“But I prayed, ‘Now strengthen my hands.’” Nehemiah 6:9
Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes I. It was his duty to test and serve the king’s wine. The king needed to have complete faith in this servant. Because of this trust, one day Artaxerxes honored Nehemiah’s wish to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild the temple and reconstruct the walls surrounding this once great city. Upon arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah saw that his project was not without opposition. Hearing of the reconstruction project, Nehemiah’s enemies schemed to halt the work. At first they plotted to stir up trouble, so Nehemiah “prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat” (Neh. 4:9). But the enemy persisted in causing trouble and threatened the Jews. This called for new tactics to protect themselves, so they designated half the workers to arm themselves while the other half worked on the wall.
Finally the enemy falsely accused Nehemiah of plotting to overthrow them. They hoped that God’s people would become too discouraged and distracted to complete the project.
Nehemiah earnestly prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” His simple four-word prayer demonstrated that he knew where to go for help. He prayed that the Lord would fight for him and give him strength to withstand the onslaughts of these wicked people.
There are times in our lives when, like Nehemiah, we need the Lord to strengthen us as we face the enemy. Satan is focused on discouraging and distracting us too. Satan knows that our kingdom work suffers whenever we are discouraged and distracted. The daily news confirms that hatred of the world against God’s people is increasing. God’s people are facing greater and greater battles as the war on Christianity intensifies. Like Nehemiah, we must continue to build the wall and rise above Satan’s attacks. Like Nehemiah, we must know where to find the resource that will strengthen our hands.
The Bible tells us to “look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always” (1 Chron. 16:11). Nehemiah found the extra strength he needed. The wall was completed in 52 days! And the adversary knew why: “They realized that this work had been done with the help of our God” (Neh. 6:16). Nehemiah knew the source for his strength. Praise God that strength is ours today!
Remember to ask God for strength since he is the source.
Seven days without prayer
makes one weak.
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