3. Claim the promises of God.
Nehemiah is praying to the Lord and saying, “I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses.” Can you imagine saying, “remember” to God? He’s reminding God what he had said in the past. God, you warned us through Moses that if we were unfaithful we would loose the land of Israel. But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back to us. All through the Bible you find God’s people reminding God about what he said he wants to do. David did it. Abraham did it. Moses did it. All the prophets did it. “God, I want to remind you of one of Your promises …” Then they’d share it.
Does God have to be reminded?
No.
Does he forget what he’s promised?
No.
Then why do we do this?
Because it helps us remember what God has promised. Nothing pleases God more that when you remind God of one of his promises.
Do kids ever forget a promise?
Never.
So you have to be very careful about making them. The Bible says we’re imperfect fathers, and if we imperfect fathers know that we need to fulfill our promises to our kids, how much more does a perfect Father, a heavenly Father, intend to keep the promises he’s made in his Word.
4. Be very specific in what you ask for.
If you want specific answers to prayer you need to make specific requests. If you make general prayers, how will you know if they are answered?
Nehemiah is not hesitant to pray for success. He’s very bold in his praying. Have you ever prayed, “Lord, make me successful!” If you haven’t, why haven’t you? What is the alternative? A failure? There is nothing wrong with praying for success if what you’re doing is ultimately for the glory of God. Pray boldly. Pray that God will make you successful in life for the glory of God. That’s what Nehemiah did. This is a valid prayer. Give me success!
If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what you’re doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn’t want you to waste your life.
This article on a leader’s prayer life originally appeared here, and is used by the kind permission of the Small Group Network
