Prayer and great work

For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
- Nehemiah 6:9
 
Good discipline isn’t enough to keep you on track with a God-sized great work. We can’t life-coach you to success. It isn’t just a matter of effort on your part.
 
Nehemiah knew this. When his distractions and opponents arose, he knew his own strength – which was considerable – wouldn’t be enough. Nehemiah had as much confidence and swagger as anyone else we find in Scripture. He wasn’t weak. He was just honest about his limits.
 
Nehemiah was honest about his limits because he knew he had access to someone who could help him, a God with limitless capacity to help him. So Nehemiah prayed.
 
Nehemiah’s prayer in today’s passage is brief. He didn’t fill it with platitudes. He didn’t follow an ACTS formula (not that there’s anything wrong with that). In this desperate situation, he called out and asked for exactly what he needed.
 
We want you to pursue the great work that God’s given you. But we don’t want to deceive you with motivational phrases and hype. You can’t do this – whatever it is – without God’s help.
 
Here are your options:

  • Try it on your own and fail.
  • Recalibrate your great work into something smaller and more easily achievable.
  • Throw yourself into your God-given great work and call out to God for guidance, strength, provision, and help all along the way.

 
We don’t want to see you fail. We’ve been through this ourselves and it stinks. God will redeem even your most painful failures if you continue to engage with him, but it is always painful.
 
And we don’t want to see you settle. If God’s given you something great to do, we will all benefit if you do it. Raise that kid. Start that company. Write that book. God gave you your great work for a reason. Don’t give up on it.
 
Calling out to God changes us for the better. We connect deeply with his great love for us when we see him come through for us. Our anxiety diminishes when we stop carrying our burdens alone. We become more capable of love and connection with people around us when God sets us free.
 
Take some time today to pray and ask God to “strengthen your hands.” What would it look like if God did just that for you? What difference would it make?

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