I love reading prayers in the Bible. They show me the importance and power of prayer. They teach me things I can apply to my own prayer life. Certainly Jesus’ words on prayer in Matthew 6 have shaped the form and pattern of my own. I’ve also learned the heart of confession and thanksgiving from David. I’ve learned the importance of praying for eternal things over that of the temporary from the prayers of Paul. And I’ve read countless accounts of how God responded to the prayers of his people, reminding me of his faithfulness to answer my own.
Recently I’ve been reading through Nehemiah in my quiet time. He too was a man of prayer. When he learned that the gates of Jerusalem were broken and destroyed by fire, the Bible says “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 1:4). He prayed to “the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments” (v. 5), beseeching God to hear his cry for help.
Nehemiah is a narrative, retelling the story of the exiles’ return to Jerusalem. While a narrative, it also reads like a memoir. What stands out to me throughout the book are the little prayers sandwiched between events in the story. They are squeezed in and easily overlooked in the context of the overall story. Yet these little prayers speak loudly to how prayer was such a significant part to Nehemiah’s life and faith.
For example, though Nehemiah had spent much time in prayer and fasting regarding the state of Jerusalem, when the king asked him what was bothering him and what he wanted, he paused for merely a second and prayed again, “Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven” (2:4). It took just a moment to seek God’s help. As Spurgeon said: “He had been asked a question by his sovereign. The proper thing you would suppose was to answer it. Not so. Before he answered he prayed to the God of heaven. I do not suppose the king noticed the pause. Probably the interval was not long enough to be noticed, but it was long enough for God to notice it— long enough for Nehemiah to have sought and have obtained guidance from God as to how to frame his answer to the king.”
Such quick prayers are found throughout the book of Nehemiah. In the middle of the narrative about Sanballat and Tobiah the Ammonite taunting them as they labored to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, a prayer is interjected, “Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives” (4:4).
When Nehemiah recounts his generosity during this time, he again interrupts with a prayer, “Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people” (5:18-19).
When his enemies begin to spread false rumors about the work they are doing, Nehemiah recounts what he said to them, and then he prays: “Then I sent to him, saying, ‘No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.’ For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.’ But now, O God, strengthen my hands” (6:8-9).
Throughout the book, it is as though Nehemiah is simultaneously recounting the events that took place and having an ongoing conversation with God. While he certainly has specific times that he prays—as evidenced by the four months he spent praying and fasting for Jerusalem—he also prays quick prayers, what some might call “popcorn prayers.” This is what I want for my own prayer life. I want prayer to be infused into all that I do—for my thoughts to naturally turn to prayer all throughout the day. In the heat of the moment, when I don’t know what to say or do, I want to pray. When I feel a hard and painful emotion rise to the surface, I want to pray. When I hear bad news or drive by an accident or start to complain about a circumstance in my life, I want to stop and pray.
The brief prayers found in Nehemiah remind us that God hears us not just when we set aside specific times to pray each day (as Daniel did) but he also hears our prayers in the moment. It reminds us that we can pray with our eyes open, while driving, having a conversation, and as we go about our business. We can pray when faced with temptation, when our children exasperate us, and when we need God’s help. As Spurgeon said about Nehemiah’s prayers: “God does not hear us because of the length of our prayer, but because of the sincerity of it. Prayer is not to be measured by the yard, nor weighed by the pound. It is the might and force of it— the truth and reality of it— the energy and the intensity of it.”
Let us be believers who pray, not just at set times, but all the time. Like Nehemiah, may our lives be infused with prayer—one long, ongoing conversation with our Savior.
