Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2714
“O Lord, I beseech You, let now Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants, who desire to fear Your name.” Nehemiah 1:11.
NEHEMIAH was earnest in his prayer for the good of his sorrow-stricken nation, but he did not make the mistake of thinking that he was the only praying man in the world. He said, “Be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants, who desire to fear Your name.” In this one respect, I like Nehemiah better than Elijah. They were both noble men and greatly concerned for the highest welfare of their fellow countrymen, but, at one time at least, Elijah did not have a true or a fair estimate of things as they really were. He even presumed to say to God, “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your Prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” Nehemiah, however, acted on another and a more hopeful principle. When he had presented his own personal supplication, he felt certain that there were others who were also praying to the Lord, so he said, “Be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants, who desire to fear Your name.”
You know, dear Friends, that Elijah was quite wrong in his calculation, for God said to him, “I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.” There were, hidden in caves, or in other parts of the country, thousands who feared God and bowed the knee to Him alone. Let not any of us fall into the mistake that Elijah made. Do not you, my Brother, claim to be the solitary Prophet of God, and say, “I only am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” There are quite as good men as you are elsewhere in the world and there are other people who are as earnest in prayer as you are. If you get to supposing that you are the only man left who holds sound doctrine, you will become a bigot. And if you think that you are the only praying man on the earth, you will most likely prove to be self-righteous! If you fancy you are the only man who has a deep spiritual experience, probably you will be doing a great wrong to others of your Lord’s servants and speaking evil of those whom He has accepted. It is better far to believe, with Nehemiah, that your suppliant voice is not a solitary one—and that there are many who, like yourself, cry day and night unto God.
I think it would be better to go even a little further and to believe that if you are earnest, there are others who are still more earnest, and that if you possess a deep-toned piety, there are some who have even more than you have. So, instead of separating yourself from your Brothers and Sisters in Christ, as though you stood first and foremost—hope and believe that you are only one small star in a great constellation—one tiny speck in the milky way of Divine Light with which God still studs the evening sky of this world’s history. Take a hopeful view of things and you will be more likely to be near the mark than if you judge others severely and imagine yourself to be the only faithful servant of the Lord.
It is quite clear that Nehemiah valued the prayers of others, for he pleaded with God, “Be attentive”—not only “to the prayer of Your servant,” but also “to the prayer of Your servants, who desire to fear Your name.” Beloved Friends, there is a great value in the prayers of God’s people, so we ought to set great store by them. If you ever wish to do me a good turn, pray for me! And if you would be the means of blessing your fellow Christians, incessantly pray for them! You may think that your petition is of small account, but it is the many “littles” that make up the great whole. A pinch of
incense from each worshipper will fill the House of the Lord with sweet perfume. Small lumps of coal cast into the glowing furnace will still further increase its heat. Do not think that we can afford to lose your prayers, whoever you may be, but cheerfully contribute it to the general treasury of the Church’s devotion.
It seems to me that the persons to whom Nehemiah referred may be regarded as rather weak servants of God, for they were those who desired to fear His name. Perhaps it could not actually be said that they did fear it, but they desired to do so. Still, Nehemiah felt grateful even for their prayers and we cannot afford to lose the prayer of a single godly child, or of the most feeble Christian among us. Do not ridicule him about his shortcomings and say that his prayer is useless. No, my dear weak Brother, we need your supplication! Even Abraham could not afford to lose the prayer of Lot, for Abraham’s prayer, alone, did not save a single city of the plain—but poor miserable Lot was able to bring just the last ounce of intercession that turned the sacred scale—he contributed a very little prayer and thus one city was saved from destruction. Well, then, if Lot’s prayer was needed at the back of Abraham’s mighty plea in it, perhaps the petition of the very least among us may, in God’s judgment, suffice to turn the scale in some other instance! The Lord may say, “The prayers of My people have prevailed now that this last one has added his request.” If one of you should stay away from the Prayer Meeting and thus not contribute your share to the supplication of the whole Church because you think you are not a person of much consequence, it may be that yours is the last prayer which is needed to complete the chain so that it would prevail even as Lot’s did. We shall certainly not lose any blessing if you add your prayers to ours, but we shall gain by them! We wish, therefore, to offer to God not only the prayers of any servant of His who is strong, as Nehemiah was, but also the prayers of any of His servants who desire to fear His name.