You know, I love when we sing that song, and especially when we break into Spanish. And the reason why is it's such evidence that God loves the nations. And it's just amazing, because you do know that if He didn't love the nations, we wouldn't be saved. Next week, I will not be here. It's OK. The reason why is my wife and I will be celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. And David Booth will be preaching. So I ask you guys to please be in prayer for him, to support him with your presence. Give him a hard time afterwards. No, just playing. No, please be in prayer and support him. We do know that he loves the word of God. He loves you. And we know that he is faithful to God's word. Amen. Amen. Well, today we are continuing our series in Ezra Nehemiah under the topic of a people assembled by God. And so if you have your Bibles with you, I invite you to please stand with me and join me in the book of Nehemiah. We'll be going to the second chapter, and if you don't have your Bible with you, one of the red pew Bibles there, the Bibles there underneath your chair, you can find Nehemiah chapter two on page 468. So Nehemiah chapter two. Verses one through eight. In the month of Nisan, in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence, and the king said to me, why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart. Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, let the king live forever. Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire? Then the king said to me, what are you requesting? So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said to the king, if it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's graves, that I may rebuild it. And the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, how long will you be gone and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, if it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah. And a letter to Asa, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy. And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word, and we pray, God, that you would open up our eyes and our hearts to receive your word. Grant us clarity of thought and of speech and of hearing. that we may hear Your Word, God, but most importantly, that we would obey it to bring glory to You. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen. You may be seated. The title of this message that you see in your bulletin or in the email that you received this week is God Answers God-Glorifying Prayer. The points of this message are the practice of God-glorifying prayer found in verses one through three, the lifestyle of God-glorifying prayer found in verses four through 8a, and finally, the answer of God-glorifying prayer at the end of verse eight. The key point of this message is God's people continuously maintain ongoing communication with God and are thus immediately ready to partner with him in his work. God's people continuously maintain ongoing communication with God and are thus immediately ready to partner with him in his work. You know, I once read a story about a man who would regularly go up to the front of his church during a corporate prayer time and he would ask God to remove the cobwebs out of his life. This went on for weeks. And then finally one day he is going down to the altar and the pastor who had been up there and was constantly listening to this repeated request met the man at the altar. He put his hand around him and he prayed for the man. Lord, forget the cobwebs, kill the spider. This sermon is connected to last week's sermon because the text indicates such a connection exists. It's easily seen first in the last sentence of chapter 1 verse 11 and in chapter 2 verse 1 says, Now I was cupbearer to the king in the month of Nassau in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes when wine was before him I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Then the rest of our text today clearly shows connectivity between Nehemiah's prayer in chapter 1 and the reason for his sadness and his request of the king in chapter 2. This is why the sermon title of last week, A Prayer to Make God Known, is connected to this week's title, God Answers, God Glorifying Prayer. Moreover, we saw certain elements of prayer in Nehemiah's practice of prayer last weekend. This observation flows into our text today in the first three verses. So let's look at the practice of God glorifying prayer right here in verses one through three. In the month of Nisan, in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence, and the king said to me, why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart. Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, let the king live forever. Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire? In these verses, we notice at least three specific things about the practice of God-glorifying prayer. Such prayers are continual, they're normal, and they're transformative. As we look at this continual element of God-glorifying prayer, we again note that the month of Nisan corresponds with our mid-munch to mid-April, and that it is four months later than the month of Kislev that was mentioned back in chapter one, verse one. Moreover, we see in chapter one, verse 4b, that Nehemiah continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And when we combine that practice with the four-month time frame that we just noted, we conclude that Nehemiah continued fasting and praying for this entire four-month period. Now as the text bears out, Nehemiah's four month long fasting and praying was used by God to prepare him to take immediate action for God when the opportunity presented itself. From this truth, we are encouraged to continue being faithful to God as we wait for his opportunities to take action for him. We also note that an element of the practice of God glorifying prayer is that it is normal. That is, it is a normal part of the life of God's people. We see this in the phrase, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. This phrase again connects to chapter one, verse 11D, now I, I was cupbearer to the king. You will recall that this verse highlighted the person of prayer living for God in the routine things of life. And so we see that continual prayer was and it is a normal part of the life of God's people. Also, it is important to note that the phrase, when wine was before