Fall Study of Nehemiah - Notes Week 1

Intro./theme verse/the joy of the Lord is My Strength Nehemiah 10:11 Read Nehemiah chapter 1. Nehemiah means comfort of the Lord His fathers name means "whom Jehovah enlightens", Month of Kislev The Name of the Month – Trust and Hope/ month of greatest darkness, cold but also celebration Kislev is the ninth month of the year, counting from Nissan. In the Torah we find that the root of the word Kislev means ‘trust’ and ‘hope Something great has to come out of this book with names that powerful. As I have studied I can see that the Holy Spirit directed these two in ways that have monumental lessons for our life. Today you were asked to read Nehemiah and write down what you saw about is character. Character important! In the church today we have a lot of people that know how to speak the language but it not deep in their heart. Let's take a few minutes and talk about Nehemiah's character: 1. Cupbearer to the king= faithful honorable and trusted 2. He understood his heritage=history Born to tribe of Judah in exile 3. He was a loyal son/broken heart for his people 4 . He was a defender of the weak "How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. (Psalm 82:2-4 NIV) 5. Most importantly He was a man of prayer and had a heart that turned to God to strength and wisdom You see all of who he was in his prayer. His prayer shows his heart but it also tells us how to pray. All kinds of prayers Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. (Ephesians 6:18 NIV) Prayer that stems from a deep relationship with God. Someone that knew God to be a redeemer, forgiver and healer if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV) Prayer that took on the needs of others Prayer that yielded to God to work this out for his people Ask yourself these questions: Are you faithful and honorable? Are you loyal as a friend? Do you have a heart that defends the weak? Lastly do you know God in such a way that when you turn to him in prayer you know age hears you? Glenda