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Guest (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love helping you understand God's word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. And if you'd like help to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resources designed to help you stay strong in your faith, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy, and you'll be glad you did. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: One of C.S. Lewis's most famous quotes you've heard me say before is that pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. And so the whole quote is: God whispers to us in our pleasures, he speaks to us in our conscience, he shouts to us in our pain. Pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Whenever you find a person in pain, you usually find that person in prayer. It's during times of suffering and pain that we often will cry out to the Lord like no other time. That's not only true of individuals, it's true of nations as well.

When a nation is in crisis, the nation will be on its knees. George Washington, in his inaugural address, offered a prayer because he saw the need for God's guidance and protection over a brand-new nation. Years later, President Abraham Lincoln, because it was the height of the Civil War, knew that God must intervene, and he called for days of national prayer and fasting.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt during World War II, when our allied forces hit the beaches of Normandy, was on the radio, and during that radio broadcast, he led the nation in prayer. Then of course, some of us will remember September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center fell and there were waves of prayer meetings in churches and places across our nation. You also may remember that both the House and the Senate, members of those two bodies, stood on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and together sang "God Bless America." But somebody once said, if you only pray when you're in trouble, you are in trouble.

Benjamin Franklin, this is about 11 years after our nation was formed, was addressing the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. They were framing the United States Constitution. For whatever you know about Benjamin Franklin, he was raised a Puritan. He had deistic tendencies, sure, but in his speech to that convention, he insisted that they began in prayer. This is what he said. I have lived, he said, for a long time. He was 81 years old when he began this speech.

The longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe that without his concurring aid, we shall proceed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.

It's a very similar situation in Nehemiah chapter nine. The nation is in a crisis. They gather together in this chapter for a time of mourning and a time of prayer. The nation prays together. A nation that prays together stays together. Now, you remember from last week's message in the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, do you remember they got together? It was a very long church service, six hours, and they listened to the word of God being read. They then started weeping and mourning over their sin, and then the leadership had to say, stop weeping, it's the Feast of Tabernacles, it's a time for rejoicing. So the people entered into a time of celebration.

Chapter nine comes after chapter eight. But what you need to know is chapter nine and chapter ten both together are the outflow of what happened in chapter eight. Because of what happened in chapter eight, the people now reassemble and they get serious once again. Notice with me the first five verses of chapter nine. Now on the 24th day of this month, the same month, the seventh month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Those are signs of mourning and grief.

Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day, and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. Then Jeshua and all these guys, I'm not going to read their names, stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. And the Levites, Jeshua and all these guys, said, stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. And then their prayer begins.

You may remember when we started this little series on Nehemiah, I said that prayer is mentioned in this book no fewer than 12 times. The book opens with prayer, the book closes with Nehemiah's personal prayer. 13 chapters, 12 times in the book prayer is highlighted or prayer is mentioned or people are spending time in prayer. Now here in chapter nine, once again, it's a very long service. This time it's a little more serious. Sackcloth and ashes are being added. For some reason, they are shaken to the core by what happened in chapter eight.

So the scripture is read for three hours. For another three hours, they confess their sins and they worship God until finally this group of Levites gathers the thoughts that they have heard from the confession that different people have made in the audience, and they gather truths from the scriptures that were read publicly and they synthesize all of those thoughts into one long prayer. That is what chapter nine is. It is one long prayer. In fact, it is the longest recorded prayer in all of the Bible. It's the Bible's longest prayer.

I'm going to guess that the one who uttered the prayer in front of the people was Ezra. It doesn't say that in our text, but in the Septuagint version, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it adds the phrase, and Ezra said. And then the prayer is given. So I'm just going to go with that and say Ezra was the one who articulated this prayer before the people. One writer said this is the highest moral state Israel has reached all the way from the captivity to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

So this is the highest moral state Israel ever reached from the Babylonian captivity to the time of Christ. Now, it's a long chapter. I am not going to read all of the chapter. What I am going to do is lift from this lengthy prayer five elements for effective prayer. Anybody here want to have an effective prayer life? I sure do. Here's some elements that you can add to your communication with God so it's not just, God help me, amen, that's the extent of your prayer life, or just praying something before a meal, amen, and that's it. How do you have an effective prayer life, whether you're a church or an individual, whether you're a nation or a single person?