him, indicates that the writer of Nehemiah is being sensitive to the historical nature of this narrative. For this phrase speaks to the Persian custom of the day to drink before dinner. And often the eating of dried fruits would accompany the drinking of this wine. Nehemiah's job was to taste the wine prior to the king drinking it, just in case someone tried to poison the king. So, each day, at dinner time, Nehemiah would risk his life for the sake of the king. This was his normal routine, and in the midst of this routine, Nehemiah continued to pray. Furthermore, we notice that the third element of the practice of God-glorifying prayer is that it is transformative. That is, God-glorifying prayer changes our disposition both internally and externally. In this immediate case, Nehemiah's internal change was reflected on the outside. Remember, he was internally sad because of the condition of God's people and the city where they lived. Now the historical focus of the writer includes the background knowledge that Persian kings would not tolerate any independent or self-controlled conduct or self-centered conduct in their presence. Everybody was expected to reflect the sunlight of the king's majesty. This fact is seen in this phrase, now I had not been sad in his presence. Knowing all of these things that we've mentioned thus far raises a couple of questions. If Nehemiah had been fasting and praying for four months, then why was he now sad in the king's prison? Wasn't he sad all along? For chapter one, verse four, records him saying, 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. Clearly, Nehemiah's fasting, his mourning, his praying had an effect on his personality, making him become gloomy and dissatisfied. From Jesus' teaching in Matthew chapter six, verses five and six and 16 through 18, it seems that Jewish culture expected personal prayer to be a private matter between the individual and God, for Jesus taught, and when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others truly i say to you they have received their reward but when you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your father who is in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you. Now to be clear, Nehemiah's countenance was not a self-centered, hypocritical, or manipulative ploy to get the king's attention. No, you see, his outward experience of the inner turmoil that was within him was the result of this man's great desire to see God glorified through his care of his people. For you will recall that Nehemiah praying God's word right back to God back in chapter one, verses eight through 10, Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, if you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there. They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. You remember how similar Nehemiah's prayer was to the apostle Peter's words in first Peter chapter two verse nine. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. This should be our greatest desire. And it should deeply bother us when something is hindering us from proclaiming God's excellencies, from sharing the gospel with others, from glorifying God, from making him known to those around us. It should bother us deeply when something gets in the way of that. The outward expression of Nehemiah's inner turmoil made the king ask him, why is your face sad seeing that you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart. history and the King's questioning show us that the King was both concerned with Nehemiah personally and his own honor not being rightly reflected in the face of his cupbearer. The King's questioning made Nehemiah very much afraid. This makes us ask, was he afraid because of the King's expectation everyone be cheerful around him? Or was he fearful because of what he knew he was about to say? I think it's a bit of both, but mostly the latter. As the text shows, Nehemiah's focus was on the condition of both God's people and their living conditions. Nehemiah's sadness of the heart corresponded exactly with the problem that his brother and his friends told him about back in chapter one, verse three. But the way Nehemiah phrases his problem is interesting. For he says, let the king live forever. Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire? Notice that Nehemiah never mentions the name Jerusalem. Why not? Perhaps it was because he knew of the king's previous unfavorable disposition towards that city. Later in the conversation, in verses five and seven, Nehemiah mentions Judah, but again, never Jerusalem. He also mentions the province beyond the river, which included the province of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, but again, never Jerusalem. We can guess that the king knew what city Nehemiah was talking about, but the text doesn't say either way. But I think not mentioning the city by name was wisdom on Nehemiah's part, born out of God glorifying prayer in order to obtain what was needed to accomplish God's purposes. For I believe Nehemiah was living out Psalms 37 4. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. What David was conveying here in this psalm is it has this picture of warming oneself by the fire. When seeking to be warmed by a fire, we lean into the fire and let its heat drape itself over us, making us pliable and receptive to its comfort. Thus, by delighting ourselves in the Lord, we are leaning into him and letting him make us pliable in his hands, molding us into who he wants us to be and preparing us for what he wants us to do. This is a process and it doesn't happen overnight. Indeed, it took Nehemiah four months of God-glorifying prayer to become ready to partner with God in his work back in Jerusalem. Growing up, one of my favorite songs that I used to sing and play on the piano was sung and performed by James Cleveland and Albertina Walker. They said this line in the song, please be patient with me. God is not through with me yet. You see, we have to remember that as we interact with one another, God is working in each of us individually to glorify himself corporately, and we should be patient with one another. The theological term for this process is sanctification. And this simply refers to the cooperative process of us working with God as he transforms our practice to be aligned with what he alone has made us in position. For you see, it is through the gospel that God has made us his people. We know that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For Paul tells us that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and that he appeared to many. Indeed, salvation is a work of God in grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. For the scriptures proclaim that we were dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh. Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and we're by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus for by grace You have been saved, we have been saved by grace. This is not our own doing, it's the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Without question, the Apostle Paul was speaking of this transformative, sanctifying truth when talking about the husband's role in marriage in Ephesians 5, 25 through 27. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish paul also told the philippians in chapter 2 verses 12 through 13 therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed so now not only as in my presence but much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is god who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure Moreover, these truths certainly flow from the apostles' words to the Colossians in chapter 3 verses 1 through 4. If, or since then, you have been raised with Christ, Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. The practice of God-glorifying prayer is continual, it's normal, it's transformative for God's people, continuously maintain ongoing communication with God and are thus immediately ready to partner with him in his work. This was certainly the case with Nehemiah, which we see in our next point, the lifestyle of God-glorifying prayer. It's right there in verses four through 8a. Then the king said to me, what are you requesting? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, if it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's graves, that I may rebuild it. And the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, how long will you be gone and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. and I said to the king if it pleases the king that letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's force that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall occupy. You know Christians often speak of prayer in terms of lifestyle. We say things like, my prayer life is strong and vibrant. Or we may even ask one another, how is your prayer life? I think such expressions indicates our recognition that our everyday lives depend on our connection with God through prayer. And I believe that these verses give us at least four descriptors of such a lifestyle. Here they are. Habitual, specific, corporate, and personal. Nehemiah's response to the king's question reveals that God glorifying prayer was his habit. So I pray to the God of heaven. You see, this was a spontaneous reaction because Nehemiah was always praying. It was his habitual practice to be in ongoing conversation with the God of heaven. Listen, I'm not advocating that we walk around all the time with our heads bowed and our eyes closed. That's dangerous and it's not very wise. But the habitual practice of ongoing conversation with God, it's a balance of attitude and action. When I was studying this and reading this, it reminded me of a friend of mine named LJ. LJ has this practice that when he gets up in the morning, he begins talking with God. And then he goes through his day and talking with God throughout the day. And then when he lays back down at night, right before he goes to bed, he says, amen. And then he goes to sleep. This is an ongoing attitude and practice. I'm always talking with God because he's always listening to me. I'm his kid. How many of you guys have ever cared for your own kids or somebody else's kids, and they are constantly talking to you? Constantly, can I have, can I have, gimme, gimme, or just talking to you? What do you do? Eh, stay away, stay, anybody, don't raise your hands. Don't raise your hands. But realistically, You can't stop but pay attention to them, right? You see, kids will always get the attention of those who care for them. They know that those who care for them care for them. Therefore, they say, I need something, so I'm gonna go and talk to the one who can give me what I need. Aren't we God's kids? Isn't he our heavenly father who loves us? Then why aren't we talking to him all the time? Or are we? Okay, there's three people over here, four people who are constantly talking to him. Guys, he's always listening to us. ways, because He loves us. The Bible constantly exhorts believers to remain vigilant in prayer. And I find it interesting, but not surprising, that these exhortations are always connected to God-glorifying activity. For example, here's four passages, Matthew 7, verses 7-11. Ask, or keep on asking, and it will be given to you. Seek, keep on seeking, and you will find. Knock, keep on knocking, and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks, it will be open. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, How much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? Ephesians chapter 6 verses 18 through 20 praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication To that end keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I'm an ambassador and change that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak Colossians 4 2-4 continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with thanksgiving At the same time pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak. And finally first Peter chapter 4 verses 7 through 11. The end of all things is at hand therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins. show hospitality to one another without grumbling as each has received a gift use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God who ever serves one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever amen concerning prayer. The questions that come to mind when reading these passages is, why are believers exhorted to remain vigilant in God-glorifying prayer? Why should such prayers be our habit? Why was this Nehemiah's habit? Well, I believe that these passages and passages like them in our text today indicates that such a lifestyle of prayer demonstrates a belief that God does answer prayers that glorify him. So Nehemiah prayed in the moment. He prayed before