“A Leader---From The Knees Up.” This is the title of chapter two of Swindol’s Hand Me Another Brick, (his commentary on Nehemiah’s leadership) (click to open). This characteristic of leadership is certainly seen in Nehemiah’s ministry. On average one out of every ten verses in Nehemiah is a reference to prayer.
Nehemiah shows pastors and Christian leaders the time to prepare for critical issues and problems in ministry is before they explode in their faces. Nehemiah was a man of prayer before he faced his problems and enemies.
J. Oswald Sander in his Spiritual Leadership writes: “Since leadership is the ability to move and influence people, the spiritual leader will be alert to discover the most effective way of doing this. One of the most frequently quoted statements of Hudson Taylor is this expression of the conviction that ‘it is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone” (page 82). Nehemiah moved Artaxerxes through his model prayer.
Here are Six Marks of Leadership in Nehemiah:
1. Leaders Show Concern for God’s Work (Nehemiah 1:1-4)
2. Leaders Pray for God’s People (Nehemiah 1:5-11)
3. Leaders Follow his Leader (Nehemiah 1:11-2:8)
4. Leaders Motivate his Followers (Nehemiah 2:9-20)
5. Leaders Organize his Work (Nehemiah 3:1-32)
6. Leaders Handle his Opposition (Nehemiah 4-6)
The Second Mark of Leadership: The Leader Prays for God’s People
Peter Drucker in The Effective Executive wrote, “Effective executives do first things first.” Nehemiah follows this principle when he prays before he jumps into any other problem-solving method. Before Nehemiah addresses his human king (2:3), he addresses his divine king (1:5-11). When there is a problem in our life or ministry what is our first reaction?
Do we first attack the person with whom we disagree? Nehemiah did not attack Artaxerxes who was standing in his way of returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls to protect God’s people. About 13 years earlier Artaxerxes had decreed that no more work be done on the wall (Ezra 4:21). Artaxerxes was the obstacle to Nehemiah doing God’s will. Nehemiah did not attack the human problem; he went to God in prayer.
Do we attack the problem in our strength or wisdom? Do we whip out our smartphones and start wheeling and dealing? The proper response is the response of Nehemiah: Attack the problem with prayer. Follow the instructions in Ephesians 6:10-17. Put on the full armor of God and then do what? March into the world and fight the world, the flesh, and the devil? No! Go to prayer and do battle from your knees (6:18).
Here are the elements of a leader praying for his people who need his leadership. This pattern is seen in other model prayers such as the Levites’ in Nehemiah 9:5-38; Daniel's in Daniel 9:419; and Jesus' in Luke 11.
A. Praise for Who God Is (1:5)
1. Praise for His Greatness
Even though the problem in Nehemiah’s life is “great” (1:3) Nehemiah focuses on his “great” God (1:5). The greater God becomes in our thinking, the smaller become our problems. Prayer is our response to Christ’s words “Without me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
2. Praise for His Awesomeness.
Notice how often "the great and terrible God" appear together in praise to God in the Old Testament (Nehemiah 1:5; 4:14; 9:32; Daniel 9:4). Praise to God puts our problems in perspective.
Henry and Richard Blackaby in Spiritual Leadership in chapter seven "The Leader's Influence" stress that leaders influence others through prayer. They give six reasons why leaders should pray. The fourth reason is "God is all-powerful …. God can do far more than even the most resourceful leaders. God's promise is open-ended: 'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Matt. 7:7 NIV). If someone is angry with a leader, reconciliation might look impossible. But God can melt the hardest leader. Leaders can be stymied when people refuse to cooperate. But God can change people's attitudes overnight. There are times when even the most powerful CEOs in the world can do nothing but retreat to the privacy of their executive office, pray, and let God work."
The Blackabys next gave this example. "When Nancy Reagan was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and had to undergo a mastectomy, her husband, though he was President Ronald Reagan, realized that even being the most powerful executive in the world had its limits. Commenting on that day, Reagan confessed: 'For all the powers of the president of the United States, there were some situations that made me feel helpless and very humble. All I could do was pray---and I did a lot of praying for Nancy during the next few weeks’" (Spiritual Leadership, pages 149-150).
B. Confession of Sin (1:6-7)
1. The identification of Sin in 1:6 is heard in this petition: “We have sinned against you.” After worshiping God’s greatness and awesomeness it is easy to see our littleness and our sinfulness. The closer we get to God the bigger our sins become. This was the experience of Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5. After Isaiah saw the exalted holiness of God all he could do was cry, "Woe is me for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips."
Nehemiah confessed the sins of Israel. He also confessed his own sins: “We have sinned.” Obviously, Nehemiah’s sin had not brought on the punishment of Israel in the Seventy-year Captivity, but Nehemiah had sinned also. “All have sinned and come short of God’s glory” (Rom 3:23).
2. The definition of sin is heard in 1:7. Sin is not only breaking God's rules (1 John 3:4) but sin is also offending a holy God who can be grieved. S. Lewis Johnson (click to open) said based on Ephesians 4:30, "Grieve is a love word. You can only grieve someone who loves you." Children can grieve parents who love them dearly. Spouses can grieve each other. Christians can grieve God who infinitely loves us. When we sin we break the heart of our Heavenly Father. David realized this neglected petition of sin when he confessed, “Against you and only you have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4).
It is refreshing to hear a leader take responsibility for his sin rather than blaming others.
C. Claiming of God’s Promises (1:8-10)
Nehemiah quoted God's promises from Deuteronomy 28:63-67 and 30:1-5 in his prayer in Nehemiah 1:8-9. Nehemiah had to know God’s Word to claim the promises of God’s Word. About George Muller, who cared for 2000 orphans in Bristol, England, it was said he read his Bible on his knees. We should read God’s Word as leaders not to become scholars who impress our followers with our Google knowledge but we should read God’s Word to pray with power for our people.
I just met a former student at Starbucks who is in his third year of pastoring his first church. He shared how his church is pushing back on his leadership. I am praying God will give him the leadership ability to lead his church through this critical issue based on 1 Thessalonians 5:24 and wisdom to solve this problem grounded in James 1:5. Leaders should memorize these verses and pray them often.
D. Surrender to be the Answer (1:11)
Our prayers can move the heart of God to move the heart of the king (Prov 21:1). But then we surrender to be the person God uses to move the king (Neh 1:11). Nehemiah concluded his prayer: “Prosper, I pray (ask) you, your servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” The “man” Nehemish is referring to is King Artaxerxes. After Nehemiah finished his prayer he added, “For, I was the king’s cupbearer.” Nehemiah in essence is asking to be the answer to his prayer. It has been well said, “It’s great to get answers to your prayers. It is even greater to become the answer to your prayer.”
God had providently moved Nehemiah into a position and relationship with Artaxerxes to be His instrument of change. In Persian art, the official cupbearer is shown to be next to the crown prince in attending to the king. God has strategically placed each of us in places of influence to pray for and be the answers to our prayers to move people onto God’s agenda. Who is the Artaxerxes in your life that God has positioned you near so you can move him/her to God? Is he/she your boss at work or your neighbor? Are you praying for the opportunity to impact him/her for God's glory? Let’s ask God to use us to be the answer to our prayers as we lead God's people to accomplish great exploits for Him.