Impromptu Prayer
“Then the king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven.”—Nehemiah 2:4
God delights in all kinds of prayers. Whether it is the prayer of praise, confession, intercession, or supplication, He delights in them all. Sometimes we need to kneel down and have an extended time of communion with the Lord, just as a husband and wife need to have an extended conversation about their lives, their relationship, kids, and other life priorities, or as a person needs to sit down and have a full and healthy meal. But there are times, now and then, when an extended time of communion is not possible and we must take hold of the few short moments we have—much like the drive-thru. We don’t have time for the full-healthy meal, but we need sustenance nevertheless, so we take the few moments we have to get what we need and head off. Moments like these are fine provided they don’t become the primary means of sustenance. We cannot live in the drive-thru, just as a marriage can’t thrive with only brief sentences of conversation; there needs to be extended time of communion for the child of God with his or her Maker, just as we need to eat full and healthy meals.
Our passage for today is from the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the King of Persia during the time of Israel’s exile. The Israelites had gone into captivity in Babylon in 586 B.C., but the Persian king, Cyrus, conquered the Babylonians in 539 B.C. As the city transitioned from one government to the next, Nehemiah, a Jew, found himself as King Artaxerxes’ cupbearer, a position that allowed him regular access to the king.
News had just arrived that Jerusalem was a city in turmoil—the Babylonians who had destroyed the walls of the city, not to mention the Jewish temple, leaving Jerusalem decimated and exposed to other foreign invaders, had crushed it. The condition of Jerusalem was overwhelmingly grievous to Nehemiah and he spent many days crying, confessing, mourning, fasting and praying for guidance about what he should do. Finally, he came to the conclusion that he needed to return to the city to help in its rebuilding process. He spent some serious time in deep communion with the Lord before he went before the king. When the moment arrived and he found himself in the king’s presence, his sad face and concern for his people resulted in the king taking notice. He said, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick?” Nehemiah responded with what was on his heart—his beloved city had been destroyed and was subject to great shame. The king responded to Nehemiah, “What are you requesting?” It was then that Nehemiah stopped and prayed. He didn’t have time to go into deep communion with the Lord. He had already spent time doing that, but at this moment he needed some quick guidance, so he prayed a short prayer and then presented his request to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”
His request was granted because the “good hand of God was upon him” (see Nehemiah 2:8) and he did return to help the Israelites rebuild Jerusalem. While there are several principles to be found in the book of Nehemiah, the principle of impromptu prayer is noteworthy. Nehemiah had some very deep and serious times of communion with the Lord (see Nehemiah 1:5-11), but at the moment of serious difficulty and limited time, he offered up impromptu prayers (Nehemiah 4:4, 4:9, 5:19, 6:9, 6:14).
Our prayer times do not necessarily need to be hours on end; rather, they should be spirit-filled, focused, and spontaneously occurring throughout our days. There must be regular times when we get alone for extended periods and commune with God, but there will also be times when our communion with Him will be in short impromptu prayers in the midst of everyday life. Our spiritual walk cannot thrive with impromptu prayers alone, but we can and should have them. Whenever we are confronted with a situation where someone else is in charge and we are at his or her mercy, we pray to the Lord. Whenever we face difficulty, we pray. Whenever we face trials, we pray. Our God is the listening God and He hears our prayers whether they be long or short—we simply need to pray. Amen.
God delights in all kinds of prayers. Whether it is the prayer of praise, confession, intercession, or supplication, He delights in them all. Sometimes we need to kneel down and have an extended time of communion with the Lord, just as a husband and wife need to have an extended conversation about their lives, their relationship, kids, and other life priorities, or as a person needs to sit down and have a full and healthy meal. But there are times, now and then, when an extended time of communion is not possible and we must take hold of the few short moments we have—much like the drive-thru. We don’t have time for the full-healthy meal, but we need sustenance nevertheless, so we take the few moments we have to get what we need and head off. Moments like these are fine provided they don’t become the primary means of sustenance. We cannot live in the drive-thru, just as a marriage can’t thrive with only brief sentences of conversation; there needs to be extended time of communion for the child of God with his or her Maker, just as we need to eat full and healthy meals.
Our passage for today is from the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the King of Persia during the time of Israel’s exile. The Israelites had gone into captivity in Babylon in 586 B.C., but the Persian king, Cyrus, conquered the Babylonians in 539 B.C. As the city transitioned from one government to the next, Nehemiah, a Jew, found himself as King Artaxerxes’ cupbearer, a position that allowed him regular access to the king.
News had just arrived that Jerusalem was a city in turmoil—the Babylonians who had destroyed the walls of the city, not to mention the Jewish temple, leaving Jerusalem decimated and exposed to other foreign invaders, had crushed it. The condition of Jerusalem was overwhelmingly grievous to Nehemiah and he spent many days crying, confessing, mourning, fasting and praying for guidance about what he should do. Finally, he came to the conclusion that he needed to return to the city to help in its rebuilding process. He spent some serious time in deep communion with the Lord before he went before the king. When the moment arrived and he found himself in the king’s presence, his sad face and concern for his people resulted in the king taking notice. He said, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick?” Nehemiah responded with what was on his heart—his beloved city had been destroyed and was subject to great shame. The king responded to Nehemiah, “What are you requesting?” It was then that Nehemiah stopped and prayed. He didn’t have time to go into deep communion with the Lord. He had already spent time doing that, but at this moment he needed some quick guidance, so he prayed a short prayer and then presented his request to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”
His request was granted because the “good hand of God was upon him” (see Nehemiah 2:8) and he did return to help the Israelites rebuild Jerusalem. While there are several principles to be found in the book of Nehemiah, the principle of impromptu prayer is noteworthy. Nehemiah had some very deep and serious times of communion with the Lord (see Nehemiah 1:5-11), but at the moment of serious difficulty and limited time, he offered up impromptu prayers (Nehemiah 4:4, 4:9, 5:19, 6:9, 6:14).
Our prayer times do not necessarily need to be hours on end; rather, they should be spirit-filled, focused, and spontaneously occurring throughout our days. There must be regular times when we get alone for extended periods and commune with God, but there will also be times when our communion with Him will be in short impromptu prayers in the midst of everyday life. Our spiritual walk cannot thrive with impromptu prayers alone, but we can and should have them. Whenever we are confronted with a situation where someone else is in charge and we are at his or her mercy, we pray to the Lord. Whenever we face difficulty, we pray. Whenever we face trials, we pray. Our God is the listening God and He hears our prayers whether they be long or short—we simply need to pray. Amen.
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