and he prayed during his conversation with the king, believing that God would answer his prayer. Do we pray like this? Do we pray that God is going to answer our prayers as we pray to bring glory to him? Notice that Nehemiah prayed and then he demonstrated his faith in God by making his requests known to the keen Those requests were specific, right? Nehemiah's requests they stem from his prayer life for they were drenched in wisdom and practicality he basically made three requests here they are to rebuild the city of his ancestors graves and for letters for safe, unhindered passage to the city, and he prayed for a letter for provision. Concerning rebuilding the city, it may seem weird to us that Nehemiah would ask to rebuild the city of his father's graves, but it was actually a very wise request. You see, while Artaxerxes was the king of Persia, he's believed to be of Achaemenian descent. Their ancestors are modern-day Iranians. This is important for us because Persians were known for not burying their dead but leaving them out and leaving their bodies exposed to be devoured by wild animals. However, Achaemenian kings were known for burying their dead and not leaving them exposed. We also know that the Jews had high reverence for the graves of their forefathers. So, If Artaxerxes was an Achaemenian king, then Nehemiah's request concerning his ancestor's graves struck a personal nerve of the king. He would have been inclined to allow Nehemiah to return then and rebuild the city of his father's graves. Again, this is wise negotiating. But Nehemiah's wisdom and practicality also banked on Artaxerxes political desires to maintain a strong kingdom. For a city without walls within his monarchy was vulnerable to his enemies. And when you will remember that Egypt sat on the border of the province of Judah and was quite resistant to Persian rule. So not having that province protected by walls held the possibility of losing territory for the king. Wise negotiating. Now verse six though, it has a very interesting parenthetical statement. The queen was sitting beside him. This of course makes us ask, who was the queen? Was she responsible for the king's change of heart? Well, we know from Psalms 45 verses nine through 15 and from Jewish history that the influence of a king was strong during the reign of Artaxerxes. Perhaps Nehemiah was viewed favorably by her, but to be clear, we really don't know why the statement is here. But it seems that combined with the clearly favorable implied consent in the king's question, how long will you be gone and when will you return? The queen held Nehemiah in high regard, as did the king. Also, I think the statement concerning the queen is an encouraging one, for it lets us know that God regularly provides personal support for us in difficult situations, and sometimes even from unlikely sources. God is always caring for his people, even when we don't explicitly recognize his care and provision. Our part is to believe and expect this care from God. Furthermore, while verse six does not tell us the duration of Nehemiah's first trip back to Jerusalem, we know from chapter five, verse 14, that this trip took 12 years. And apparently this time span was okay with Artaxerxes. For Nehemiah said, so it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. Nehemiah's second request was for letters for safe, unhindered passage, seen in verse 7. Again, Nehemiah's wisdom and practicality stem from his prayer life. It was on display here. For he knew that the governors of the province beyond the river did not look favorably upon God's people in Jerusalem at all. For they were part of the group letter to Artaxerxes back in Ezra chapter 4 that led to further destruction and burning of the wall and gates of Jerusalem. So of course, they were not going to view Nehemiah's arrival as a good thing. But God made sure Nehemiah asked the king's protection from these powerful enemies. Now, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that oftentimes when God provides for our needs, He goes above and beyond what we ask for, right? Okay. They say yes. Does God go above and beyond when He asks or meets your needs? Okay, they were a little louder than you guys this time, sorry. Guys, listen. We know this was the case for Nehemiah. For verse nine shows us that not only did Nehemiah get his letters, but God moved the heart of the king to send with Nehemiah officers of the army and horsemen. Nehemiah didn't ask for that, but God moved the king's heart to provide this for him. We'll talk about more about that in two weeks, but we're gonna quickly look at Nehemiah's third request, which was a letter for provision. And now we've seen that these first descriptors of a lifestyle of God glorifying prayer as being habitual and specific. But in this one verse, in verse eight, we see that these other two descriptors, corporate and personal, are part of God glorifying prayer. Look at verse eight. And a letter to Asaph. The keeper of the king's forest that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall occupy. A lifestyle. of God-glorifying prayer, the prayer life of God's people, our prayer life, must first be concerned about the things of God. This is the corporate element of God-glorifying prayer, which should characterize our worldview. We certainly saw this back in Colossians chapter three, verses one through four, right? If since then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on. The earth... And we see this in our text today by Nehemiah asking first for provision for the temple and for the wall of the city. You will remember that it's in the temple where God dwelt among his people. This was the center of their lives. They had to get the protection up around the temple first. So corporately honoring God, corporately drawing near to God, making it easy for God's people to do these things was a first priority for Nehemiah. And then concern for the people of God was second, for the wall of the city protected God's people from being attacked by their enemies. Caring about the things of God precedes personal concerns. but it does not exclude it. In fact, I believe our text is teaching us that praying for God to meet our personal needs brings glory to God, right? It makes him known when he meets our needs, right? I think of a time when our family was struggling financially. And for about 18 months, we