I have been a part of the Intercession team at my church for a while now. After a few years, as with any sort of work, once you know the ropes, there is a tendency to become complacent. To think you know most of it; so there’s nothing new. With the complacency comes a lukewarmness and lack of fervour. I think the Lord knew I needed a refresher course – so He sent me on one!

Technically, I did not travel anywhere. Just went down some interesting thought pathways as I read my Bible. Writing is helping me process them so here they are, in no particular order.

The book of Nehemiah records wonderful examples of what it means to be an intercessor. The first thing we hear about him is that he was disturbed about something happening far away. This indicates an empathy and consideration for an event/people that had no direct bearing on his own life. His prayer, recorded in Nehemiah 1:5-11, expresses his identification with those who are suffering far away from his own comfortable life. As I wondered about my own response to those who are struggling, I realised that most of the time I can barely muster up sufficient sympathy for people I know very well, leave alone those whom I have no direct relationship with!

The second thing we hear is that he prayed before answering questions. That might seem like a rather random point but it struck me that here was a person who was ready to help out those who were struggling. I’m sure he must have formulated various contingency plans on how to offer assistance. So when the king said to him, “What do you request?”* my first response, if I had been in Nehemiah’s place, would have been to spout out all my plans and ideas. Instead, it is recorded, “So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said…”** His first response was to pray, probably asking for strength or clarity or wisdom or probably something else entirely. The point was that he sought God first and did not respond based on his own plans/ideas/knowledge. How many times had I stopped and prayed before responding to a tricky situation? Intermittently, if at all!

The third thing we hear is that he chose to rebuild something that did not seem worth the effort. The walls of Jerusalem were in ruins, the gates had been burned, the entire city was a mass of rubble. He describes it like this – “…I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through…”*** Despite the dismal view, his rallying cry was – “Let us rise up and build.”**** I’m amazed at his perspective; he did not allow harsh reality to obliterate his vision. Neither did the thought seem to cross his mind that this might be a waste of time! Instead, he managed to motivate others to work alongside him to fulfil this mission. The others also seemed to catch his fervour and enthusiasm, and worked to rebuild with a willingness that is astounding. How many times have I allowed my pessimism and negativity (masquerading as “being realistic”) to hinder my tasks? How many times have I spread my brand of realism, de-motivating others? Uncomfortable questions, all.

The fourth thing we hear is that he chose to defend something that was vulnerable and ugly; something that had not even requested assistance, was, in fact, a butt of jokes. Honestly, I doubt I would have done what Nehemiah did. The place was an ugly heap of stones. The general population were ridiculing their efforts to rebuild the wall – “…Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are? … What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”***** And essentially, the inhabitants of Jerusalem had not really asked him to commence this mammoth, thankless task. Yet, Nehemiah not only rebuilds, he also defends. He first motivates the people to fight (Nehemiah 4:14) and then arms them for battle. He prepares them for both construction and war – “…Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked…”****** What tenacity and wisdom! And the devotion and love required to rebuild and defend in the face of opposition and derision – I can’t even begin to imagine.

At the first sign of resistance or mockery, I tend to turn tail and run in the opposite direction. My instinct is self-preservation; especially if the situation/person in difficulty really doesn’t want to be helped, there doesn’t seem to be any point I feel. I might as well put my time and effort to better use, is my logical response. Yet Nehemiah did not go through life looking for the most comfortable, uncomplicated, less painful, less stressful options. He chose to stick his neck out, for people and situations that others had long given up on. And in the context of intercession, that calls for a heart change at a much deeper level. It requires identifying with those I am praying for, laying aside my own sense of self-protection, and sticking my neck out. It requires walking out of my depth to where the only absolute, secure, established fact is God.

That requires a more profound level of trust than ever before.

 

*Nehemiah 2:4

**Nehemiah 2:4

***Nehemiah 2:13, 14

****Nehemiah 2:18

*****Nehemiah 4:2, 3

******Nehemiah 4:17,18

 

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash