All right, Nehemiah chapter one, your Bibles please, Nehemiah chapter one. And again, we're looking at the story this morning, the start of the story of the book of Nehemiah. And you know, do you ever say something and you wonder if anyone heard what you said, all right? My wife probably has a lot more stories than I do about this. Sometimes before she leaves to go somewhere, do something, run an errand, she'll stop by my computer desk. I'm there working, studying, and things like that. And she'll tell me where she's going. And then she'll kiss me goodbye. And then she'll leave. And I'll be studying a little bit longer. And then I'll stop and think, did my wife come in here? And then I'll look outside to verify, oh, the car is gone. OK, yeah, she did come in here. And I'm trying to remember what it was that She said to me about where she was going to go. Sadly, in a case like that, she didn't really have my ear. I wasn't really paying attention to what she was speaking about. I tell my younger kids, when I'm typing, I'm talking, all right? So that's me, I'm speaking. So if you're talking to me and I'm talking, you might want to wait a second until I get done with that so that you have my attention. Now, as a husband and a father, I need to do better about that. Stop, look, and listen if I can. If there's something going around, my family needs my attention. But if my wife really needs me to do something, like barbecue the turkey that I did ahead of time for Thanksgiving, she puts some in the freezer for that, and then she really gets my attention, make sure, and that I know what's going on. And then when I'm out there actually barbecuing it, she knows, okay, he heard me, right? He got the message of what I needed him to do. Nehemiah chapter one, Nehemiah is petitioning God, and he really wants God to hear. He wants to have God's attention. And so if you look down at verse 11, he says, So what's he saying to God? your attention. Now as you read the story, we're not gonna go through the entire story, but we will as we conclude, we'll look at the answer to this petition. It's very clear that Nehemiah got the ear of God. He got the attention of God. And so I wanna preach a message entitled this morning, God Hears These Prayers, okay? Nehemiah prayed in a way that he got the attention of God. I think there's things that we can look at from the word of God this morning, in my prayer life. And if it's there in my prayer life, just like Nehemiah, I believe we can be very confident that God's going to hear. And so you need to pray prayers which grab a hold of the ear of God. And just to think this morning, do I have the ear of God when I pray? Do I know that God is hearing my petitions? Let's pray. Father, thank you for the story of Nehemiah. I love this story. I suppose I love it even more now that we're in the middle of a building project and the things that are happening here, similar to Nehemiah, big responsibility and things that we're burdened about as a church, but far more than that, we're building the church of God. And Father, this spiritual reality of our church, the people, is even greater than the responsibility of the physical building. And then as families, we're seeking to raise godly families. We wanna be a godly spouse. We wanna be a godly person, a neighbor, and things like that. So there's important things that are all around us. Father, in the midst of that, there's gonna be times where we really need to bend the ear of God. We need to make sure that we are coming directly into your presence. And Father, I pray this morning, this text would help us. I pray, Lord, that it would give us some real traction in our prayer life where we could really get somewhere with God. Father, we're so grateful for the privilege of prayer. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ that made it possible for us to enter into the Holy of Holies through his shed blood. May his name be praised today. Father, I pray for the children in their class, that they would be good and listen and be attentive in that. They would be well instructed in the Word of God and enjoy that class. Bless Mrs. Schroer as she watches over that. this morning, and then Father in here, I can't speak without your enablement. We can't hear without the same. And so would you open our ears to hear and give us grace to listen with our shoes on, ready to go the way of thy commandments, when you enlarge our hearts. And Father, I pray that the spirit of God give me liberty to declare the truth of the word of God with clarity and love and practicality and in the power of God. And so I thank you for your help. All right, and so you need to pray prayers which grab a hold of the ear of God. So what kind of prayers will God hear? And so we start with this morning, God will hear prayers that come from a broken heart, okay? Prayers that come from a broken heart. We don't like things that really kind of break us, but a lot of times those things can be the very thing that are catalyst to us in our walk with God. And so the Bible says in Isaiah 66, verse two, but to this man, I will look even to him that is of a poor, and a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Something that's broken, poor, and contrite there before God. God said, I'm gonna listen to that person. Psalm 51, 17 says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, thou wilt not despise. Okay, so again, God's gonna have an ear for that brokenness that's there, and we see that in our text, okay? There are circumstances in the story that are bringing And so we begin at verse 1. It says, The context of Nehemiah, he's still part of the captivity. That took place a long time before him, where Judah went into captivity to Babylon. And after 70 years, with Daniel, in the reading of that text in Jeremiah, and the return with Zerubbabel, okay, and now we're after that, 80 years later, Ezra comes back and he rebuilds the temple in Jerusalem, and then 100 years later, after the exile, so 170 years after Judah went into captivity, you've got Nehemiah. And you've got these Jews coming and bringing report about Jerusalem, the city of God, and their story is that it's still in disrepair. So Nehemiah cares deeply about that. He's got a broken heart because of the sad condition of God's people. And so verse two, It says that, and I, one of my brethren, came he and certain men of Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, those that went back, which were left in the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, the remnant that are left in the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire." Okay, so the return to the land was not as triumphant as God's people would desire. In fact, it wasn't triumphant at all. It was a disgrace, really, to the God of heaven, a lot of the things that were taking place there. There was great affliction and reproach to the people of God. There was no fortification and defenses, and the gates were broken down, or I'm sorry, the gates had been burned with fire, the wall had been broken down. And so it's not a mighty city and a great people, but it's a disgraced people. And so Nehemiah looked at that and said, I'm burdened about that. Really, he was broken by that as he thought about that. That kind of thing ought to break your heart. You see, what ought to bring great glory to God, not bringing great glory to God, and disrepair, and looking so weak when you have a mighty God, that ought to be something that stirs you up and breaks your heart. It broke the heart of King David to see God's people disgraced by the wicked. Psalm 4, verse 3, Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things, and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. And so David, again, he was broken by that. He looked at that and thought, how can this continue? How can this be this way? And he stirred him up to go to God and say, God, look at this and consider the condition of your people. Again, in our day, what is the condition of the people of God? What state is the church of God? What state is the people of God? Well, we know that churches are in decline. The Church of Scotland is shuttering the doors on a lot of churches that here in Scotland, a lot of Kirks are closing this year. It's a big news story about that. Of course, that's the state church, but it's often been evangelical and has been a good witness in many ways in the past, but not anymore. Of course, part of that is because evangelical churches are compromised. And the Church of Scotland certainly is compromised, and other churches are compromised doctrinally and practically. I don't know if you saw this in the news yesterday, but the Anglican Church voted by one, as far as one more in favor than against it, to allow same-sex union in the church with the blessing of the church. Justin Welby, you know, recluded himself with some words for that. And so he didn't, yeah, he didn't vote on it. So his vote would have been a tie vote, I guess, but he stepped back because he has to watch over the care of all that are in the church. And so I guess he can't stand up for what's right in that sort of thing. And so you look at that and think, they're gonna bless sodomy in the church and they're not married, so that's blessing fornication. Well, in the church, and so again, that ought to grieve our hearts today as we think about that. Churches are closing. Evangelical churches are compromised. That's just some examples. Good churches are canceling services. A lot of churches don't have a Sunday night. Nobody comes. They don't have a midweek service. Nobody comes. Stop having Sunday school. Nobody comes. And pretty soon what you find, we had four services, we had three services, we had two services, we had one service, now we meet every other week. And pretty soon, basically, you end up with potentially nothing. In those churches, how many are being called to preach? How many are being called into mission? Where's the strength of the church to send foreign missionaries? That would be a great thing for our church to pray, dear God, out of this church, raise up somebody that we can send into missions or into pastoral ministry that we could be a sending church or a commissioning church for that person. So this morning, how about our church? Not the building, but the people. How are things with us? And just to take stock of ourselves this morning, how is our attendance? As we look around, I think I see some seats this morning I'd love to see filled with others. And I certainly, as a witness at other services that we have, there'd be many times that we could say that. What about evangelism? and the work that we're doing as a church to get the gospel out into our Jerusalem, the Judeans, Samaria, into the outermost parts of the earth as God intends us. about our leadership. We're still praying. Dear God, give us deacons of the Catholic Church that are qualified and that are God called to be the servant leaders of the work that we have on our property and things that we have going on. Certainly more vital for us this year than any other year to be interceding with God about that. How's our missions program and our missions giving? You know, the things that we're investing in as far as foreign missions, you know, praise God, we've got three missionaries that we support, but are we participating in things in that? And so, you know, there are times where I'd say this, to be honest, there'd be times that if I had to win I don't wanna say I'd be embarrassed, but I certainly would look at it with grief and say, dear God, where's the witness that you deserve? Where's that testimony of the incredible work that you're doing? Now, this building speaks volumes about God, but I would to God that we see that in the people of God, and you understand what I'm saying there, though I'm thankful for everything that God is doing, I think we can all look at it and say, you know what? There ought to be something about this that really kind of breaks our heart, that we think, you know what? God deserves more. God ought to be glorified. He ought to be magnified in Lothian, the Lothians, Scotland, the UK, and Europe. And I'm not just speaking about this. I'm speaking about what will come from this as far as starting other churches, what will come from this as far as missions, our witness that would testify to this world that there is a great God in heaven. And so there are many things this morning we look at and say, you know, that breaks my heart. That really stirs me up. And so we see that in the life here of Nehemiah. And then a heart which is broken and which is prepared to petition the God of heaven. He's prepared to petition God. And so it came to pass when I heard these words, that I sat down and I wept and I mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." Okay, so Nehemiah didn't just hear it, he couldn't get over what he'd heard. He sits down to ponder it. It's like it's the only thing he can think about. He sits there, and as he thinks about it, he begins to weep, and it is stirring, again, his soul about it, and moves him to tears, and he begins a four-month prayer journey. There's four months between chapter one and chapter two. It gives the month and the date there. So there's a process of time where he's giving himself to fasting and to praying to God, and he's broken before God about it. Many of us don't wanna think seriously about the condition of God's people. It's easier to just go turn on the telly. It's just easier to go think about other things, focus on other things, our interests, our sports, our hobbies, or things like that. I would suspect that it's not often that we're really broken about what about the state of the church? What about the state of God's work? What about what God desires to do? The thing about that is if we're not broken about it, why should we see souls saved when it doesn't break our heart not to see souls saved? You know what I'm saying? I mean, if it's not really a burden to us that, hey, we're not seeing many people trust Christ. And I praise God for those that we have seen earlier this year trust Christ as their Savior. We're excited about that. We're so burdened that these go on for God. And that's great, praise God. But that ought to be something that we carry very dear to our hearts. Why should God give us deacons when it doesn't break our hearts that we don't have them? We just kind of maybe accept, well, that's just the way it is, instead of really taking that to God, like, God, this is something that we need. Why should we have services packed out when it doesn't break our hearts to have a few? If it's not that well attended, that it doesn't really stir us up, doesn't really move us, why should God build our Sunday school and kids class when, again, we don't really care enough to get on our knees and to begin to really pray to God and say, God, this has to change. Our Sunday school, by the way, our Sunday school starts at 10 o'clock. I saw golfers on the golf course this morning at 8 o'clock. You know, these kids go to school Monday through Friday. I think we're talking about Wednesday night. They start at maybe nine o'clock. It is not beyond the realm of the possible to say to God, God, we are burdened to see our Sunday school again, growing our Wednesday night kids club again, growing with children that are here being instructed in the word of God. And so, again, these things ought to stir us up. But, you know, until we have a broken heart, is God going to hear? Because I suspect we're not really maybe even going to be praying like we should if we're not broken about it. So a broken heart is a great thing. It's a good thing. It ought to be broken for the right reasons, broken for the glory of God, broken to see God work. That's not a bad thing. If God begins to do that work in our heart, that's going to get us right there before God where God can answer our prayers. And so prayers that God hear are prayers that come from a broken heart. Prayers that God hears against God's ear are prayers that rightly relate to God. They rightly relate to God, okay? As a husband, God's word teaches me how to relate to my wife, biblically. The word of God gives instruction about it, okay? 1 Peter 3, 7 says, likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. Okay, so that verse teaches me a lot about relating to my wife. It teaches me that she's to be held in honor, giving honor to the wife, you know, lifting her up. You know, she's queen of the house and respecting her. She is not to be treated like one of the guys. The Bible says she's a weaker vessel. So there is to be protection. There is to be security that's given. She's equal before the throne of God. The Bible says heirs together the grace of life. So it's not, there is a responsibility that I have as husband of leading my home. But when it comes to our equality, we are equal before God as far as our Christianity and our walk with God and as a child of God. Now, The Bible teaches me that if I don't rightly relate to her, it's going to hinder my prayer life. It says that your prayers may not hinder. So take account of the fact that you're going to treat her as God intends, because that impacts your prayer life. It impacts your walk with God. So the Bible teaches me as a man how to rightly relate to my wife. It also teaches us how to rightly relate to God. so that we're in a right perspective of who God is, so that we're rightly related to him and dealing with him in a way that is appropriate. And so prayers that rightly relate to God, understand God's place, understand God's place. It says in verse five, it said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven. somebody that we speak to as if we're speaking to somebody on earth he is the God of heaven the Lord's Prayer Jesus said pray our Father which art in heaven Okay, emphasizing again his place. The wisest man Solomon spoke about God's place far above us in Ecclesiastes 5 verse 2. It says, be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few. He's saying, remember, the place of God, that God is far above us. We didn't get to the text this morning, but in our Christology study, there was scripture that is from Solomon, and when he goes to prayer, he says, then hear thou from heaven, then hear thou from heaven, then hear thou from heaven. And again and again, he repeats that statement. It's amazing today that when we go to prayer, that we have access into the control room, the throne room of God. Be not rash with thy mouth. Don't utter anything hasty before God. You know, we live in a very disrespectful world. Women are treated disrespectfully. My wife, last week, knocking on doors, was treated very disrespectfully with my kids. This man used profanity, slammed the door. And I mean, from her perspective, I understand my wife was not being rude or unkind or anything, but that's just the way our world is. People disrespect God. The Lord's Day is the biggest party day. I mean, it's just nothing. To the average person on the street, it's just nothing. They treat it like it is a holiday for them instead of a holy day for God. It's the biggest sports