Pray Effectively

Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” [Nehemiah 4.4-5]

This is quite a prayer that Nehemiah prayed. It reminds me of some of the prayers found in the Psalms.

And yet, we do not hear much prayer like this today.

This prayer was prayed in perilous times for the Nehemiah and the Jews. They were attempting to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and were meeting great opposition and threats.

It seems noteworthy that although the threats were coming, Nehemiah and the Jews kept on building. They confessed their dependence upon God and kept weapons at hand. Furthermore, they posted guards to keep watch.

A few years back, in the USA, a particular political figure in quest of his party's nomination to run for president made the following statement: "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." He was speaking of working class people in the mid-west United States. If this wasn't scoffing, nothing is!

The sad thing is, the particular candidate mentioned above went on to win his party's nomination and then went on to become the President of the USA.

So, is it okay to pray against scoffers like this? Nehemiah thought so and history supports Nehemiah's stance and prayer!

Father, help me to pray effectively.