Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 4.

Then the king said to me, what are you requesting?

So I prayed to the God of heaven.

I love this verse in the book of Nehemiah.

So just to give the context so you see how good this verse is.

In Nehemiah chapter 1, Nehemiah learns about the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down

and crumbled around the temple and the need for rebuilding of them for the glory of God,

for the good of the people there. And so God puts on Nehemiah's heart as a fast and praise

for months. God says, I'm calling you to go lead out in the rebuilding of that. And Nehemiah was cut bearer to the king.

So in chapter two, he goes to the king knowing, I don't have time to dive into all the details

here, but it's risking his life for what he's about to do. He's about to ask the king for

permission to leave and not just to leave, to go with help,

to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. And so he's sad in the king's presence, which is what's

signaling there's something wrong. And this is where Nehemiah, when we get to verse four, is about

to really step out and take the risk.

He could lose his life for what he's about to ask.

The king says to him, what are you requesting?

And I love verse four because it says, so I pray to the God of heaven.

And then verse five says, I said to the king.

And then he makes this request.

But in this moment, as Nehemiah takes the step of faith, he does so with his eyes fixed on God.

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