The Praying leader, A rebuider- Story of Nehemiah

Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 1:2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 1:3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 1:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

LIFE OF NEHEMIAH
There are certain qualities which distinguished Nehemiah as a leader in a period like this, when the walls of Israel was broken down and no man was there to initiate the rebuilding, he choosed to forsake his comfort and take up risk to see that his land was restored.

NEHEMIAH: CHAPTER ONE
Nehemiah cared enough to ask
In chapter one, Nehemiah showed a passion for his home town and this passion was demonstrated through his care to ask. Sometimes to recognise your purpose among men and in a society, you must care enough to ask , for asking brings a push to act on people's concern. The leaders that have been able to change the world or make Impact were leaders who asked questions. It's easier to assume things are working well, it's easier to live a selfish live but asking about the state of things and people is never easy because it comes with a responsibility.

Nehemiah demonstrated one important quality of a leader which was empathy (putting oneself in another's painful position). He mourn and wept when the news reached to him about the state of his town. How many leaders weep when things go wrong, they feel as long as am comfortable, the others should sort out their misery. Despite Nehemiah was presently in the King's palace, did not allow his comfort to console his love for his land.

If as a leader, you care much about yourself and comfort, you loose souls which should have been won for Christ. Care more about the souls of men that is to be won than your comfort

Nehemiah consider the sin and Joy of his people and the land as his own that he took the sin and burden of Jerusalem as his. He personalised the offense to be theirs despite he was not involved in their disobedience. And he seek that God use the king to favour his request of rebuilding the brokens wall. Nehemiah understood

To be in any high place or position as a Christian signifies God is about to raise you for a rebuilding and that God places men in positions not merely for their benefits but for a purpose to be accomplished

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Nehemiah 4:1 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.Neh 4:3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.

THE ENEMIES STRATEGIES AGAINST NEHEMIAH'S WORK

The devil used the following strategies to put Nehemiah's heart to discouragement but never succeeded, these are:

1. Ridicule
2. Intimidation
3. Discouragement
4. Fear.

Sanballat and Tobiah tried to oppose Nehemiah's effort in rebuilding the broken walls by ridicule but Nehemiah kept up with the work. One of the strategies of the enemy is to mock an individual until he/she feels low esteem of himself , but Nehemiah understood the enemy can only ridicule you when you give him an opportunity. Prayer was his response to ridicule.

Sanballat who noticed the first strategy was ineffective, he further intimidated Nehemiah but instead of being intimdated, devised a strategy to have men work with sword awaiting the enemies. Discouragement and the fear that was placed before him was not productive as well. Nehemiah kept on no matter the discouragement and never gave up neither did he have any reason to fear men or circumstances because he feared God.

Reference Rev. Mommon