day, etc. Dressing down, people used to dress up to go out of the house. I'll meet an older man, he still puts on that jacket before he goes out of the house. I'm not saying that we have to walk around exactly as our previous generations did, but understand our days, it's a very dressed down, a very casual day. Used to be that people would speak cordially to one another. Nowadays it's talk to the hand, right? I mean you got the earbuds in and it's just again very very disrespectful. Now we ought to consider that and take note of that and as believers say by the grace of God I want to be respectful and things like that. But understand that that disrespect of our world can very quickly spill over into our relationship with God. We just get kind of casual with God. Kind of easy with God. Don't really stop and think respect his day? How do we respect his name? How do I respect him in my manner, my dress, my attitude, and so on? And so that can affect us. So we need to remember as we come to God that God is in heaven, God's place. And then prayers that rightly relate to God, understand God's power. It says in verse five, the great and terrible God. Do you know if I were to ask you today, did Nehemiah fear God, what would you say? Yeah. I think that says it doesn't. I mean, the great and terrible God, when I was in high school as a teenager, we were at a Christian camp, Camp Clearwater in Wisconsin, and there was a storm that came up very quickly. I was up by the lodge and looking down at the sand volleyball court that I just left, and I watched the hillside off in the distance disappearing with almost a wall cloud coming through. I screamed at everybody down there, get up, there's a bad one coming. I mean, leave your shoes, get up here. And we got into the lodge, and in there was the kitchen, and we got into the freezer, walk-in freezer that was there. And I mean, the hail was coming straight sideways past the front of the building, and just an incredible storm over in like 10 minutes. It just blew through there. the river was down behind the woods a little ways from us but you hear boaters out there on the woods screaming like cheering like hey we lived through it you know and we survived there was a huge tree that was down down by the by that river you know and I stood in awe of the great and terrible Great and terrible God. You know, I mean, it really has to do with the fear of God and recognizing that, God, you are awesome. You're incredibly powerful. All these that blaspheme and mock your name, someday you're gonna cast them into a lake of fire. You have absolute authority over everything in life. Again, there ought to be something in our heart that says, you know, I recognize, God, who you are. You are worthy of the fear, that awesome respect. So prayer that rightly relates to God, understands he's in heaven, understands his power. Prayer that rightly relates to God, understands God's promises. It says in verse five, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. So anyway, he's rightly related to God in that he comes to God and says, God, I know this is how you work because this is how your word says you work. This is what I know about you and how you deal with your people. God, you don't break your promises. And we're part of the covenant people of God. He keepeth covenant and mercy. Covenant and mercy, okay? He's part of those covenant people. So the Jews are the redeemed people of God. Look at verse 10. It said, now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou has redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand. Okay, these are your people. I'm not praying about other people. I'm praying God about your people. As I'm coming before you to praise God, if we're redeemed, we've got that promise from God. I am your child. I am in a covenant relationship with you. Think of the strength of that in claiming God's promises, being rightly related to God, saying, God, I am here by my adoption into your family through Jesus Christ, your son. I am a son of God, I'm a daughter of God, I'm a child of God. These are your people. Again, what a position of power to claim the promises of God. But then also God's mercy is for those who love him and obey him. And Nehemiah did. We're gonna talk more about that in the next point. But he claims that as he says, those that love him and observe his commandments. Some of this diligence, looking at the word of God and saying, God, I love you. I wanna obey you. I wanna please you. Nehemiah represented those that feared God, really wanted to follow God. Again, look at verse 11 in our text. He said, O Lord, I beseech thee, let not thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to, what? Fear thy name. God, we want to be right with you. We want to walk in awe of you. We want to walk in the fear of the Lord and search the scriptures and please you. Now, if Nehemiah was not rightly related to God by the promises of God, should he expect anything from God? I mean, that ought to be obvious to us this morning that if you're not right with God, that the last thing you should expect is that God would meet your needs. You know, as a father, there are six children in my family and I'm sworn to meet their needs. They're mine by covenant relationship with my wife. And so they've been brought into that covenant. I have a responsibility as a dad to meet their needs. Again, I say to us as a church, as the children of God, God has a covenant relationship responsibility, praise God, to meet our needs. were rightly related to him through sonship, through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that came about through the gospel. I wanna share some of those gospel verses. Romans 10, 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 16, 31. They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thine house. Okay, so God has promised through faith that by his grace we would enter into that covenant relationship. But then we also need to be right with God. We need to, as the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6, 17, wherefore come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord God Almighty. The first thing is I need to get right with God through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and receive God's gift of everlasting life. That puts me in a great spot. And secondly, I need to deal with my sin. so I'm