DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 21 January 2025: The Power of Prayer
Text: Nehemiah 2:1-8 (KJV)
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
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.
7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
KEY VERSE: Nehemiah 2:4
“Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.”
The famous English writer and Puritan preacher, John Bunyan counselled: “Pray often, for prayer is a shield for the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan. Prayer is as the pitcher that fetcheth water from the brook, therewith to water the herbs. Break the pitcher and it will fetch no water, and for want of water the garden withers.”
During his travail, Nehemiah’s intimate relationship with God was revealed through his spontaneous, heart-borne, quiet communion with the King of kings before responding to the earthly monarch. Nehemiah was not a stranger to the throne of grace and knew where the solution to all problems comes from; therefore, he sought God, who answered his effectual, silent, powerful, faith-borne prayer. Believers must continually use the powerful weapon of prayer to win in the battles of life.
Significantly, because the heart of any monarch is in God’s hand as a course of water, believers, Christian workers, and ministers of God can leverage this opportunity to open any closed doors to spiritual, material, marital, political, and financial fortunes. Believers can also open closed doors to evangelizing individuals, communities, and nations (Psalm 2:8). Nehemiah’s skill and commitment to his duties as the king’s cupbearer are worthy of emulation. Though burdened with the sad news of the devastation of Jerusalem and the sufferings of God’s people, he nonetheless did not allow that to affect his loyalty and high sense of responsibility. Personal problems must not be excuses for abdicating responsibilities.
Believers must be models anywhere they are found. As representatives of Christ, we must not give occasion or opportunity to men to blaspheme the name of our God. Apostle Paul’s admonition comes in handy. “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:5,6). Nehemiah also maintained a skilful and polite disposition before the king. He was discreet, and graceful in presenting his request. He could not be denied. Wisdom is principal in life’s endeavours.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Praying hearts produce performing hands.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Exodus 17-19
Daily Manna 21 January 2025
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