The Missionary Team I work on is doing a group Bible Study of Nehemiah, and it is awesome! We are only through 2 chapters, but God is teaching me SO much! Nehemiah received bad news, we are talking about the worst news he could have received at that time. What was his response? Was it to give up and question God? No. Was it to figure out what HE could do on his own? No. He wept, he mourned, he fasted and he PRAYED! First he praised God even through the hard times. Then, he confessed his sins, his family's sin, and his people's sin! Then, he found God's promises in the Bible and he praised God for them and claimed them. He didn't give up praying...He prayed for THREE months before God finally gave him the opportunity to sit before the king. Then when the opportunity arose, he prayed again! Every time he saw a prayer answered, he praised God and thanked him. Nehemiah was an everyday, ordinary man who had extraordinary faith! The king gave him permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls but not only did he have permission to rebuild the walls he also got funding! How awesome is our God? When he gives us a burden and a passion, he also provides the way if we trust Him and obey Him! Nehemiah could have prayed but not taken action when God opened the door to go to the king. What a lesson to learn from Nehemiah just from the first two chapters. When a problem arises, we pray, we trust completely, and we obey! Those are such easy words to say, but so often hard to really do. I pray that God would grow me to have faith and trust like Nehemiah did! I pray that I would go to God FIRST in my times of need and not try to handle things in my own way! I pray that I would keep a spirit of praise and confession at all times! I pray that I would have a spirit of obedience, even when what God is calling me to do is hard and scary! I know that there are many more lessons to be learned from Nehemiah...I am only on chapter 2!