Friday, January 20, 2012

Sadness before the boss

[4]Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. [5] And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. [6] And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Nehemiah 2:4-6

Nehemiah is standing before the king, and Artaxerxes says, “What is your request?” One of my favorite portions of scripture is: “So I prayed to the God of heaven.”

Nehemiah immediately prayed to God before he answered the king. Nehemiah did not throw himself down on his knees and pray, it doesn’t appear that he prayed an eloquent prayer, but before he opened his mouth he prayed. I believed he prayed for wisdom to say the right thing. He didn’t have a lot of time but petitioned God quickly.

He asked the king if he could go back to Judah to help with the rebuilding of the city. Without skipping a beat, King Artaxerxes asked him how long he would be gone. The king had already approved his leaving. They did not have the FMLA (Family medical leave act) during Nehemiah’s time. He was asking for a leave of absence from the king. The king was the boss.

Nehemiah gives him a time. We are not privy to the time but historians believe it was between 6 months to a year with extensions following. (Nehemiah was in Judah for twelve years.)

We need to be in close communication with God so we can immediately go to Him. We can’t always go in the prayer closet when a problem arises, but we can always go directly to God.

Keep the pray lines opened before you and God.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

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