Nehemiah 4:9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. I. PRAYING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP OF LIFE. If a bad man would be good, the first step should be that of prayer. And our last breath when we leave this earth for the other world is prayer. II. If our prayers are to bless us, we must PRAY EARNESTLY. III. MOREOVER, WHEN WE PRAY WE ARE NOT TO NEGLECT THE MEANS OF MAKING OUR PRAYER EFFECTUAL. We are to do as Nehemiah did — pray to God, and set a watch. I am not afraid of thieves; but while I pray to God to let His angels encamp about my house and guard it, I do not expect the angels to come into my lobbies and lock the doors. I can do that. While we pray we are not to neglect any means at our hands for doing the work for which we pray. In the same way, a working man who earns a couple of pounds a week may pray, "O Lord, provide for me, and keep me from debt." It is right thus to pray, but then let not the working man neglect the means which are in his power to fulfil the prayer; let him put by two or three shillings a week to provide for any time of need. Some people seem to think that religion is a kind of spiritual charm, like the horse-shoe that our superstitious forefathers nailed behind the front door to keep out the "bogies." They think that religion is for them to say prayers and go to church, and then God will keep them from hell. Oh, no. IV. While we pray for success, let us take heed to WATCH FOR OPPORTUNITIES OF DOING GOOD. A wealthy farmer, whose haystacks were numerous, and whose barns were full of corn, on reading in the newspapers about the great distress in the time of the cotton famine, prayed earnestly at the family altar that the poor might be fed and clothed, but he did not send any donation to the fund, and the next Sunday he uttered the same prayer. On the way to church the little son said, "Father, I wish I had your corn." "Why, my boy, what would you do with it?" "Father, I would give it to the hungry people for bread." It is no use praying that the hungry may be fed if you will not help to feed them from your full cupboard. The purpose of prayer is — asking God to give you power to do good, and then seeking opportunities to exert that power. (W. Birch.) Parallel Verses KJV: Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.WEB: But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. |
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