Building for God; Nehemiah 1 to 6

Building for God, Prayer and Opposition in Nehemiah chapters 1 to 6

1. Nehemiah prayed
Have a look at the following prayers of Nehemiah. In each case consider 3 questions:-
 Why did he pray?
 In what way did he pray?
 How was his prayer answered?

1.4-11

2.4

4.4-5

4.9

5.19

6.9

6.14

2. Opposition to God’s work
Now let’s look at the opposition to Nehemiah’s work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. In each case let’s think about:-
 Why and from what source does the opposition come?
 How do Nehemiah and the Jewish people respond?
 In what ways is the opposition developing as the story progresses?

2.10

2.19

4.1-3

5.1

6.1-2

6.5-7

6.10

The outcome of all this prayer and opposition is shown in 6.15-16, but there were still problems for Nehemiah in Jerusalem (6.17-19) and the rest of the book is also well worth studying, especially the amazing prayer of confession/summary of Israel’s history in ch 9.

3. Application
Finally, think about what you have learned from Nehemiah’s example and how you personally and your church can apply this teaching in practice.