The truth of God’s Word will sink deep into our beings, assimilated by the digestive juices of prayer to our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. Our very beings are affected, sustained, fortified, and changed. By the Spirit, that embraced Word will accomplish the purpose intended for us in it. 

Prayer in Nehemiah (15)

“And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Then all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen!’ while lifting up their hands.

And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.” (Nehemiah 8:6, NKJV) 

This series has sought to feature prayer in the book of Nehemiah, particularly prayer for the work of the kingdom of God. This historical account of the return of the exiles has directed our attention to the work of building the wall around Jerusalem and to dependence upon God in its doing. We are reminded that all we accomplish, He has done for us. 

In chapter eight we continue to hear the incessant murmur of prayer. But as we arrive at that chapter we are greeted with the sound of a partner to prayer. The people of God are gathered to hear the public reading of the Word, in this case, the Torah. 

The scene is alive with interest. The people are not begrudgingly attending a church service to hear a 30-minute sermon. They are the ones who clamored to be fed with the Word of God. We are told that Ezra the scribe “read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law” (Neh. 8:3). 

Simply hearing the Word was not enough. The people sought to understand what was being read, and those who were spiritual leaders were among the people, helping them make sense of what was being read. It was as though these leaders were dieticians cutting the meat of God’s Word into bite size pieces and helping them to savor what they were being served. 

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