"What is it you Want"

Neh 1:1-2:11:1 Nehemiah Prays for His People
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah.
It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, 2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, "The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire."
4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 And I said: "I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying,'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; 9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.' 10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man."
For I was the king's cupbearer.
NKJV

What is it you want? This question gets to the heart of passion. I am convinced that most of our problems are the result of not being able to answer this question. We don't know what we want. We have never taken the time to define our goals, values, or passions, so we are out of touch with our heart's desire. We have become busy with busy, spinning in circles but not really going anywhere. Nehemiah knew exactly what he wanted, a fire had been conceived in his spirit long before his opportunity arrived. Nehemiah had been thinking and praying about this question months before the king asked it.

Some insight:

* Passion was conceived when he received news of the destruction of Jerusalem. Passion is often triggered by the destruction of something. What causes you great pain? What moves you to tears? You are a solution to someones problem. You are the answer to someones question.

* Prayer makes us spiritual fertile. The more we pray on a desire the more fertile we become a dream seed, and the more that seed grows. In fact Jesus said whatsoever things you desire when you pray... (Mark 11:20-24). If your prayer doesn't light you, it won't light God. He wants to hear your desires.

* Favor is released as a result a passion. As you become obsessed with your desire, favor and provision will follow. The King not only asked what he wanted, he granted his request. There are some things that are not released till you are passionate about it. You are chosen to change what you care about.

* Nehemiah prayed as if it depended upon God, but he planned as if it depended upon him. Faith without works is dead. There must be corresponding action between your earthly desires and your heavenly provision. I should be able to see your daily activity to predict you destination in life.

* If you don't know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?

* After you pray, do something to move towards what you prayed about. Some people stay in the position of prayer and nothing happens. In fact there are some things you don't need to pray about. What you need to do is stop praying and start acting on your prayers.

Finish the Resume
Make the phone call
Set up the appointment
Go back to school
Find out your credit score
Have a plan

* Jesus said, these signs will follow them that believe. Signs follow your action. What can you do today that you have put off for tomorrow.

* Recognize it is in being faithful with the little (cup bearer) that positions you for the big. The king noticed his face was downtrodden because he had not been this way before. In other words, Nehemiah excelled at what he did, his attitude was so excellent that the King was willing to back him up. Take that job, Church, marriage, relationship and make it the one that everybody else wants. Preach to five like you are preaching to 5,000. If you do it with excellence and faithfulness you are setting up your future.

* Don't wait for the waters to part, step in and get your feet wet! Some are waiting for their miracle, instead of creating their miracle. Most significant miracles in the bible were the result of faith in action.

Red Sea - Raise the rod
Jordan - Step in at flood stage, and upstream in Adam...
Let the rock swing baby and watch your giant fall
Go to battle and when you get there sing and praise and the Lord will set ambushments...
Do as He says... And the water was turned into wine.
Jesus distributed the 5 loaves and 2 fish and as they gave it, it was multiplied.
Cast you net on the other side... And they got a ship sinking, net breaking catch!
As Moses was going up one side of the mountain (Isaac), the ram was going up the other side...

It's your move!

Blessings,
Craig