Focus 40: Day 2 - March 10, 2011

Prayer as a Struggle

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. - Nehemiah 1:4 NIV

Nehemiah was a part of the generation of Israelites that returned from the Exile to Israel. When Nehemiah made this statement though, he was still in Exile. His brother came and told him that the walls of Jerusalem were torn down and the gates burned. At this, Nehemiah wept. Jerusalem, Zion, the place where Yahweh dwelt among his people, was destroyed. Not only had the Israelites been taken captive, but their beloved city had been razed. The place where David's eternal throne sat, the pride of Israel, was now a heap. Nehemiah could not help but mourn this great loss.

Nehemiah's response was to mourn, fast and pray. This was not a prayer of joy, but one made in a great struggle. Nehemiah was not only mourning for Jerusalem, he was mourning for his people. In his prayer, Nehemiah acknowledged that Israel had sin, and that Israel's sin had led it into Exile and was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem. Nehemiah confessed the sins of Israel and invoked God's promise that He would restore His people if they repented and turned to him. Nehemiah sought restoration and redemption.

Our prayers are sometimes a struggle. Our prayers are sometimes filled with mourning. Prayer as a form of struggle is seen throughout Scripture. Job earnestly pled with God concerning his suffering. Jacob wrestled with an Angel until he was blessed. Hannah, with her tears, beseeched God to give her a son. Christ himself in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed with such intensity that the Scriptures state his sweat was like great drops of blood.

This kind of prayer is a prayer that opens the very being of our soul to God. We permit God to look at those dark places of our being and allow him to listen to our cries. Yet God knows these dark places before we even speak. Paul tells us that the Spirit with sighs and groaning speaks those things which words cannot seem to express.

By allowing God to come to our behalf in our struggles, we permit God to work great victories in us. So like Nehemiah, even in the midst of tears, we can take hope in God's promises. We can take hope in God's offer of restoration and redemption. In the end, Nehemiah saw the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. God restored His people.

So ask yourself: Does your world seem to be falling apart? Has sin overtaken you and separated you from God? Is there a great struggle within your soul? If so, turn it over to God. Engage in a prayer of struggle. Confess your sins, confess your brokenness, confess your inadequacies, and allow God to work in miraculous ways to restore you. God stills works to redeem those who turn to Him with an honest heart.

Darren R. Covington, First Church of God, Greensburg, Indiana.