God’s leaders are always confronting impossible problems. Moses had to set Israel free from the slavery of Egypt; he had to cross the Red Sea with the angry Egyptians following right behind him. Here in this text, Nehemiah was over 800 miles away from the problem.1 Israel was in ruins, and the people were being harassed by their neighbors. He had an impossible problem. However, he did not only confront it but also was successful.
God wants to develop leaders today in his church to help rebuild nations, churches, families, and individuals who have fallen away from God or never known him.
Godly leadership brings one in contact with the sinful and the broken in order to help rebuild, but it also exposes one’s life to dangers and temptations. We see this with Nehemiah as he was confronted by many detractors because he sought to help Israel.
He first shows his concern by asking questions of Hanani, his brother, who had just come from Judah. Godly leaders are concerned and informed. However, it is one thing to be concerned and to gather information, and it’s another thing to be responsive.
He immediately wept and began to pray for the nation.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:36-38
Christ was concerned about the needs of the people and so was Nehemiah.
They both responded in prayer. Application Question: Why is it so easy to not be concerned about the spiritual temperature of others or the problems of others?
There are many reasons:
People are unconcerned sometimes simply because of apathy.
It is easy to care only about ourselves and not about others, especially when the problem doesn’t affect us.
People are unconcerned sometimes because they feel like they cannot help. The problem is too big. We say to ourselves we cannot do anything about it.People are unconcerned sometimes because they fear responsibility. The more we know; the more we are responsible for. Solomon said with knowledge comes more pain (Ecc 1:18).
People are unconcerned sometimes because they are too busy with other things.
People are unconcerned sometimes because they suffer from the “bystander effect.” This means we say to ourselves that somebody else will take care of it.
Even worse than the uninformed are those who know but are not willing to get involved and serve. Let me tell you the story about a man whom God judged for not responding to his knowledge. His name is Eli. Look at what 1 Samuel 3:11-13 says:
And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.
At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end.
For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them.
Listen to what God told Ezekiel about his knowledge and his responsibility to it:
See, Eli knew about his sons’ sins. They were sleeping with the women who came to the temple and not properly leading Israel into worship. For that reason God judged him. He knew, but he failed to restrain them. What areas are we neglecting? Is it family? Is it problems in the church or work? Is it our devotional lives? Is it our private thought patterns that are ungodly?
Ignorance is not always bliss.
God cares about our homes, our churches, and our friends. And, we are responsible to minister to them as well. He cares about every area of leadership he gives us. Romans 13:1b says, “for there is no authority except that which God has established.”
Therefore, whatever area of influence God has given us, he requires us to be good stewards in it.
God cares about our homes, our churches, and our friends. And, we are responsible to minister to them as well. He cares about every area of leadership he gives us. Romans 13:1b says, “for there is no authority except that which God has established.”
Therefore, whatever area of influence God has given us, he requires us to be good stewards in it.
Listen to what God told Ezekiel about his knowledge and his responsibility to it:
When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. Ezekiel 3:18
Essentially, he says, “Ezekiel, if I tell you to warn and you do not, I will hold their blood on your hands.” God told Ezekiel that he was responsible.
Godly leaders are concerned, and they are willing to get involved.
They are not apathetic as so much of the church is. They are not too busy, and they do not say, “Somebody else will do it.”
Nehemiah was willing to ask questions and get involved. In what ways is God calling you to get involved?
Maybe he is calling you to serve by responding to a need in your church with the children’s ministry or to develop a ministry to reach the college students.
He may be calling you to get involved in your community with a project. Maybe, the first step he would have you take is simply asking a question so you can become more informed.
They are not apathetic as so much of the church is. They are not too busy, and they do not say, “Somebody else will do it.”
Nehemiah was willing to ask questions and get involved. In what ways is God calling you to get involved?
Maybe he is calling you to serve by responding to a need in your church with the children’s ministry or to develop a ministry to reach the college students.
He may be calling you to get involved in your community with a project. Maybe, the first step he would have you take is simply asking a question so you can become more informed.
Application Questions: For what area(s) is God burdening your heart? How can you take steps in order to be more informed and ready to serve?
Godly Leaders Are Constant in Prayer- Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. Nehemiah 1:5-6
What do we see next?
Certainly, we can’t miss the fact that Nehemiah began to pray for Israel.
Nehemiah faced a big problem, one that seemed impossible to fix.
However, even though the problem seemed impossible to fix, he immediately brought it to God.
Listen to his prayer: “Then I said: ‘O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments’” (Nehemiah 1:5)
What problems are you facing that are too big and overwhelming? Are there any problems that you have not yet brought to God? We all face problems that seem unsolvable like trafficking, abortion, corruption in the government, sin in the church, sin in our own lives, etc. We might be tempted to look at the problem and not even bring it to God.
Nehemiah responds to this impossible problem by praying and fasting night and day (Neh 1:4). He constantly brings the situation to God. This is a characteristic of a godly leader.
Moses was constantly praying for Israel, asking God to remove his wrath from them (Exodus 32:10-14).
Daniel is shown as a man who prays three times a day (Daniel 6:10): morning, noon, and night. When the king’s wise men wanted to bring a charge against him, they knew to trap him during his prayer time.
God also has chosen to show us Christ’s prayer life in Scripture. He was always sneaking away to meet with God (Mark 1:35). He went to the mountain to pray alone, and his disciples got up in the morning to look for him.
Godly leaders are prayer warriors who constantly bring their seemingly impossible problems to the Lord. They pray to the Lord about their superiors, those they lead, and their families. They are a blessing to whatever community they serve because of their commitment to prayer.
Consider what Paul commanded in 1 Timothy 2:1-3: I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior.
Paul calls for us to pray for “everyone” with all kinds of prayers. This type of lifestyle pleases God. Similarly, Nehemiah was constant in prayer, even for people who were far away from him. He heard about the problems in Israel and interceded, and, no doubt, God was pleased.
Application Question: What are the benefits of bringing such big problems first to God?
- A benefit of bringing our problems first to God is that it makes us wait. Sometimes we are prone to act too quickly, but it is almost always best to first spend time in prayer.
- A benefit of bringing our problems first to God is that it gives us a proper perspective. Praying first puts things in perspective as problems get smaller in view of the “great and awesome God” (v.5). I believe that is why the Lord’s Prayer starts with God and his kingdom before it gets to our request—“give us our daily bread.”
- A benefit of bringing our problems first to God is that it brings the resources of God into our situation: his wisdom, his power, his comfort, etc.
- A benefit of bringing our problems first to God is that it quiets our hearts. Philippians 4:6-7 promises the peace of God to those who pray and give thanks in everything.
- A benefit of bringing our problems first to God is that it activates our faith. Prayer is an act of trusting in God, and therefore, it allows us to trust God more in the situation. It helps our belief.
Application Question: What situation or person is God calling you to intercede for as Nehemiah did?
Godly Leaders Can Identify with Others’ Failures: let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. Nehemiah 1:6
What other characteristics of a godly leader can we see as we look at Nehemiah’s prayer?
Nehemiah’s considering himself a sinner just like the rest of the nation of Israel should stand out in verse 6. He says, “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you.”
Many leaders only see other people’s failures and never see their own, which affects how they minister to and lead others. This is what we saw with the leadership style of the Pharisees. One Pharisee cried out, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get” (Lk 18:11-12). The Pharisee could not see his own sin, and therefore, could never minister to not only the tax collector, but also the robber, the evil doer, and the adulterer. For this reason, these leaders often become very judgmental and self-righteous, especially in the area of discipline. However, godly leaders can identify sin in their own lives, and it helps them deal with others graciously even in discipline.
A godly leader can say, “I have lusted,” “I have hated,” “I have lied.” “I have at times struggled with pride, apathy, and lack of self-discipline.” “The same root that causes murder, rape, bribery, and other injustices are all in me.” This kind of leader can minister to people because he sees his own sin and can empathize.
Interpretation Question: How do we see this trait of identifying with others’ sins in other ministers throughout Scripture?
In a sense, we see this with Christ. He became a man for this very purpose. He may not have sinned, but he was tempted and felt the weakness of man so he could relate to us. Hebrews 4:15-16 says this: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Do we not see this in other great leaders? Paul called himself the chief of sinners (1 Tim 1:15), the least of all God’s people (Eph 3:8), and the least of the apostles (1 Cor 15:9). He also said in Romans 7 that the things he would do, he did not do, and things he would not do, he did; “who will rescue me from this body of death?” (v. 24). That passage alone makes it easier to read and digest Paul’s writings because it says that he can understand and relate to us.
He was a man who had struggles, and yet he was called to lead and minister to others.
Hear his response to God. Isaiah 6:5 says, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
Peter, the leader of the apostles, said to Christ at his calling, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Lk 5:8). Peter had a strong awareness of his sin, just as Nehemiah did, which made him a more than suitable candidate for ministry. He would be able to identify with those he was seeking to save.
Christ taught this awareness of sin was needed to do any type of effective ministry. In Matthew 7:1-5, he taught that in order to pluck the speck out of somebody else’s eye, we must first take the log out of our own eye. In order to minister to people and help them be free from sin, we must be aware of our sin and constantly repenting of it. A person who is unaware of his great sinfulness will only harm people in ministry. The Pharisees harmed people and put yokes on their necks that they themselves could not bear. A godly leader has a strong awareness of his own sin, and it enables him to empathize with his flock and better minister to them.
- We must develop a greater awareness of God by spending more time with him.
- We must expose ourselves to the Word of God more. James compared studying the Word of God to a mirror which shows our faults so we can correct them. He said: Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:23-25
- We must develop healthy accountability relationships with people who will challenge us when we are in sin. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another man’s countenance.” We must have relationships that challenge and sharpen us. Certainly, we see this with David while he was living in unrepentant sin with Bathsheba. It was the prophet Nathan who confronted his sin and helped bring him to repentance. We need these types of relationships to help us stay humble and aware of our sin. A lack of time with God through prayer, a lack of time in the Word, and a lack of accountability relationships will create prideful and self-righteous leaders who do not understand the people they are leading. Godly leaders have the ability to identify with their people even in their failures.
Godly Leaders Are Motivated and Strengthened by the Promises of God, Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name. Nehemiah 1:8-9
Observation Question: What characteristics of a godly leader can we discern from verses 8 and 9?Nehemiah quotes from Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 30 which says that God would scatter Israel if they were unfaithful and that he would restore the nation from their exile if they returned to him. Essentially, Nehemiah was saying, “God, I believe you will restore us because your Word says so.” Look at Deuteronomy 30:1-3:
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
Nehemiah was both motivated and strengthened by the promises of God. These promises, no doubt, gave him the encouragement and confidence to eventually become the leader of Israel.
If they returned to God, Scripture promised that God would bless the nation.
