Nehemiah 1
v.11
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.
Let Your servant prosper this day: This is a prayer of a man of action, not a sideline critic. Nehemiah does not pray “God, make it all better” or “God, get someone else moving on this problem.” Instead, his prayer is “God, use me to make it better.”
- “Recognition of need must be followed by earnest, persistent waiting upon God until the overwhelming sense of world need becomes a specific burden in my soul for one particular piece of work which God would have me do.” (Redpath)
- “Laying the matter to heart, he did not begin to speak with other people about what they would do, nor did he draw up a wonderful scheme about what might be done if so many thousand people joined in the enterprise; but it occurred to him that he would do something himself.” (Spurgeon)