin to remarkably pour out the spirit of grace and supplication and raise up some Nehemiah's today.