Quiet Man.

So I came to Jerusalem. When I had been there for three days, I got up during the night, along with a few men who were with me. But I did not tell anyone what my God was putting on my heart to do for Jerusalem… I continued up the valley during the night, inspecting the wall. Then I turned back and came to the Valley Gate, and so returned. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing, for up to this point I had not told any of the Jews or the priests or the nobles or the officials or the rest of the workers. (from Nehemiah 2:11, 12, 15, and 16)

When I had been there for three days…

Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, but there was a three-day gap between his arrival and his survey of the damage done to the city walls and gates. What was he doing? We can infer, based on the first chapter of Nehemiah, that he was in communion with God. And we can say, with assurance, that he was not in conversation with man. In the passage above, Nehemiah shares three things that he did not tell:

-“I did not tell anyone what God was putting on my heart…”
-“The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing…”
-“I had not told any of the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of the workers…”

I got up during the night…

Nehemiah approached his task of rebuilding the walls and gates without fanfare. Though a few men accompanied him on his night tour of the city, Nehemiah remained silent: only he knew the task that God had assigned to him, and he did not disclose God’s plan until after his survey of the land was completed.

As Bronx Bethany approaches the last five months of our theme “Engaging Transformational Prayer… Experiencing Transformational Provision”, it is appropriate that we be reminded of the scope of transformational prayer. The book of Nehemiah reminds us that transformational prayer is supported through the related disciplines of mourning, fasting, intercession, silence, watching, and waiting. In the face of devastating news on the home front, what else can we do? What better options are there to obtain God’s blueprint for problem-solving?

Let’s have some quiet time.