“Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.” – Nehemiah 1:6
Nehemiah 1 is a wonderful example of how any one of God’s people can pray earnestly and impactfully on behalf of all God’s people. Hearing a sad report of the state of affairs in far-off Jerusalem, Nehemiah began to fast, mourn, weep, and pray. He fasted, cried, and prayed for days! With our short attention spans it’s hard for us to imagine sustaining prayer for hours, much less days, yet Nehemiah prayed for days and God answered his prayers. We must learn from him!
Nehemiah came before God to confess the failures and sins not only of himself but of his people. Though he hadn’t committed most of those sins, he was brutally honest about the failure of God’s people to obey God’s Law. He prayed for God’s active intervention in the world to use him to bring about restoration. Because he did, God honored and answered his prayers.
We can’t fix all of the problems in the world. We can’t fix all of the problems in Christianity. We can’t fix all of the problems in either the universal church or our local church. But we can pray for them. We can confess the sins and errors we commit and that we see in other Christians. We can confess to God our failure to make disciples, to observe all Christ commanded, to love and live like Jesus. We can confess to God our need for His work of conviction, renewal, and revival in all Christians. We can weep and mourn the state of Christianity in the west and pray for God’s active intervention to bring about revival and awakening. God will hear our prayers and He will honor them, so let us pray!