were struggling to pay our bills, our mortgages, and mortgage. We didn't have more than one mortgage. I know, specifically, out of that entire 19-month period, three months where the resources came from. This was our outgoing. This was our normal income. I know for three months where that difference was made. I'm not gonna tell you what they were, but I know where they were and they were legitimate. For 16 months, I have no idea, humanly speaking, how we paid our bills and our credit stayed intact. Things are paid on time. There's only one real answer for the Christian, right? Our daddy paid our bills. This personal element. Guys, it's right here in our text. We see it in Nehemiah's statement, the house that I shall occupy. We know that Nehemiah is talking about the governor's residence because he was governor of Judah. Therefore, Nehemiah is clearly requesting that his personal needs be met by God along with being concerned with the things of God. God's concerned about us personally. Oftentimes we talk about glorifying God and we think we're just talking about some ethereal experience. Guys, it's not true. When we talk about glorifying God, we are talking about Him taking care of us also. When talking about glorifying God, it can seem again that such a focus just leaves out the personal, the practical aspects of our lives. But again, I contend from this text that glorifying God includes his intimate concern for us, for his people, while focusing on the corporate aspects of being members of the body of Christ. This is the lifestyle of God glorifying prayer. It's like you're ready to take my seat. We finally come to the answer of God glorifying prayer. It's right here at the end of verse eight. And the king granted me what I asked for. The good hand of my God was upon me. God's answer to prayers that glorify him are always yes. God's answer to prayers that glorify him are always yes. Sometimes it's immediate, but oftentimes he calls us to wait. But the commonality in both of these circumstances is that when God acts, he acts swiftly. Here in Nehemiah's case, God called him to wait for four months. And then God acted swiftly. For we see our key point out in Nehemiah's life. God's people continuously maintain ongoing communication with God and are thus immediately ready to partner with him in his work. Nehemiah kept praying for God to be glorified, and when the opportunity came to partner with God in this activity, Nehemiah was ready to join God in his work. You see, while Nehemiah prayed, his words in this verse give us added insight into how he viewed his circumstances, and thus prepared him to partner with God. This phrase, the good hand of my God was upon me, indicates a personal knowledge of God and his activity in our everyday lives. Nehemiah knew that God is good and that he is active in the lives of his people for our highest good and that he's always present with his people. We are never alone even though sometimes we may feel it. The truth of the matter is if we belong to God he is always with us. Further the the phrase the keen granted me what I asked indicates a belief that God is in control of his creation And that he orchestrates the events of human history to bring himself glory Because he alone is indeed sovereign over all persons and powers regardless of their position in life Everyone answers to him even when they try to hold on to power that doesn't belong to them And we know that one day At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. God's people continuously maintain ongoing communication with God and are thus immediately ready to partner with him in his work because God answers, God glorifying prayer with a yes. Amen? Amen. Now what's God's desired work for us to do in response to this text? Three things. You guys ready to write? They're long. I'm just kidding. Here's the first one. Keep praying and trusting God. Keep praying and trusting God even when we have yet to experience His yes. Keep praying and trusting God even when we have yet to experience His yes to our God-glorifying prayers. You see, we must obey the scriptures regardless of anyone else's attitudes or activities. You see, we don't obey or disobey God because of others, we must lean into God and become pliable in his hands. Doing so will bring to fruition our God-given desires. Second one, pray and act in faith, believing God answers prayer. Pray and act in faith, believing God answers prayer. When we pray, act like he's answering the prayer. Don't pray as if our prayers are gonna hit the ceiling and bounce back down. Pray and act on your prayer. And finally, praise God for answered prayer. Just a quick question, and you can raise your hand on this one. Who here has ever experienced answered prayer by God? Now keep your hands up for a second. Now take a look around. See your brothers and your sisters with their hands raised up? One's up there. Is that encouraging or what? God answers prayer. We don't know what everybody else prayed, but God heard it and answered it. So praise him. You're his kid. You belong to him. He loves you. And he loves me. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for answering our prayers that glorify you. God, you take pleasure in the lives of those who fear you. You take pleasure in those who believe in your steadfast love. That's what Psalms 147 teaches us. God, may we reverence, may we acknowledge that you are truly who you say you are. We bow down because we stand in awe of who you are. And we stand amazed, as we're about to sing, we stand amazed at who you are. We consider it absolutely marvelous, the things that you do in our lives and in this world to glorify yourself. Oh God, you're so awesome. Thank you for never leaving us alone. Thank you for proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that you love us by sending Jesus to die for our sins on the cross and then raising him from the dead and then giving us the faith to believe that he did that for us so that we might spend eternity with you, praising you, worshiping you, giving you the totality of ourselves. So now as we get ready to sing again, as we get ready to talk about your business here at this church, as we get ready to take leave of this place, be pleased with our worship, oh God, and show yourself as magnificent and majestic as you are. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. God bless you.