Priority of Prayer

But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. [Nehemiah 4.9]

Two things:

They prayed.

And, they guarded the city.

There is a dangerous idea today that has much to do with this scripture passage from Nehemiah. That idea is to skip the prayer part initially, proceed to protecting ourselves, and then pray to God when we see we are in trouble.

Have you ever heard the expression, "all there is left to do is pray..."? By the very tone of this phrase, defeat is the dominant theme.

Our attitude about prayer says everything about our attitude toward God.

Let me say that again...

Our attitude about prayer says everything about our attitude toward God.

How we approach prayer determines how we navigate life with its twists and turns.

It is not ironic that Jesus never had to "go pray" when He was asked to do a miracle. He was simply ready on the spot. Why? Because He understood the power of prayer. He understood that prayer prepared Him for any and everything He would encounter. And then, when He encountered demons, sickness, and death itself, His words were few because His prayer basis was already large and firm - sufficient for every circumstance. All He needed to do was speak the word. In fact, the one person who suggested that He simply "speak the word" is on record having great faith unlike any other Jesus had seen.

So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed. [Luke 7.6-10]

Nehemiah's indication of the priority of prayer tells us where our priority should be. If prayer is not our first priority, we are destined for defeat.

Father, may we be found people of prayer. May we be found praying in abundance so that we might meet any circumstance with all the confidence of Your Kingdom as Jesus demonstrated.