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NEHEMIAH 6:9

"THE BELIEVER'S STRENGTH"

I. THE SOURCE FOR OUR STRENGTH, GOD.
        A. Jesus said, "apart from Me ye can do nothing."
                1. Paul said, "I can do all things through . . ."
        B. If I learn to rely on my own strength there will come a day when I will fail.
                1. There comes to each person a time when he must reach out beyond himself.
        C. If I learn to rely on God my resources are always unlimited.
                1. No mountain so high but what God and I can't scale.
                2. No ocean so broad but what God and I can't cross.
                3. No enemy so strong but what God and I can't defeat him.
                4. God and I am a majority any time.

II. THE CHANNEL THROUGH WHICH THAT STRENGTH FLOWS TO US, PRAYER.
        A. Nehemiah was a man of prayer.
                1. Hanani had just returned from Jerusalem. Nehemiah heard of sad condition.
                        a. He wept, fasted and prayed unto God.
        1:4 2. He was king's cupbearer, his countenance was sad.
                        a. "So I prayed unto the God of heaven and said unto the  king."
                        b. Paul speaks of instant in prayer.
        4:4 3. Nehemiah exposed to ridicule as he began to rebuild the wall.
                        a. His response not to man but to God. Help us God and
 take care of them.
                4. Next he faced a conspiracy.
        4:9 a. "We made our prayer to God and set a watch against them."
                                1. Prayer is never an excuse for fool--hardiness.
                                2. God expects us to use the good common sense he has given us.
                                3. Prayer more often leads to activity than to inactivity.
                5. Next his enemies sought to draw him away from the work into one of the 
                   villages.
                        a. They threatened to send an accusing letter.
                        b. They hoped to strike fear in his heart and weaken his hands for the
                           work.
        6:9 c. "O God strengthen my hands."
        B. Nehemiah's pattern for prayer.
                1. He prayed about everything.
                        a. "Men ought always to pray and not to faint."
                        b. Small things as well as big.
                2. It was his first response to a situation.
                        a. First pray then act.
                        b. Actions almost simultaneous with prayer.

Ill. THE RESULTS OF PRAYER.
        A. The wall was finished in 52 days.
        B. There began a spiritual -revival among the people.
        C. The people were told to rejoice and have a feast. "The joy of the Lord would be 
           their strength."