Nehemiah – An Introvert Following God

Prior to beginning an all church fast our Pastor, Jon Cobler preached on Nehemiah last weekend.  As I finished day one of the fast it got me to thinking about praying and a previous post I had posted on blogger long ago.  I dug it out, edited it a little bit and thought I would share it here with you….

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When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.  Nehemiah 1:4

When Nehemiah heard of the destruction of Jerusalem he first prayed to God, prior to speaking.  The movement occurred inside, before he spoke or took any action.  A true introvert who thinks before speaking who is more concerned with the inner world of the mind enjoying praying, thinking, exploring thoughts and feelings.  Nehemiah looked for direction from God.  And then some months later …

Then the king said to me, “What would you request ?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah 2:4

Again, when King Artaxerxes noticed that Nehemiah was sad in his presence when he brought wine to the king as the cup bearer, Nehemiah prayed before speaking.  He asked God for the right words not to avoid the conversation but to speak truth in boldness in spite of his fear at addressing the king with the pain he felt at the fall of Jerusalem.

Our first inclination before speaking or acting should be to fall to our knees either literally or figuratively to seek the guidance of Almighty God.  To seek His direction, His truth and His strength to carry out whatever task He has set before us.  I pray that as a world, a nation and individual people that each one of us would seek God’s direction for our lives moment by moment.  If we would pray to the God of heaven in all things how much different might our world and our lives be in 2013?  Through His strength and grace I believe we could change the world.