NEHEMIAH 4:1-9 – “Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.”

THEME OF THE DAY: THE FIRST THING BUT NOT THE ONLY THING.   So, when life comes at us at breakneck speed, circumstances feel like a flash flood seeking to sweep us away in a torrential stream of anxiety, and a relationship is becoming strained and beginning to weigh down our heart like a two-ton anchor, what is the first thing we do?  Start worrying?  Fret over the many things we have no control over?  Feel like running away from it all?  Fall into a deep dark pit of self-pity or depression?   Those are common reactions and easy to do because of our fallen flesh and the devil who wants us to go into those miserable places.  Or do we do what God’s people did in today’s scripture?

Let’s set the stage.  The people of God were building the walls of Jerusalem. They were on a divine mission, and when a work of God is underway, expect opposition.  And there was intense opposition. The enemies of God; Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites teamed up to hinder God’s people in the work.  They were extremely angered and plotted to bring about disruption and confusion.

Now what would God’s people do?  What would we have done in the midst of this fearful situation?  Read the last sentence of today’s scripture – “And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night”.  They prayed.  Here is the first line of defense and encouragement when we face difficulties in life. We pray, and not just pray for deliverance, but for God.  Remember the battles are His.  We are His soldiers. He is our Captain leading us and we stay close to Him in prayer.  Seeking Him, His presence, and His power is always the first thing in everything.  We will go a long way in preventing discouragement, paralyzing fear, even depression, if we learn to bring everything to the Lord in prayer.

But that is not all. The people of God prayed and then they set a guard against their foes.  We must do likewise. Pray we must and then arm ourselves with the armor of God for our battles.  We don’t just “let go and let God”. We unburden our hearts to Him and then don the armor to fight with Him.  Pray and arm ourselves. Those are the positions and practices of the child of God in our daily battles.

PRAYER: Lord, help me see that the first thing, the most important thing, is to bring my burdens to You in prayer.

REFLECTION:  Prayer is the lifeblood of the Christian.  From it comes the strength for daily warfare.