The Power of One (For the Common Good)

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king.

I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”


I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”


Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.


7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. 9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.

Persistent Prayer

Passionate Prayer

Purposeful prayer

Pour it On!!!!!!

Persecution a guarantee

Chapter 1 ends with Nehemiah's prayer of confession , trust in God's promises and prayer for favor before the king..
Nehemiah it would seem maintained a persistent prayer from the months of Kislev to the month of Nisan. This based on our calendar would have been from around November of one year to April of the following year. That's at least four months of pursuing God in prayer for this one thing.

As Tyrone shared last week, Nehemiah was emotionally connected to the suffering of his people in Judah. His feeling of sadness and fear showed itself in his demeanor before the king. Prohibitions like those in the book of Esther may very well warned of having to appear before the king without his request and showing fear in his presene could halve resulted in a swift execution.

After all this prayer and emotional turmoil, Nehemiah finally got his answer, God's timing is not our timing but He comes through according to His magnificient will and purpose. Nehemiah's prayer was answered four months later

I don't know, but when a man is with his woman, you're dealing with a different man, he's more soft and willing to bless.He realized the king was in a good mood and he grabbed it with both hands.


  1. Nehemiah set the timeline for his return to Jerusalem
  2. Got letters from the king to grant him safe passage to Jerusalem
    3.Letters to Asaph "Keeper of the royal park" to get beams for the gates, the city walls and for his house.
  3. The king even sent cavalry officers as further insurance and assurance to Nehemiah.

Once you start to make plans and put them into effect for the Lord opposition will come. Jesus himself said "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world." or "Anyone who wants to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."


Mark 10: 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The Prayer for Boldness

Big Idea: The power of one person who's heart is for God and His Kingdom, will express itself in bold prayers that He will delight in answering

Conclusion; The power of one person to make an impact is borne out by the life of Nehemiah.


Your prayer life is the place where you will get the strength and the courage to fulfill your mission for God here on earth. Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Jesus our resurrected Lord has overcome death and now sits at the right of God in heaven interceding for those who are His. But at every point in His journey it was punctuated by bold prayers.


If Jesus did it who are we? Pray bold prayers to God who can save you, cry out with loud cries and tears to the One who holds your life in His hands.


He will provide a way for you and even delights in pouring on the blessing in keeping with His will and purpose.


To God be the Glory. Amen

Illustration Share my story from Psalm 20:1-5

Application. What is you prayer life like, build those prayer muscles, choose to grow in the quality and time spent with God in prayer. If you start going to the gym the muscles ache and its a challenge to keep going but if you persist, you'll see the benefits, the same applies to your prayer life. Tyrone shared with us from Amos abut God confronting the nations about their sins and you could almost hear Israel delighting in God's convictions about the other nations, but then it all cam full circle, Amos prophesied against Judah and Israel, the silence must have been deafening, are you sad and broken about the condition of your own heart or are you looking at the spec in your own eye, when there's a plank in your own. Are you broken about the condition of our country, put aside the politics and the race baiting, are we concerned that the walls of respect, unity, the family unit, the murders and the rampant adultery. Are we broken about the condition of our world. Are you praying specifically at with God's purposes in mind. As it says in James 4, Nehemiah asked with God's purposes in mind are your prayes the same?

4 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud

but shows favor to the humble.”[c]

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Our brother Rizon has a song Higher Level, I wouldn't dare sing it for you, but the lyrics go like this ;


Before you go to sleep make sure you say your prayers
cause duh life may seem bilk someone up there really cares
someone up there really cares for you
Oh Oh Eh


There jah goes again nah
he took me to a higher level a higher level higher up
There jah goes again nah
he took me to a higher level a higher level higher up


higher than high is higher
higher than high is higher


God really cares for you and wants to take you to a higher level, he delights in meeting your needs and then some, but again according to His will.


I know for me I am grateful God has answered my prayer to be moved to south for work to be closer to my family and the church, I want to be able to share up a gospel storm and hopefully we can have more people wanting to make Jesus Lord of their lives. I hope God can motivate my boss to buy vehicles for us, so that I can be more effective for God and for him. We had a meeting on MOnday and he said last year was the best year he had for sales and he expects the same this year....doh my covid staking the land and oil price doing a limbo of how low you can go. He wants to match last years figures.... We ll with God all things are possible, even my brand new Honda civic, CNG/ELectric


I also dream of developing a skill in the construction industry, I'm thinking quantity surveying, or who knws God can make me a Civil engineer like N dHey Nehemiah sowed us how to pur it on thick. So why not our God elights in giving us the desires of our heart and again according to His Willa nd purpose.

So Are you pouring it on thick for the KIngdom in your prayers, in the requests that you have before God ad men. I encourage let us be bold in prayer and in deeds.

We will discuss this further as we get into more of Ezra and Nehemiah, but needless to say the challenges will come the devil will not lie idle and allow us to rebuild the walls or build the temple of God , whether as individuals and as a cillective church. Sometimes the challenges will come from governments, institutions, people on the outside and even people within. But Jesus , told us to expect it and we should not be surprised when it does. Rather we should cry out to Him and rely on Him to deliver us from our trouble.