When something matters to us enough, we can find ourselves thinking about it all the time. It’s not necessarily that it’s the only thing we think about, but it’s the issue that burdens our souls and fills our quiet moments such that it’s somehow always on our minds and in our hearts. That seems to have been what was happening with Nehemiah and his burden for God’s people and God’s honour that we saw from Nehemiah chapter 1 this last Sunday morning.
In vs 4 we’re told “For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” And in vs 6 he describes praying “day and night”. A quick glance at the timing described between chapters 1 & 2 indicate that he prayed like this for 4 months! It was the burden of his heart.
In the New Testament the apostle Paul describes in Romans chapter 8 how the Holy Spirit of God, who is within every Christian, helps us with such burdens of heart:
“…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Rom 8:26
In a broken world there are often times when we can feel our own weakness, inadequacy and sense of despair. Earlier in Romans ch 8 Paul describes how we ‘groan inwardly’ waiting and longing for glory! Yet the great news is that we can take these struggles to the LORD, and even though we can’t put into words what we need, the Holy Spirit both knows our hearts and intercedes for us.
That miracle of grace should encourage us to seek the Lord’s help in our struggles, and direct the burden of our hearts towards Him.
Spencer Shaw