dependence – The Lowedown

Nehemiah 2

¹Early the following spring, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never appeared sad in his presence before this time. ²So the king asked me, “Why are you so sad? You aren’t sick, are you? You look like a man with deep troubles.”

Then I was badly frightened, ³but I replied, “Long live the king! Why shouldn’t I be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been burned down.”

⁴The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”

With a prayer to the God of heaven, ⁵I replied, “If it please Your Majesty and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”

⁶The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?” So the king agreed, and I set a date for my departure. (Nehemiah 2:1-6, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

The book of Nehemiah is a classic study on effective leadership.

Nehemiah is a Jew in exile who happens to be the cupbearer to the King. When Nehemiah gets word that the wall in the city of Jerusalem is in ruins he’s understandably distraught. The king notices Nehemiah’s sullen demeanor, which could have been disastrous for Nehemiah given his position, but fortunately, the king is compassionate and inquires about the nature of Nehemiah’s anguish.

Nehemiah shares about the news he received concerning Jerusalem and to Nehemiah’s surprise, the king asks, “well, how can I help you?”

What comes next in the text is what I find most interesting. It says, “With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied…”

Nehemiah prayed to God before making his request to the king, a request which was certainly bold in nature.

It might be easy to overlook the significance of this verse. After all, it seems quite reasonable that Nehemiah would pray before making such a bold request of the king.

But think about it for just a moment. Did Nehemiah really pray? It’s not likely he had the time to pause, kneel, close his eyes and pray to the Lord, at least not as we tend to think about prayer.

This “prayer” was made in the middle of a back-and-forth conversation with the king. Nehemiah did not have the time to beseech the Lord in the traditional way we think of prayer. It would not have even been appropriate for Nehemiah to make a traditional prayer in the king’s presence while he awaited a response from Nehemiah to his question.

So if Nehemiah didn’t actually pray, how is it that the text can say Nehemiah prayed?

I think the key is the phrase “with a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied…”

Nehemiah didn’t stop to pray as we think about it. Instead, he prayed AS he replied to the king. In other words, at the same time he was engaging the king, he was inviting the God of heaven to give him wisdom, to give him favor in the eyes of the king and to grant the request he was about to make.

This may be a paradigm shift in how you think about prayer. Prayer is not JUST a focused time where we lift our requests up to God. Prayer is not JUST a dedicated time of solitude where we pause, reflect and lift up our praises and requests to God. Instead, prayer is an attitude of dependence and reliance on God that we can practice at all times. Prayer, essentially, is directing our thoughts towards God, whether it is audible or not, visible or invisible.

In Nehemiah’s case, he obviously didn’t stop, pause and lift up an audible prayer to God. Nehemiah’s prayer was in reality more of a heart attitude toward God in which he, in that moment, was acknowledging his dependence on God and exercising faith that God would speak through him and grant him favor in the king’s eyes.

And God honored Nehemiah’s prayer and granted his request before the king.

You may not be able to set aside hours each day for dedicated prayer. You may not be able to set aside even 30 minutes, though this discipline can have many benefits. But no matter how much time you may have to set aside for uninterrupted prayer, Nehemiah’s example demonstrates that we can pray at any moment and dedicated, focused time in prayer is not requisite in order to connect with the God of heaven!

Reflection

What has been your practice and discipline with prayer in the past?

How have you thought of prayer in the past? How have you defined and understood the nature and practice of prayer?

In what ways does Nehemiah’s example challenge your view and understanding of prayer?

In what ways can you implement Nehemiah’s example and make prayer more of an ongoing connection with God in which you are constantly directing your thoughts towards Him?

Photo by Rock Staar on Unsplash

Matthew 26

³¹“Tonight all of you will desert me,” Jesus told them. “For the Scriptures say,

‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

³²But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

³³Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.”

³⁴“Peter,” Jesus replied, “the truth is, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

³⁵“No!” Peter insisted. “Not even if I have to die with you! I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

³⁶Then Jesus brought them to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go on ahead to pray.” ³⁷He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he began to be filled with anguish and deep distress. ³⁸He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me.”

³⁹He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.” ⁴⁰Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you stay awake and watch with me even one hour? ⁴¹Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!”

⁴²Again he left them and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away until I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³He returned to them again and found them sleeping, for they just couldn’t keep their eyes open.