right with God, so I can be there before God, claiming the promises of God, all right? And so, again, recognizing the fear of God, God is in heaven, and then rightly related to God through the promises of the Word of God. But then, prayers that understand the ways of God, understand God's person, okay, gonna be rightly related to God by understanding who God is. Look at verse six. It says, let thine ear now be attentive that thou mightest hear the prayers of thy servant which I prayed before thee now day and night." Okay, God is ears and eyes because he is a person. He is a person. Now, when you go to Costco, right over here, and you walk in, interestingly, when they have lawn ornaments out in the springtime, I guess, they do not have crosses, but what they do have, they have Buddha statues that are there. Have you ever noticed that? There's a lot of them that they've gotten. And you look at that and say, well, that's just a lawn ornament. No, it's a Buddha statue. That is an actual idol that is there. But I'll tell you this, they are lawn ornaments, and there's no difference between a lawn ornament and an idol. Right? I get the fact it is an idol. I don't think people ought to just go buy a Buddha statue and put it in their front garden. It is an idol, but I'm saying an idol and a lawn ornament are the same. Why? Because they can't hear a thing, they can't speak, they don't know, they don't care, they don't live. Right? But God isn't like that. Why? Because God is a person. Okay, and so God, as Nehemiah goes, he's not praying to an idol. He's not speaking to somebody that can't hear and can't see. So he prays, God, listen, let your ears be attentive to hear the prayer of thy servant. He asked for God's eyes to be open, okay? And he says, I pray before thee, now day and night. So what's he saying? He's saying, God, you have heard me. God, you have seen me as I pray. You know, oftentimes I speak with unbelievers who say, I believe in something, some force, some energy, something like that. And I just look at them and I say, you know, I have no difficulty looking at you and understanding that you're a person. But you think some impersonal force just kind of made you a person. It's incredible, isn't it? No, of course not. God is a God is a person. Therefore, he has eyes. He has ears. And because he's a person, he hears, he sees, he cares. And so Nehemiah is rightly related to God, saying, God, you're a person, I know, I know they can hear me. So God hears those prayers of those that are rightly related to him, walking the fear of him, understanding he's in heaven, into a covenant relationship with him by the promises of God, and then knowing that God is a person. So prayers that get God's ear are broken-hearted prayers or prayers of someone that's rightly related to Him. But then prayers that get God's ears are prayers that search out all transgressions against God, okay? All transgressions against God. Now, it's good to go to the first instances in the Word of God and say, what does the Bible teach at the beginning? You know, it's kind of interesting to build a doctrinal study like we're doing in Sunday school and look at where was the first time the Word of God spoke about this? We've talked about this before. But the first instances of alcohol in the Word of God are two stories of immorality. It's a story of Noah and his nakedness. After he gets off the ark, he makes a vineyard and he gets drunk. It leads to nakedness and it leads to sexual sin of some sort. We're not exactly sure what took place. And Cain and his curse. The second instance is Lot and Lot's daughters get him drunk. And they commit incest with their father. And again, so there's drunkenness and there's sexual sin. Now, first instance is we gotta go, you know what? Alcohol probably is not good. The Bible says, wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. That's why as a church, we take a position of teetotal, of staying away from alcohol because alcohol is a slippery path that leads to other sin as well as the sin of drunkenness and things like that. Now, in this case, we're looking at sin. We're talking about sin. So, what's the first instance of sin in the Word of God? Well, it's the story of Adam and Eve. And so, man was separated from God. Man was ashamed. His fellowship with God was broken. God had to come and take an animal and take and kill the first instance of death and animals killed and they're clothed with that skin of the animals so that they can be brought back into fellowship with God. Okay, so the way of restoration was through the blood of that animal sacrifice and and so on. Second instance of sin, you've got the murder of Abel offered blood sacrifice, Cain offered a sacrifice in the field, and Cain wanted to worship God the way Cain wanted to worship God. God said, no, there's only one way to worship me, okay, and the murder's coming after this story, part of this story. There's only one way to worship me and to get right with me, and that's through the blood, right? And so he understands that. So Genesis 4, 7, God says to him, if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted, and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Okay, he's gonna be master of sin and mastered by sin. servant you are to whom you yield yourself, servant to obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto life." But Cain is going to choose sin, and he's not going to choose the way of the blood, which is the way of forgiveness and maintaining relationship with God. So cleansing has always been through the innocent bloodshed. Hebrews 9.2 says, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. Okay, so our way to cleansing by the grace of God is through the blood of not just an animal sacrifice, but praise God, that sacrifice that was once for all, that those animal sacrifice pictured, and that is the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. And so Hebrews 10.10, It says, by the witch will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Praise God. So that's what cleanses us. It cleanses us at salvation, and then it cleanses us through sanctification, that continual going to God. Say, God, I messed up. Please forgive me. I want to get right with you. And so 1 John 1.7 says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all Sin, and we need that, right? For us to have open access to