I'm going to guess that if there's one area of your life that you would like to improve, it's your prayer life. I say that because most Christians I have ever met will say that. The one area they'd like to see bettered and improved is their prayer life. So I'm going to give you five elements and we're going to look briefly at them. They looked at this prayer, they looked in five different directions. They looked up, that's adoration. They looked back, that's reflection. They looked within and they made confession. They looked around and offered their petition, and then they looked ahead and that's submission.

We're going to look at all five of these. First, they looked up. Adoration. Go back to verse five. They begin, or Ezra begins, blessed be your glorious name, I'm reading the second part of verse five, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. That's where the prayer begins. You alone are the Lord. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all, the host of heaven worships you. What I'd like you to notice right off the bat is how Ezra begins his prayer. He does not begin with a request. He does not begin his prayer by saying, I need, I want, please help me or I'll die. He begins with adoration.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, friends like you help bring clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching to people searching for truth in a world that often feels confused, divided, and uncertain. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource designed for times like these. When you give, you'll receive "City in Shambles," Pastor Skip's complete 18-message study through Nehemiah on CD plus digital download. In these messages, you'll discover how God works in seasons of spiritual and cultural collapse, how prayer and obedience become the starting point for renewal, and how ordinary believers can respond with faith instead of fear. We'll send this resource as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let's return to today's teaching.

Skip Heitzig: He begins by praising God's name, honoring God as being unique, honoring God as being the creator and the sustainer of the universe. It's a God-focus. That's how he begins. Adoration. That's how Jesus taught us to begin our prayer with a God-focus. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That's adoration. Adoration forces our minds above the horizon of life's problems to focus on the only one who can fix those problems. That's what it does. It lifts our minds above the horizon of life's problems.

For some people, I would characterize their prayer life like taking an aspirin. I have a headache, I'm hurting, I need to do something, I'm going to pray. Or like an emergency room. This is a crisis, I got to go to urgent care, so this is a life crisis, I got to pray. For other people, they treat prayer like room service at a nice hotel. I'm going to call God up and ask for room service. I'd like a blessing, please, medium-rare. I'm going to name it and claim it. Mature prayer always begins with adoration.

When I was a baby, my first words, the first articulation out of my mouth, was a cry. I know this to be true because it's true of every person who has been born. First thing that happens is they cry. Now, that baby will cry when the baby's hungry, when the baby wants a diaper changed, or the baby wants to be held. That's the form of communication, they cry to let mom know, oh, I have to attend to these needs. Thank God that human being doesn't maintain that form of communication for a lifetime.

So that baby grows into a toddler and starts learning how to talk. And as the baby learns how to talk, the baby will articulate things like, I want this, I want that, give me this, give me that. It's a lot better than a cry, but barely. As that human being grows up, turns to be a teenager, they get a little more sophisticated in their skills of communicating, so they now want to talk mom and dad into why they need something. They're very skilled at that.

But as that human being grows older and their parents grow older, the focus changes from what they want and what they need and it all being about them, and they start thinking about their parents. How are you doing? What can I do for you? I want to spend more time with you because we know not much time is left. So mature praying always includes adoration. It's not just I need, I want, but Lord, I love you, you're awesome, I want to spend time with you. That's mature communication.

Adoration is the first step. And adoration, beginning with a prayer with adoring God, helps me realize who it is I'm talking to. That's very important. R.A. Torrey, one of my favorite authors, said we should never utter one syllable of prayer in public or in private until we are definitely conscious that we are coming into the presence of God and are actually praying to him. Why is this important? Because it's only when you realize I'm talking to God that you can bring a request after that with faith. See, adoration changes your perspective, elevates your perspective. I'm talking to God, there's nothing too hard for him.

Let me give you an example of this. Jeremiah the prophet uttered an incredible prayer in Jeremiah 32. And he was facing some problems. The problems they were facing at the time is their nation was surrounded by enemies ready to pounce on them. The Babylonian armies had circled the city of Jerusalem. So Jeremiah starts praying. I want you to listen to how he begins his prayer. Oh, sovereign Lord, you have made heaven and earth by your great power and outstretched arm, and there is nothing too hard for you. When you begin a prayer life like that and you make a request, you have faith that that request is going to be answered because you know who you're talking to.

