Nehemiah 1 & 2

Neh 1
Enters Nehemiah, somewhere within the same story as Ezra. Nehemiah hears that the remnant that Ezra led out of Babylon has return to Jerusalem. He weeps because of their distress and reproach, and he weeps for the walls and the gate of Jerusalem. Take note that the first thing he does after hearing of this great distress and loss is fast and pray to God, confessing that it is not only those remnant who are responsible for this but even him as well (v7). Also worthy of note is Nehemiah's concession that the Lord "preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep his commandments" (v5).

Neh 2
The Lord uses King Artaxerxes to answer Nehemiah's prayer. The exchange between Nehemiah and the King is interesting in the fact that the King asks Nehemiah a question (at this point it seems that the King will be the deliverer of the story), but Nehemiah prays first before responding. His continuance in prayer is a good example of prayer without ceasing from 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Nehemiah gets permission from the king and makes his way to Jerusalem. Just before building the wall in Jerusalem, the word says that "they put their hands to good" (v18). I love that! We can put our hands to good and we can put our hands to something else (I imagine the other to be evil), but there is a distinction as to what is good for our hands to be put.

Lord, I pray that my hands may be diligent today and put to good. I know one good thing for me to do is to pray to you, so I pray that you would work it in me to always pray to you. I love you Lord!