Prayer in Nehemiah (14)
“For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, ‘Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.’ Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.” (Nehemiah 6:9, NKJV)
Our Lord Jesus tells us that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not stand against it. In His high priestly prayer, He asks that the Father not take His disciples out of the world but that He protect them from the evil one.
Every New Testament writer alerts us to the presence of a spiritual enemy. This enemy, the devil and his demons, opposes us in our walk with Christ and the work He assigns us for the sake of His kingdom.
The devil often works through the agents and agencies of this fallen world, offering opposing counsel and what James labels “demonic wisdom” in an effort to discredit the holy God and discourage the work of the kingdom of God.
Paul exposes these charlatans who pretend to be on the side of Christ but are nothing but infiltrators to the camp. “But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:12–15; cf. 2 Thess. 3:2-3).
Nehemiah is engaged in God’s work. He has been called to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem that had been broken down and burned by the Babylonian army. He, too, has to deal with an enemy that opposes the work. Nehemiah 6 records familiar tactics of a spiritual enemy, through lies, accusations, and false counsel in the name of the Lord.
But God’s servant was resolute. “Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, ‘Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.’ But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?’” (Neh. 6:2–3). Nehemiah would not be deterred.
Nehemiah highlights fear as the debilitating goal of God’s enemies. First, they charge Nehemiah with wanting to be king and so establishing himself as a threat to the one he served as cupbearer (6:5-7). Sanballat and Geshem presented themselves as having Nehemiah’s best interests at heart. But he saw through them. “For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, ‘Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done’” (6:9; see also v. 14).
Our spiritual enemy, the devil, takes the same approach. He seeks to silence us and deter us from kingdom righteousness and proclamation by making us afraid – afraid of what others will think, afraid of legal repercussions, afraid of ostracism and loss of opportunity.
Nehemiah’s response to the fear tactics of the enemy was to turn to God. “O God, strengthen my hands” (Neh. 6:9). He did not cower but he did realize his need for God. The Lord was his refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. The strength needed was not simply to withstand but to press on in mission.
We find the same strategy given us for our kingdom mission. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10).
Just as Nehemiah faced Sanballat as an instrument of Satan, so Paul faced opposition to his mission in the person of Alexander the coppersmith (2 Tim. 4:14). He, too, found his strength in the Lord. “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion” (2 Tim. 4:17).
What opposition do you experience in your witness for Christ? Express to God your fears and ask Him for the strength found in Him.
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
