Nehemiah 1:6. “Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, night and day, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.”
IDENTIFICATION. It is not enough to know what’s wrong in the lives and cities of those around, For many have never heard the Word of God and don’t know where they’re bound. Some of us have been blessed, and now our feet are planted on holy ground; And it is up to us to identify ourselves as God’s, and give the Gospel sound.
Before stepping out to work for God, and expect people to listen to what I say, I need, like Nehemiah, to humble myself before the Lord and kneel and pray. The differences between the lost and saved are like the differences between night and day, And often the only way people will listen, is if they know I live life in a different way.
In a far and distant land from where he lived, the need was great he knew. For him to be an advocate, and before he could let sadness on his face to show; He had to spend the time with God alone as God’s plan for him developed and grew, And he could define the work before him, and his Lord would empower him to follow through.
Love for God and love for others is so necessary to enable us to do God’s revealed will; And it is now, and always will be God’s plan to use mere mortal men and their hands fill To do the work yet undone, whether it be at home or in a distant field, fallow ground to till;
And there the harvest of a work for God is waiting as it has for years – and is waiting still.
Heart-felt prayer is where the wanting soul will start to gain the insight needed and so essential. From there he lays himself on the altar for God, giving unreservedly to his Lord, his full potential. If sin has been a hindrance to his life – covetousness, or whatever sin he faces – he is penitential, Knowing that for a man to be used for God, he must be clean in order to be used instrumental.
For people in a culture strange or language that to me is unknown, I must take steps to rectify The lack I have, by laying down at feet divine – marked with nails, all that I thought would satisfy Me in this life: and stepping out of the zone of comfort I live in, deliberately choose to identify Myself in language, dress and life-style so they know I identify with Him who for their sins did die.
“O God of all mankind and Father of all that believe: I am about to cross into a modern culture of young Christians who do not think as I think, learn as I learned, dress as I dress or even have the same values taught to them I was taught. Please help me to recognize the differences and not insist that they be like me. At the same time, help me to insist that they must be like Thee. I am aware of the potential barriers that I must go over to reach them. Please help me do this with dignity and grace, In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”