I don't usually blog before church on Sunday morning but withthe the time time change I "sprang ahead" and have rekindled energy as I review my sermon notes for today.
Nehemiah 4:4-23, my text for today, seems appropos for every day, any Sunday. The children of Israel are undertake the daunting task of rebuilding the walls of the city of Jerusalem and the enemy is sniping at them. Every level of opposition increases in intensity and by this time in their task their lives have been threatened. How do they respond? That is the focal point of this passage.
They pray--but that does not stop the enemy's attacks; in fact, they accelerate. We presume, sometimes, that prayer removes the opposition. Often, the opposite is true. So why do we pray? This passage is written in the spirit of Jesus' words to His disciples when He say "Watch and pray". We gird ourselves with the armor of God (Ephesians 6), just as the Israelites arm themselves, so that even while they are doing their work, they are ready at any moment to do battle.
We must pray, to be sure. But we must guard our hearts against satan's unrelenting determination to foil our plans and diminish our faith. Philippians 4:1-13 is built around the instruction to not be anxious but to pray, The result of that, we are told, is that we will have peace, and that peace functions as a garrision of the soul against the enemy.
Watch and pray!
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