Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Encouragement

Well there is no doubt that we are going through a recession. Many are feeling it. Many are suffering. This morning our gracious Father led me to Nehemiah. There we can find encouragement.
It all starts with Nehemiah getting word that Jerusalem's wall had been broken down and the gates burned down. Nehemiah prayed to God:
Nehemiah 1:4-11
4When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned
for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 I said, Lord God of heaven, the great and awe inspiring God who
keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands,
6 let Your eyes be open and Your ears be attentive to hear Your
servant's prayer that I now pray to You day and night for Your servants, the
Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against You. Bot I and my
father's house have sinned.
7 We have acted corruptly
toward You and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances You gave
Your servant Moses.
8 Please remember what You commanded
Your servant Moses: "[if] you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the
peoples.
9 But if you return to Me and carefully observe My commands, even
though your exiles were banished to the ends of the earth, I will gather them
from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have My name dwell."
10 They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed [them]
by Your great power and strong hand.
11 Please, Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of
Your servant and to that of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give
Your servants success today, and have compassion on him in the presence of this
man.
[At the time,] I was the kings cupbearer.

Nehemiah was then sent to Jerusalem and started the rebuilding of the walls and gates. When Sanballat got word of the walls being built, he mocked their attempts saying that there was no way the walls would stand, that the people were incapable of doing such a thing.
But the people of Jerusalem continued to build and finally built it up to half of what it had been.
Sanballat was furious and decided to attack the people and break the walls back down.
Nehemiah received word of this and set up guards at the gates to make sure that Sanballat could bring no harm to the people and the walls.
The prayed.
Nehemiah 4:10
In Judah it was said:
The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble,
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.


The building of the wall and gates continue on becoming stronger and connected. The men all worked with swords attached to their wastes. Some worked with one hand and held a spear in the other. These people never gave up and continued on despite the threat of Sanballat and his people.

Chapter 5 talks of social injustice to the people. Nehemiah talked to those that were charging the people interest and owned the people's lands. He asked them to stop charging interest and restore the homes and fields to the people that they belonged to. The group agreed, took an oath with the priests and shook on it with Nehemiah.

And it goes on with problems arising, but through faith, and never giving up; they still pulled through it all. We all need to be praying to the Lord our God for repair of our countries finances, that our government officials are righteous people and are led by the Lord not by the enemy. For we are under attack by the enemy. Should our government continue to take the path it is on, we will only dig ourselves a deeper whole.
Let's stand together and tell the enemy that it can not and will not be taken from us. Our God is much stronger than the enemy, and we shall prevail with the Lord in us. Remember when praying for someone outside of your family, friends, and church, you need to have at least one other person praying with you. Start prayer vigils where and when possible. Pray with your spouse, a friend, a family member, any one that is in agreement with you.

Just in Nehemiah, so shall we overcome. We must hold onto faith. Continue to pray. Continue to get in the Word daily. To believe in our Lord, and repent of all our sins. For when we do not repent, our prayers go unanswered.

You all are amazing brothers and sisters. I love you all so. May the Blessings of the Father be showered upon you. Love, Blessings, and Hugs to all! Have a beautiful, God filled week!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely post!! You are amazing!! i love you my sister in Jesus!!!!

Anonymous said...

Never give up! Yes! Yes! Yes! Because God will lift us out! Jason Upton's Faith CD is full of great songs about Faith in our relationship with God. It is one of my favorites!

Denise said...

Such a great post.

Omah's Helping Hands said...

Thank you Smile. You are amazing as well. I've missed reading your blog and hope to visit within the next day or two. Love you as well sweet sister.

Thank you bluecottonmemory. I've never heard of Jason Upton. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for stopping by. Hope to talk to you more. I like your blog too.

Thank you Denise. Love you.

Cinder Rail'lee said...

BEAUTIFUL POST SIS! I LOVE IT, hubby and I sat here on the couch reading it. (I got out the box and moved my behind from the computer room to the front room) Laptop in lap we sat and read together! How awesome is that!!+
Now I just got to figure out how ti use all the shirt cuts because the cordless keyboard and mouse don't want to play here ont he couch LOL

LOVE YOU

Omah's Helping Hands said...

Glad to hear you both were able to read it together! That is awesome! Ah yes, the good ole mouse on the couch. Definitely does not like to work well that way. Jay uses a board long enough to fit the laptop and mouse on it. It's pretty handy and works out great. I'm going to have to swipe it from him. ;) Hope you and hubby have a great evening together. Love you sweet sis.

Susie Q said...

Always have faith...always. Prayers for yor family and friends...with God all things are possible.
I have been praying so hard for my family members too...my brother and sis in law have separated and after crying for days I am now believing that God can heal thier problems...and my brother's jb is being down sized too. Such a sad time for them now but I KNOW there is help and He will be there for them as He will be there for your loved ones.
Sending you love and hugs,
Sue

Omah's Helping Hands said...

Oh Sue, I'm so sorry to hear all of that, but you are right. The Lord will take care of the situations. I'll be praying for them and you and your family. May the Blessings of the Lord fulfill each of you. Love to you Sue. Know that I'm here for you.