DAY 2
Nehemiah 1:1-4
“Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 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.”
The book of Nehemiah is all about a man, Nehemiah (you guessed it), who returns to his hometown Jerusalem after hearing the grim report that it remains in ruins. He ends up leading the way for the remnant of Israel to build up the walls and fortify the city even in the midst of harsh opposition and dangerous threats. In essence, he accomplished a great task for the Lord. I believe the reason why Nehemiah had the resilience in leadership and inner strength to accomplish this building project was because he began with fasting and prayer. Nehemiah drew his strength from the presence of God well before he laid one brick.
Of course, Nehemiah is only a shadow of the true leader, Jesus Christ, who would accomplish the greatest task of all, namely redeeming humanity. Like Nehemiah, Jesus begins his entire ministry with fasting and prayer. In fact, he did this for 40 days in a desert. Let's take a note from Nehemiah and Jesus. Let's begin this year with fasting and prayer. As we do, we will draw our resilience and strength from God's presence and His word. We will have the power from His Spirit to overcome any opposition and challenges 2021 will present as we abide in Him.