Day 1

My Prayer to the God of Heaven

from the Nehemiah reading plan


Nehemiah 1:1-11, Deuteronomy 30:1-5, Deuteronomy 30:11-15, Hebrews 7:25

BY Amanda Bible Williams

Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 1:1-11, Deuteronomy 30:1-5, Deuteronomy 30:11-15, Hebrews 7:25

Back in 2014, when the She Reads Truth community was not quite two years old, Raechel and I felt called to something unexpected and, frankly, a little terrifying. Feeling a kinship to Nehemiah and his call to rebuild the walls of his city to establish a safe place for his people to gather and worship, we believed the Lord laid it on our hearts to build a Bible app with our Shes—a place for them read Truth together, every day. As that app was being built, the community read Nehemiah—some with the very first She Reads Truth study book in hand.

Today, four years later, we are reading Nehemiah together once again.

The Lord has done remarkable things in this community of Bible-readers in those four years. So many women have opened their Bibles for the first time—or for the first time in a long time—and have kept coming back, day after day. Together, we’ve approached God’s Word again and again as days and weeks have stretched into months and years. And together, we’ve marveled at what we’ve found: God is still faithful, and His Word is still true.

When Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem’s walls had been destroyed and her gates burned to the ground, he was devastated. As he wept for his home and his people, he did the one thing he knew to do: he sought the Lord. With prayer and fasting and confession, Nehemiah petitioned the Lord on behalf of Jerusalem. He declared God’s goodness and recalled God’s faithfulness. He spoke the Lord’s promises  back to Him, believing those promises to be true while also petitioning the Lord to act on them.

Nehemiah longed for his city to be restored, and we can guess from the gumption we’ll see from him in later chapters that he felt a fire inside to bring about that restoration with his own two hands. But before he put a hand to a hammer, he bowed his knees in prayer. In his humility we see a truth confirmed throughout Scripture: any sense of calling we have, even those directly related to our faith in Christ, rests on the strength, sovereignty, and grace found only in Him. Any good work is God’s work. He invites and equips us to participate in it, which we do by faith in Him, not in ourselves.

As we read this Old Testament narrative together over the next three weeks, we’ll see how God indeed called Nehemiah to lead the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall. But today, as we read this prayer from a broken man for his broken city, may we, too, begin with prayer and confession. Let’s declare God’s goodness and recall His faithfulness. Let’s speak His promises back to Him, knowing that He has both fulfilled them and is fulfilling them right where we are.

May the Holy Spirit teach us more about God the Father and Christ the Son as we read this book together. And may God give us strength and courage for whatever work He puts before us—both the grand endeavors and the single acts of faithfulness—to the honor and glory of His name.

SRT-Nehemiah-Shareimage-Day1

Post Comments (224)

224 thoughts on "My Prayer to the God of Heaven"

  1. Tracie Martin says:

    The Lord gave a word of encouragement to my Mom about Nehemiah. I have felt a nudging to study this book. As I read the first chapter and his heart to restore his city I am tearful about our nation and our world. The last 18 months the enemy has been working overtime to kill and destroy. He is calling the Nehemiah’s of today to rise up. To continue our race, believing and declaring his promises. Remembering his faithfulness. I am hungry for more and pray my eyes and ears will be open to receive what he has for me in this study

  2. Cheyenne Kasworm says:

    With the unrest in the US, this speaks to my soul in a new way. Excited to keep reading! ♥️

  3. Heather Baxter says:

    Love nehemiah! I’m doing a women’s study over at Heather Baxter.com on Nehemiah for women! I share this app all the time!

  4. Brandy Mayes says:

    I am so encouraged reading the comments today! This is yet another reminder to me that God still has a “remnant” of His people who love Him, His gospel, and His Word. I also felt very convicted today as a leader of a group who is starting this study together. As a leader, Nehemiah starts by praying not for the task, but for repentance and his people. Praying today not just for a good Bible study, but repenting of my sins and asking Him to lead this sweet group of ladies into a deeper reliance on His “great power and strong hand.”

    1. Elizabeth Bowen says:

      I love you Brandy!! So grateful God has brought you to our little town and Ladies Group!

    2. Courtney Gill says:

      The opening is such a great reminder to pray first in repentance and in faith!

    3. Sunni Nix says:

      Yes!!! ❤️. Lord open my eyes where I need to seek repentance of sin in order to draw nearer to You!

  5. Karin Carlson says:

    Restoration-from a broken person to a broken city. Begin with God’s promises…on my knees before moving and doing

  6. Grace says:

    I was recently called to start a bible study at my school, and at the beginning of the school year I did just that. The only problem was I felt so unqualified, how could someone like me be enough to do something as important as spreading god’s word into my school. Through the past few months of my bible study the insecurities have built up. Every meeting feels unsuccessful to me and I’ve been in such a state of desperation. God’s really been trying to work in me the idea that it’s not through my works but his and just being more reliant on him. This passage aligns so much with the things I’ve been struggling with through out the start of my bible study. I’m new to she reads truth and haven’t done any of the plans, one of the leaders at my church just recently shared this with me. I’ve needed to read his word for the longest time, and especially with the struggles I’ve been going through, just doing what I usually do with god wasn’t working. As soon as I saw Nehemiah’s name I knew this was the one. It’s just so good how god always knows what you need, and leads you into that. I’ll be continuing to work through my insecurities and lean more on god.

  7. Ellie Black says:

    I know I need to read Nehemiah, I’m excited for what I’ll find! He knows who he is in Christ, he knows his purpose, and he does things afraid… all very relevant for me in this season :)

  8. Lydia Rae says:

    Good question! Got me thinking too! Because on one hand, haven’t God’s people been called out to tell of the good news to people in far flung places, right?
    My guess would be that there’s a difference between this sort of “going out” and “scattering”. First thing I notice is that people are being gathered TO a place where God is – it’s gathering them back to him. But you’re right – there is something else about being back together with him and others. My thoughts (not based on anything other than that!) would be that there is something about identity here, and being able to live out in your true identity. I guess being a Jew in those times meant that you weren’t always met with kindness from other people – in fact, that’s pretty much a fair chunk of the Old Testament. In which case, these stories about giving land to the Israelites is a lot about giving them belonging and an identity and the ability to be close to God – gathering them together. Being scattered was also experiencing persecution. So, in this gathered place, they would be able to more easily live according to his word, be encouraged by one another, but also be close to things like their priests etc. This is how they would also receive forgiveness, through sacrifice. If they could gather for that, they couldn’t do what the law told them they needed for forgiveness.

    I also think there’s maybe just something lovely about gathering together. It’s encouraging, fun, life giving, allows us to rely on other people for things we can’t do, strengthening, etc. God is a God of relationship (He’s three in one!) so I can’t help but also think that it’s just a really good thing to not be alone. I think the challenge would be to question what it is we gather for, making sure it’s to Him, and listening for when he is sending us out.

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