Getting Unstuck in Your Prayer Life
Feeling stuck in your prayer life? Same old, same old; wanting to break free?
Praying God’s word is the key to overcoming arrested prayer development. God’s word is full of riches that enable you to pray with greater depth, insight, hope, confidence, and joy. Here’s an example: pray with echoes of Nehemiah’s prayer.
Nehemiah is a man far from home. Talk about being stuck! He’s a slave in the court of a foreign king—one of the Jewish exile captives—yearning for news from his homeland.
When he hears a report from home regarding the trouble and disgrace facing the tiny remnant remaining in Jerusalem, including the city’s broken-down walls and destroyed gates, Nehemiah is moved with great emotion. He realizes this is a circumstance that requires a breakthrough only God can bring. Only God! Nehemiah begins to fast and pray, and does so with great persistence. After all…
…the people back home are defeated and broken.
…the city wall is worthless and no longer offers any protection.
…Nehemiah is a man far from home and under obligation as cupbearer to an unbelieving king.
…there is strong opposition in the region to rebuilding Jerusalem.
…Nehemiah has no resources available to rebuild the wall.
Insurmountable obstacles. All seems lost, yet God is able. While obstacles are inevitable, Scripture is full of examples where God bears his mighty arm and pours grace into such situations. Obstacles are the occasion for our mighty God to work! God is the Great Obstacle Overcomer!
And Nehemiah’s outpouring of prayer is recorded for our benefit:
He begins by recognizing God’s greatness, awesome power, and covenant-keeping, steadfast love.
He repents by confessing his own sin, as well as the sin of his family and nation. He pulls no punches: “God, every single way you have communicated your law to us, we have broken them all.”
Nehemiah recalls God’s past promises of redemption, faithfulness, and love.
He humbly but boldly requests success in undertaking this “impossible” project.
God hears and answers his cries! Feast with joy in Nehemiah 2 as well as 6:15-16:
“So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”
These verses record something astounding. Not only was the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem accomplished in record speed (52 days!), but even the enemies who opposed the work knew in their hearts this key fact: only God could have done it. “We know them. There’s no way they could do this on their own. They must have the true and living God on their side! This has been accomplished with the help of their God.”
Who is like our God? He can overcome the obstacles, so much so that even his enemies are left shaking in their boots.
What are your challenging circumstances? What about the great troubles of our nation and world? You can pray with Nehemiah.
Begin with a burst of praise and adoration, for our God is merciful, powerful, and able to do “exceeding abundantly beyond all we ask or imagine.”
Confess your sin, as well as the sins of the church and our nation. Honestly, this should not be hard to do. Licentiousness and rebellion are news headlines every day.
Express to God your hope in Christ based on all the remarkable promises of Scripture. He has promised, and he is faithful! Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords.
Tell God, humbly but boldly, what your heart desires. Describe in prayer the kingdom success that would bless you and make a difference in our needy world.
Then step forward! Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem and rolled up his sleeves. He prayed and then took action. The results still amaze us to this day and took the breath away from Israel’s enemies. Only God could have done it! God did.
How does God want you to enter into the answer to your prayers?
Dana Olson, veteran pastor and prayer leader, is the Director of Prayer First Heartland, part of the Converge family of churches, and is available for prayer weekends in churches. This article appears in the current issue of Prayer Connect magazine.