How to Pray when problems don’t go away

I learnt to pray in a different way from the life of Nehemiah. Here are 4 powerful lessons that I learnt from the way he prayed.
Nehemiah had a problem which he could not do much about. And yes, we too face quite a lot of problems that we can do nothing about; problems that are way beyond our control. Nehemiah’s approach to such problems was different.
So what did Nehemiah do?

1. He took it to God First.

Nehemiah’s problem was that his country needed protection. The walls that protected his city were in ruins and the remnants were vulnerable to attacks. It was not his personal problem per se but there were many people who were affected by it. He was safe in a foreign country, he had a job, a home and a good pay. But he was concerned about his countrymen. When he was upset and genuinely burdened, he took it to God first and not the king. He knew it was only God who could do something about it. Though he knew the King personally and had an audience with him face to face every single day, he took his worry to God first.

What is our first response to crisis, to pain, to worry, to anxiety, to fear? Do we take it to the God of heaven or to the rulers of mortal men.
“When I heard these things, I sat down and cried for several days. I was sad and fasted. I prayed to the God of heaven,”
‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭1:4‬ ‭NCV‬‬
Matthew 6:33 says,” Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” Yes, when we seek God first, He will take care of all other things concerning us.

Secondly,
He presented the situation as it was, to God

Nehemiah had a complex problem. He had too many things to be handled. He had people who tried to dishearten him and kill him. They tried to stop him five times. They sent false prophets to prophecy against him. He was attacked physically, emotionally and Spiritually but he prayed a simple prayer , “My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat and what they have done. Also remember the prophetess Noadiah and the other prophets who have been trying to frighten me.””
‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭6:14‬.

A simple prayer without any suggestions, recommendations or exaggerations. He stated the facts and trusted that God knew better about the people and the situations than himself. He just reminded God of the things that were done to him in all its entirety. He believed God knew the severity, the motives behind and the circumstances. He didn’t get into a pity party or a complaint chorus. He just reminded God to look into the matter. In Matthew 5:44, the Bible says “But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you.” When we pray for our enemies most of the times we ask God to remove them, change them or destroy them. Or like the sons of thunder ( Luke 9:54) we want fire to fall from heaven and consume them and then when something remotely bad happens to them we want to rejoice. But Proverbs 24:17 says, “Don’t be happy when your enemy is defeated; don’t be glad when he is overwhelmed.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭24:17‬ ‭NCV‬‬
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There were times in the past when Nehemiah prayed that God would capture those people and not forgive them. ( Nehemiah 4:4). But over time he changed the way he prayed and that’s what I like the most. It shows that to him prayer was not a religious activity but a relationship that matured..

Thirdly,
He prayed a mature prayer..

Nehemiah 6:9(b). But I prayed, “God, make me strong.””
‭‭Wow! what a way to pray. When the situation did not change, when the enemy repeatedly offended him, he went to the next level of praying. He said, “God, if you are not going to remove the problem then strengthen me to face the problem head on”

Nehemiah was doing something that God wanted, something that was good for the people. But people rose against him, complained and so called prophets even tried to frighten him with false prophesies. But Nehemiah never gave up.

He believed with all his heart that he needed God more than he needed his problem to go. We should place our problems one at a time in prayer.
But our prayer should be not to remove the enemy but that God would strengthen us as we face the enemy. Let God prepare for us ‘a table in the presence of our enemies and anoint our head with oil’ which is the strength of His Holy Spirit( Psalms 23:5).
We are living in the last days and the Bible says that we will face a lot of problems( John 16:33) . But Jesus taught us to pray in a different way ; not to ask for God to take us out of the world but to stay strong.( John 17:15)

Finally,
Nehemiah Prayed First and prayed often.

Prayer was not just Nehemiah’s first response but he prayed so often. He prayed first, often and always. And whenever he prayed, he reminded God of His promises and His faithfulness. If you look at the book of Nehemiah, it is intertwined with reminders to God of what He had promised. Since Nehemiah knew God, it helped him focus more on God than the problems. He believed with all his heart that he needed God more than all the other things that seemed to help solve his problems.

We are living in the last days and the Bible says in Revelation 7:14, ” Heaven has people who have come out of the great distress. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Those who are in heaven are not the ones who have had an easy life but the ones who have fought a good fight and have kept their faith to receive the crown of life kept for them ( II Timothy 4:7 ).
In Luke 21:36 , Jesus asks us to be ready all the time. We should pray that we would be strong enough to escape all the things that are about to happen and that we will be able to stand before the Son of man. We cannot give up. We will have enemies and people who hurt us but we should ask God to strengthen us. God is raising warriors who don’t shrink back but move forward in the face of adversity.
Paul says in II Tim 4:16 -18 that no one helped him. But the Lord stayed with him and strengthened him and God saved him from people who hurt him.
Even if no one supports you, Jesus will be with you and strengthen you and bring you safely to his heavenly kingdom.
So today receive strength to face your enemy. God will take care of the enemy. Give God a chance and trust Him enough to see what He will do for you. Remember that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you ( Philippians 4:13).
Be strengthened!

God Bless
Jemimah Amirtharaj .