Christian Devotional – August 17, 2022

Prayer in Action, Day 1

We’re going to move back to the Old Testament for a bit and journey through the book of Nehemiah. Read Nehemiah 1:1-4.

Nehemiah starts off in a rather dramatic fashion. We see Nehemiah receiving a visitor who gives him news about the state of things in Israel. Nehemiah and many others were taken into captivity and away from Israel. But now, Nehemiah is working for the king, and he hears word of how those who were left behind are faring. And it’s not good.

As we go through this book, we’re going to focus on the action that accompanies the prayers of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is a praying man. He stops and he prays relentlessly throughout everything that goes on, but he then takes action and allows God to use him to truly affect change around him.

What did you see in the world around you that you know needs to change? What breaks your heart the way it breaks God’s heart, and the way Nehemiah’s heart was broken for this situation? How can we be praying for the situations like that? What action is God leading us to move toward and take?