Nehemiah 2:4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven.

Nehemiah really understood what used to be called “telegraph prayers.” Since telegraphs have disappeared with the progress in technology, that’s a very dated expression. Maybe today they would be called “prayer tweets.” The point is, he knew how to pray a very brief, focused prayer in the middle of doing something else. Here, he is praying in the middle of an audience with an absolute monarch, which would seem to demand his total attention. I would guess that the content of his prayer was probably, “Lord, help!” God obviously answered his prayer, giving him wise words to speak. This whole encounter was clearly orchestrated by God to achieve the rebuilding of Jerusalem, but in the middle of it, Nehemiah couldn’t be sure of that. He was literally “flying on a wing and a prayer.” He hadn’t planned to petition Artaxerxes to allow him to go rebuild Jerusalem, but God opened the door and he walked through it. The lesson for us is that it’s not wrong to plan ahead, and it’s generally very wise to do so, but God often has better ideas than we have thought of, and we need to be responsive to Him. Had Nehemiah not been open about what was bothering him, Artaxerxes would not have asked him this question. Had he then answered in his own wisdom, instead of with the words God supplied, the result would have been very different. We need to expect “divine appointments” and be spiritually and emotionally prepared to make the most of them. As Paul said, “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16) Staying in constant touch with the Lord is the best way to do that.

I’ve never been tempted to use Twitter, but I’m pretty familiar with “prayer tweets.” I find that I pray in the middle of almost every activity, and God is faithful. Sometimes I just vent to God, and He responds amazingly. Sometimes I don’t see an immediate response, but the act of prayer helps me focus on what God wants in the situation. That’s a pretty good answer to prayer, if you ask me. As a pastor I try to teach the believers to “pray without ceasing,” just as Paul said, (1 Thessalonians 5:17) but some of them seem to hesitate to pray at all! I was greatly blessed to be raised in a home where prayer was as natural as breathing, but hardly anyone around me was raised that way. I am not to put them down for it, but walk alongside them, encouraging them step by step, until they can walk and skip and run in prayer on their own, as God wants them to do.

Father, thank You for that image You just gave me. Thank You for the reminder that most of the believers here are just toddlers, spiritually speaking. Help me indeed be useful to You in teaching them to make full use of all that You have provided for them, so that as mature Christians they may in turn teach others, destroying the lies of the devil and bringing Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!