God, what has to be dealt with? The very thing that separates us from God. Just like Adam and Eve, sin separates us so that sin has to be dealt with so we can go into the presence of God. And so the Bible says, Hebrews 10, 19, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus. Wow. I mean, you think about it, as a sinner, I get to enter into the presence of God, I better do the soul search that the high priest did before he walked into that place of offering that sacrifice, the Holy of Holies. He would search his heart, search his life, make sure he's right with God, and then get to that place of prayer and intercession for others. And so, a prayer that God hears is a prayer searches, first of all, the heart for transgression. Searches the heart. It says, for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my Father's house have sinned. Okay? He's confessing not just the sin of Israel, but he's saying, I have sinned, the people have sinned, of God, that they needed the mercy of God. You know, many people in our day have a high regard for their self-righteousness. You know, you talk to them at their door, and try to introduce them to the need of salvation, and have you ever sinned? No, I am a good person, right? Or something like that. They have this idea that they are righteous of themselves. You know, it's easy for us as believers to begin to kind of marginalize sin. Not really thinking about the fact that I'm a sinner by nature, that I sin, and that I need to deal with my sin and make sure that I stay close to God. Praise God, God is ready to listen to those that are sinners that recognize their sin. Luke 5.32 says, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. You know, God's people are people that admit that, you know, I have a sin problem. I need the grace of God. I need to walk with God. The only thing I am is a sinner saved by grace. I'm not better than somebody else. I'm only cleansed by the grace of God. Paul had that testimony. 1 Timothy 1 15. He says, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Paul, did you have a lot of sin in your life? Paul, I had a lot of sin in my life. It's only by the grace of God. And had that testimony of somebody that had been saved by the grace of God. You know the word of God says in 1 John 1.8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now we're talking about getting to God in a way that God here is one of the best ways for us to do that. Say, God, I'm ready to deal with my sin. sins of attitude, sins of desire, sins of passion, sins of commission, omission, ways I haven't done what you said to do, ways I've done things you said not to do, to search that out before God and say, God, is there anything in my heart, in my life that, because we're talking about a brokenness for the situation that we find ourselves in. Is there any responsibility on my part for the circumstance? And God, I want to get that right with you, okay? And so Nehemiah, as he's going to God, he said, man, I want to see God work. I want to see God do something great. He gets there before God and says, God, we are guilty. We don't deserve your blessing. We don't deserve your goodness. We have sinned against you, okay? So he searches his own heart, but then prayer also that searches the word of God for transgression. Look at verse seven. It says, we have dealt very corruptly against have not kept thy commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandest thy servant Moses. Okay? And so Nehemiah looks at his own heart, looks at the lives of others. He said, you know, one thing I know, we have not obeyed your law. We haven't kept it. He didn't identify sin by what he thought was sin. He identified sin by what God said was sin. You know, in 2023 in Scotland, there's an identity crisis. There are many people that don't know how to identify sin, right? There's a redefinition of truth in our day, where it's I feel, I think, or whatnot. But biblically, sin, 1 John 3, 4, sin is a transgression of the law. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law. And so what's Nehemiah saying? God, we broke your law. We transgressed against you. You said not to do this, we didn't. You said to do this, we didn't do it. In either case, God, we have failed you in that. Nehemiah searched out what was wrong. He was gonna get it right with God. You know, have you ever put something together and found you missed a part? You get done, you got a part left, you know, and you're like, ah, no, what do I do? You know, but if that part is vital, you just gotta go back and fix it, right? You gotta look at it and say, it's never gonna work right until I take it apart. It's a lot of work, but I take it apart and I get that part that's wrong and get it right and put it in there. And that's really what Nehemiah's doing. Nehemiah's looking and saying, we want to get this right, God, because it's not going to work until we get it right. And so for us, too, there has to be that willingness to say, I'm going to search my heart. If there's anything in my heart where I transgress against God, I'm going to backtrack there. I'm going to get it right with you so I can be right with God. You know, that's a great place to be, to have God's ear. Why? Because 2 Chronicles 7 14 says, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and what? wicked ways, then we'll hear from heaven and we'll forgive their sin and we'll heal their land. You know, if every Christian got right with God in the way we're talking about, we'd have revival. Honestly, I think that's a true statement, that that would bring revival in itself, that we would just get right with God and get in that position where we can have God's blessing. And so God hears prayers of those who are rightly related to him. God hears the prayers that come from a broken heart, prayers that search out a sin, and then prayers that gets God's ears or prayers that believe the if-then promises of God's word, the if-then promises of God's word. And so verse eight, it believes the if-then of God's judgment. Verse eight says, remember, I beseech thee. the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses saying, if ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations. Okay, so it's an if then. If you go against God and continue to go against God, God's just gonna go, okay, that's the way it's gonna be. And so Nehemiah recognized that. He looked