Nehemiah: Plan.
Week #2
Opening Reflections.
Where have you seen God at work in your life this week?
Share any brief examples and encouragements.
The king said to me, ‘What is it you want?’ Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, ‘If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.’
Nehemiah 2:4-5
Read Nehemiah 2.
1. Chapter 2 begins 4 months after Nehemiah first heard about the situation in Jerusalem. He had taken time to patiently pray, plan, prepare and then pick his moment to speak to the King.
Can you think of a situation in your own life where timing turned out to be important?
Are you ever impatient to rush ahead and ‘just do something’?
How is it helpful to think of Nehemiah’s actions to be ‘not his first response, but his best response’?
2. Nehemiah first identified the problem. He prayed with great passion, but he also developed a plan of what to do. When the king asked him, ‘What is it you want?’ he had an answer.
What is it that you want? Do you know? Do you have a plan?
Has God put something in your heart (Nehemiah 2:12)? Or, like Nehemiah, is this not yet the time to talk about it?
3. As we begin to think about what we can do as a church to rebuild and repair our ‘city’, our communities, our nation (and beyond), notice how Nehemiah not only prays, but he also does practical research to personally assess the situation.
Do you know the real needs of your community?
In the face of great need, how do we best ‘magnify the Lord and not the problem’?
No one of us can do everything, so how do we each distinguish between what is a good idea for you to do and what is a God idea?
What is your deep desire for your community?
Closing Reflections.
Is there anything you will take away from this study and discussion?
What has stood out that you can take into your week ahead?
Pray together (in pairs or small groups) for each other, in response to your answers.
