Text: Nehemiah 1:4-11

Introduction.

-There are approximately 25 thousand nuclear weapons in the world.

-Six of them would be enough to destroy the world.

-The atomic bombs that exist nowadays can destroy the Earth 44 times.

-This world is not a safe place to live.

-But I'd like to talk about something much more powerful than the atomic bomb.

-I'd like to talk about prayer.

-The people of God had been taken captive.

-Nehemiah is in Persia,where he meets Hanani (1:2) and hears news about Jerusalem.

- Nehemiah 1:4 And then he cries,mourns and fasts.

-Application: "Tears are a good method of preaching the gospel".

-What was his prayer like?

01.He adores.

- Nehemiah 1:5 There was a specific need.

-He has an intense desire for an answer.

-He is abroad.A place of idolatry.The King doesn't serve the Lord.

-He knew the reason for the captivity.It was rebellion,disobedience.

-The kings would punish their vassals.

- Psalm 103:8 God was merciful.

-"Great and awesome God." He has an attitude of adoration.

-We forget to adore.We start by asking.

02.He asks.

- Nehemiah 1:6. He is specific.Right to the point.He tears his heart before God.

-He begs: Please,God.

-Why do we do the same and yet don't have an answer?

-We adore,we ask but we fail to persist."Day and night."

-It seems Nehemiah heard Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7:7-11

03. He confesses.

- Nehemiah 1:6 ".....I confess that we have sinned...."

- Nehemiah 1:7 He is specific about his confession.

-He asks for himself and for the people.

-Our sins separate us from the Holiness of God.

-Only confession can tear this wall down.

Conclusion.

-It's easy to talk about Nehemiah's prayer because it's been answered.

-How about when we pray but see nothing changing around us?

-One of the greatest crisis in the Christian faith.

- Psalm 115 teaches us that "we change through prayer."

-We look more like the God we adore.

-Two simple but deep lessons from Nehemiah's prayer.

1.He prays based in God's promises. Nehemiah 1:8a and 1:10

2.He turns out to be the answer for his own prayer . Nehemiah 2:4 and 2:8a

-Prayer: The greatest force on Earth.It changes situations, it changes people.