⁴⁴So he went back to pray a third time, saying the same things again. ⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said, “Still sleeping? Still resting? Look, the time has come. I, the Son of Man, am betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Up, let’s be going. See, my betrayer is here!”

. . . . .

⁶⁹Meanwhile, as Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, a servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.”

⁷⁰But Peter denied it in front of everyone. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said.

⁷¹Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷²Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said.

⁷³A little later some other bystanders came over to him and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.”

⁷⁴Peter said, “I swear by God, I don’t know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. ⁷⁵Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went away, crying bitterly. (Matthew 26:31-46; 69-75, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Under what circumstances might you deny Christ? What situation would cause you to abandon the faith and completely renounce Jesus?

If you said “Never”, maybe you should re-think your answer.

In this chapter of Matthew, Peter famously states that he would NEVER deny Jesus.

In fact, Jesus tells all of his disciples that they’re ALL going to desert Him.

Peter being the brash guy he is, responds by telling Jesus that even if EVERYONE ELSE deserts Jesus, He never will.

“You can count on me Jesus….I won’t let you down…I’m not like these other losers!”

We all know how the story unfolds after Jesus is arrested. Peter is confronted three times in the courtyard by different people who all believe that he is a member of the “Jesus” party and three times, Peter completely denies Jesus.

What I find interesting is that while Peter is famous for denying Jesus, there’s an oft-overlooked verse that demonstrates that Peter is getting a bad rap.

Verse 35 says that Peter was insisting that “even if I have to die with you I will never deny you.”

The text continues, “And all the other disciples vowed the same.”!

Peter takes the blame (rightly so) but the truth is that ALL the disciples vowed that they wouldn’t desert Jesus and yet that night ALL the disciples DID DESERT JESUS.

The only reason that Peter’s failures are highlighted over the other disciples’ is because Peter boldly declares his undying loyalty to Jesus in response to his prediction of desertion while the other disciples seemingly remain silent on the matter.

What can we learn from these insights?

For starters, we have to recognize our own capacity as fallen humans to fail in our devotion, regress in our spiritual development and to even deny Jesus among others.

If these disciples could desert Jesus after walking with Him for 3 years and observing Him perform miracles and healing people, then certainly we, as fellow broken humans who don’t have the benefits of personal interaction with Jesus, have the capacity to fail in our devotion to Him and possibly even deny Him in front of others.

Secondly, we have to be aware of the spiritual nature of our commitment to Jesus and the Christian life.

Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and prepare Himself for the ordeal He is about to experience. While there, Jesus urges the disciples to keep alert and pray as well so that they might not fall into temptation. But each time Jesus returns, He finds the disciples are sleeping.

Prayer is a spiritual activity that connects us to God. It’s not just for making requests and uploading our material wish list of needs and desires to God. Prayer is an activity that reminds us of the spiritual nature of life. It attunes our minds to the forces and temptations that may seek to derail us. In short, prayer is a means of preparation for spiritual warfare.

Peter and the disciples slept instead of preparing themselves for what they might encounter and so when the moment of truth came just hours later, Peter was not as prepared as he thought to take a stand for Jesus in front of a hostile crowd.

Prayer is an activity of dependence where we express and exhibit our need to God. If you don’t think you’re in need, you won’t be inclined to pray, or if you do pray, it is likely a meaningless spiritual activity.

Do you want to avoid the failure of Peter and all the other disciples who denied Jesus on the night of His betrayal and arrest? First you need to recognize your weakness and capacity to fall into temptation. Once you recognize your deep need, you’ll be driven to your knees, inviting God to strengthen you and empower you to follow through in obedience to Him, just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane on that fateful night!

Reflection

When is a time you denied Jesus in front of others or failed to identify yourself as a follower of Jesus? What were the circumstances? What were the factors that led to your denial or your silence?

Prayer is vital as a spiritual practice in preparing our hearts and minds to avoid temptations and circumstances that might cause us to deny Jesus and fall away. What has been your experience with prayer as a spiritual practice? What steps can you take to make prayer more integral in your life in preparing you for spiritual conflict?

Prayer is a means for preparing for spiritual conflict. What are some things that tend to be a conflict for you spiritually? What tends to tempt you or distract you from God?

Why do you think some Christians fail to acknowledge their ongoing need for Jesus? What causes Christians to believe as Peter and all the other disciples did, that they cannot fail or fall away?

Photo by Jack Sharp on Unsplash