at that and said, that's exactly what happened. We turned our back on God, acted as if God didn't matter. Here we are, we're far away from God. He recognized that it was just and that it was God's judgment. You know, I wasn't that bright growing up, but I knew the if-thens of judgment. I knew that if my mom smelled the rubber band that was burning in my room, and she came upstairs, Ben was gonna get a smack, that's actually Benjamin, she calls me Benjamin, was gonna get a smack, right? That's the if-then of judgment. I knew that, I expected that as a child, because my mom loved me, she cared about me. We oughta expect the same thing about God. We oughta not think today that God loves me so much, and I'm such a special child of God that I can continue in sin and just act as if it's no big deal, and that God's gonna not judge me. There ought to be something in our heart that recognizes that and says, you know what, that is just, that is right, that is exactly what God's gonna do. And so I'm very careful to make sure that I, again, get in that place of God's, not judgment, but blessing. Because there are if-thens of God's blessing as well. And so verse nine says, but if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of heaven, yet will I, okay, from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there." So Nehemiah looks at it and says, right, God, I get the if-then of thy judgment, but I also get the if-then of thy blessing. I see it. If your people get right, then God, you're going to restore them again to the place of blessing. Just like the prodigal son, he had a rough life away from the father, but when he got right, his father restored him and he slew the fatted calf. It ought to be our expectation this morning. God is going to be working there. I'm not suggesting this morning that everything's going to be sunshine and rainbows and things like that. There's going to be battles that we're going to be facing because the adversary is going to be against us. But there ought to be an expectation in our heart that, right, if my life is right with God, by the grace of God, I expect future blessing from God. Nehemiah, and the people weren't there. They were begging God about it, burdened about it, asking God for it, but they were making sure they were right with God. Then they were claiming the promise. God, this is what your word says. And so prayers that God hears are prayers that believe, the if-then promises of the word of God. By the way, do we have if-then promises? Yes, we do. Psalm chapter one, the man that in his law does he meditate day and night, and he shall be like a tree that bringeth forth fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither. The ungodly are not so. So, I mean, Psalm one lays it out. Other scripture lays it out. So we gotta look at that and say, I get that. So I wanna be in a place where I can have and expect the blessing of God as they go to prayer. God hears those kind of prayers from a broken heart that search out sin that rightly related to Him, realizing where He is, who He is, and believe the if-then promises of God's Word. And then finally this morning, prayers that get God's ear are prayers that seek specific answers from God. Notice what he says, he says, prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer. Okay, we've been looking at Nehemiah's prayer, and we've been talking about the different aspects of it, but I haven't really emphasized or said or suggested what is this question, what is the prayer? of Nehemiah, what is he actually asking God about? He's burdened about Jerusalem. He wants to see that city restored to its former glory. There's only one person on earth that can grant his request, and that is King Artaxerxes. But to get the king to answer him, he is petitioning God and saying, God, work in the heart of this unsafe king. Work in the heart of this man that is not of your people. Work in the heart of this king. Give favor to thy servant as I go before him. Prosper thy servant as I ask him because I want his favor so that I can go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and such for God and for God's glory. Now, That's very specific, what he's asking. Let's look at the specific answer God gives. Look at chapter 2 and verse 1. In the month Nisan, in the 20th year of Artaxerxes, the king, wine was before him. I took up the wine, gave it unto the king. Now it had not been before time sat in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid." Why is he afraid? Because Esther's still alive in his day. And if you remember the story of Esther, she says, if I go before the king and the king hasn't called me, there's one law, if that scepter doesn't come down, what is it? It is death. And he's scared. Because the last thing he wants to do is disappoint the king and say, I don't want the sad person around me off with his head or something like that. So he's terribly afraid. The moment has come of truth. The king said, and said unto the king, let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad? When the city, the place of my father's sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire. Then the king said unto me, what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. He'd been praying out loud in our text, now he's praying in his heart. I said unto the king, if it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that's what he prayed to ask God for, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah. and build it. The king sent it to me, the queen also sitting by him, for how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time." Okay, and skipping ahead to the end of verse eight, notice what it says at the end of verse eight, and the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. God, I'm asking you, where can art exerts his heart, so when he looks at me, he takes pity and he says, go ahead, go do this, go rebuild the city of Jerusalem. I'm burdened for it, I'm burdened, God, for your glory, I broke him before you, I'm praying, I'm asking you, God. But it was very specific what he was asking God to do. Again, it's really good for us this morning to think, you know what, we need to pray specifically. As a church, we pray specifically about that minibus that's sitting in front of our church. 