I’ve been trying to resolve an issue with our cable company for several weeks now. When I call to talk to someone I get referred to a chat box on their website. The chat box on their website encourages me to call a representative. After the cycle repeats a time or two I yell into the phone and hang up. No one is present to hear my yelling, but I do feel better.
Prayer can feel like those fruitless calls to my cable company. Is anyone home? Does the Lord pay more attention to certain prayers than others? When I’m begging the Lord to act, what helps?
Nehemiah turned to the Lord with an unsolvable problem. Jerusalem lay destroyed and its people in disgrace. Holding no power, Nehemiah prayed. In fact, he sat and wept and fasted and prayed for days. As he prayed he laced his appeals with passages of scripture. Here’s an example:
Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, if you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.
In these lines Nehemiah refers to Leviticus 26:33 and Deuteronomy 30:4. As his prayer continues he brings in more and more of the promises of God. Nehemiah knew the Holy Scriptures and repeated them back to God. What better way to get the Lord’s attention than to pray his own words? Far from manipulative, the Lord recognized Nehemiah’s dependence as he prayed.
You and I can pray using scripture as well. I have a several verses recorded in the front of my journal that I pray regularly. One involves my media consumption: Turn my eyes away from worthless things (Psalm 119:37). Another I pray when threatened by anxiety: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6 & 7).
Scripture adds a powerful element to our prayers. If indeed the word of God is living and active, why would I not want to turn that power loose in my life?
Give it a try. Take your deepest concern, search the Scriptures for passages that speak to you about it (in your search bar type Bible passages on…), and pray those verses back to the Lord. Make it a habit, and your times of prayer will feel less like calling the cable company and more like talking with someone who actually listens.
Nehemiah 1 in reading the Bible in 2023
Photo by Jandira Sonnendeck
This really resonated with me today. Great timing! Thank you.
Thank you Robin!