Here's another example, Acts chapter four. The disciples in Jerusalem, the apostles, the church, is being threatened by the city council, the politicians of Jerusalem. And a command is given for them to shut their mouths and not preach any longer. And so the apostles pray this: Lord, you are God, you made heaven and earth and the sea and everything that is in them. And then they offered their request: hear their threats and give us boldness.

So adoration adjusts our perspective, helps us realize who we're talking to, and it's a form of mature communication. We often carry our limitations over onto God in prayer. We're going through a difficult time and we kind of come to the Lord in desperation: God, I have a request for you, it's really hard. That's your limitation. You're talking to God. Jeremiah said, there's nothing too hard for you. That's how you begin.

I had an assistant pastor who had a plaque in his office and I'd always see it when I'd walk in. Open the door and there was the plaque: God never panics. I always thought that's a great reminder. Because sometimes I had some real issues I had to talk to him about that were pretty grave and serious and then I realized, oh, that's right, God is in this, God never panics. So they looked up. Adoration.

Second element: they looked back. After looking up, they looked back and that's reflection. Now, just notice as you look down at this prayer, verse seven all the way to verse 35 essentially is reflection. They're looking back in the prayer and giving an historical account of two things: God's faithfulness and our unfaithfulness. We, Ezra says, as a people, have historically been unfaithful and have failed and we blew it over and over again, but you, God, are merciful and gracious and have forgiven.

So in verse seven, he begins with the call of Abraham. Verse seven: You are the Lord God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees and gave him the name Abraham. Those are two pretty fun names. Abram means exalted father, God changes his name to Abraham, father of a multitude. What's funny about that is Abraham in both cases was childless, but it was a name God knew he would fulfill. You have found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give him the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites, along with termites and all the other -ites. To give it to his descendants, you have performed your words for you are righteous.

So he's covering the time of God giving Abraham a covenant to give Israel the land. Then verse nine, ten, and eleven: it's all the events of the Exodus, how you delivered us out of Egypt and Pharaoh's oppression. Verse 12 through 21: you brought us into the wilderness and for a period of 40 years you took care of us. You gave us bread and water and you gave us this cool GPS system, a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day, and you gave us the law. Let me just dip down and look at verse 20 with you. You also gave your good spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.

You know, I've always thought that manna was one of the coolest inventions of God because manna was like the multivitamin of the Old Testament. Everything you needed was in this little bread that came from heaven and, not only a multivitamin, but a vitamin that tastes good. It tasted like Krispy Kreme donuts. Now, you think I'm stretching it a little bit, but let me give you the biblical description: it tasted like wafers made with honey. Now, you heat that baby up and that's a Krispy Kreme donut right there. But I digress.

Verse 21: Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out. He's just rehearsing God's faithfulness. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. Can you imagine having a wardrobe that never wore out for 40 years? Every man in this room would love that. I don't think the gals would like that that much. Can you imagine? Honey, I need a new dress. Actually, you know, I got that for you 35 years ago, looks brand new. Again, I digress.

I do want to just touch on that last little phrase, their feet did not swell. That's a very telling phrase. You might just want to brush over something like that, but I had a missionary explain that people that have the same diet, there's no variety in what they eat, the sameness of diet will prohibit a person from getting vitamins, especially Vitamin B1, thiamin, and the person can manifest a disease called beriberi, and one of the symptoms of that is the swelling of the feet. So the fact that God, by just giving them water miraculously and bread from heaven, the multivitamin manna, all that they needed was cared for for 40 years.

Guest (Female): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember your generosity helps share God's word with people around the world, offering biblical truth and hope in a time when many feel discouraged or overwhelmed. And this month, we'd love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you "City in Shambles," Pastor Skip's complete 18-message study through Nehemiah on CD plus digital download. These messages will encourage you to respond to brokenness with prayer, repentance, and courageous faith, and remind you that God still rebuilds what's been torn down. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.

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