17 seats, automatic, semi-automatic transmission. Almost impossible to find in Scotland. Almost impossible to find at a price point that we have. God did something tremendous when we got that. We found that. We needed 850 pounds. I'll tell you that somebody that day at church said, you know, I want to get this for the minibus. It was 850 pounds. It was exactly what we needed. God did it specifically. We stand in a building that we pray about specifically. God make it affordable, functional, maintainable, beautiful, accessible. If I didn't say that, there were seven things that we were praying about very specifically. You know, this building fits every single thing that we ask God to do because we prayed specifically. And so it ought to be today that we're going to God and saying, God, I am praying about this. This is what I'm asking you to do. We can look at a scripture about that. Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. And it goes on to say, if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father which is heaven give good things to them that ask him? And it's a text that says, if you ask your earthly father for a fish, he's not gonna give you a serpent. If you ask him for a bread, he's not gonna give you stone, how much more your heavenly father, right? And so this morning we can understand that if we want something from somebody and we need something from somebody, we need to get their attention, right? My wife needs to get my attention. If it's really important, then you really got to get in there and say, I've got to make sure that you hear me. We need to make sure this morning that God hears us when we're praying. Jerusalem would have continued in disrepair without me and mine getting the ear of God. That's how vital it was. What isn't happening or isn't going to happen if we don't also get in that vein and say, God, we have got to be prayer people like that. You know, it's not a bad thing at this point, your heart's broken. It's broken. That's a great place to be. You're burdened, you gotta get to God. Gotta take that to God. Say, God, this is something that I am in earnest about. I'm gonna spend some time thinking about it. I'm gonna spend some time praying about it. I'm gonna fast, maybe, about it. You're gonna see some tears in my eyes because, God, I'm in earnest about this. God, you've gotta do something about this. God will hear that. Are you praying prayers that rightly relate to God, recognizing His place? Well, God, you're in heaven. His power. that is great and terrible. His promises that I'm in a covenant relationship with God and I'm right with God, so I have a right to go to God. His person that he hears, that he sees. Are you praying prayers that search out all transgression against God? Starting in our heart and saying, okay, God, what is there? Is there any reason why I ought not expect your blessing? Because there is sin that you've got to deal with in my heart. And God, according to your word, not according to my thoughts, but what your word says, Are you praying prayers that believe the if-then promises of God's word? If I'm in sin, I'd expect judgment. If I'm in obedience, I'd expect blessing. Can you claim that before God? God, by the grace of God, David would say that, search me, oh God, know me, try me, and see if there'd be any iniquity in me. And he would search that out before God because he made sure he was right with God. And then lastly, if you just looked at, are you seeking to get specific answers from God? You know, I believe this, I believe the king of kings is going to answer our petition just like that earthly king did the petition of Nehemiah, if these things are in our life. My prayer would be God break us, you know, and not just about what we got going on. All of us have things in our life we're burdened about, we're praying about. There are things for God's glory, that's important, that's vital. But I'll tell you this, there's nothing more dear to the heart of God than His church. Number one in the heart of God this morning, Jesus Christ, I'm the head of my church. I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus, if you were here today, we would ask you, God, are you pleased with everything that we see that's taking place? Does this satisfy you? I think there would be something in the heart of God that would break, that Jesus would look at and say, that he would cry out for the glory of God to be seen. Do you understand a little bit of what I'm saying? That ought to resonate in our heart this morning. Say, by the grace of God, God, break me about that. God, your church needs to be on fire, God. Your church needs to be zealous, God. Your church needs to be a life-saving institute that has the power, God, so when we have a need in our church, we can do a prayer as a people, we can see God do incredible things. God, break us because we need that kind of power. Oh, may God do it. May God do it. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the spirit of God would touch our hearts this morning. Nehemiah didn't look at the walls of Jerusalem and say, well, there's nothing I can do about it. He looked at it and thought, man, somebody needs to do something about it. God, if it's me, God, help me be that person. He wept. He spent time thinking about it. Father, frankly, I suspect that we don't spend much time thinking about what you think about with regard to the church. And Father, sadly, I think it's easy for us to let sin creep into our life, and we might go, man, I don't understand why I don't have the blessing of God, but Father, we would excuse ourself instead of looking deep and going, you know what? Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. And God's dealing with me about some things in my life that are not right with God. I need to get them right with God. But Father, this text, I believe, is a great text. And Father, what we need in our church more than anything are men and women that know how to pray and seek the face of God. And Father, Nehemiah is a great example. And so Father, however, the spirit of God needs to work in our hearts this morning. I pray that you do that good work. I pray, Lord, our prayer would be that we not just be hearers of the word, but doers as well. So where the reverend needs to roll, may the spirit of God give us grace to move forward for God. Let's stand and sing an invitation this morning. Yeah, I've got to find my bulletin here. It is Search Me, Oh God, Search Me, Oh God, 353.