“And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven.” — Nehemiah 1:3-4

Great things happen when people pray, and in 1949, the Smith sisters proved that. Peggy, the older of the two women, was eighty-four and blind. Christine, age eighty-two, was severely crippled with arthritis, so the two of them rarely left their cottage on Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. Although the sisters were unable to attend church services, they still could pray. And they did! Regularly they brought before the Lord the names of people in each cottage along their village streets. They were especially grieved that the young people in their area no longer attended church services. In time, they became convinced that only a supernatural revival could reverse the decline of spirituality they observed. 

Peggy and Christine urged their pastor, Reverend James MacKay, to call the leaders of the church together for special prayer meetings. MacKay respected the sisters’ spiritual discernment, and the call to prayer was made. A group of church leaders began meeting three nights a week in a village barn to intercede for revival, and Peggy and Christine rose from their beds to pray fervently in their cottage during the same hours. An announcement was placed in two newspapers asking people to pray that the villages on the island would be “visited with a spirit of repentance.” And God began moving in hearts. 

During one of those times of prayer, God showed Peggy and Christine that a Scottish preacher they had never met was to visit their town and that he would be used to bring about revival. When they conveyed this to their pastor, MacKay contacted Scottish evangelist Duncan Campbell and asked him to come and preach. Campbell was in the middle of an evangelistic campaign on the island of Skye, and conversions were taking place, so he declined the invitation. However, when MacKay told that to Peggy, she responded, “God has said something else, and he will be here within a fortnight.” A few days later, the convention on Skye was cancelled and within ten days, Campbell arrived on the island of Lewis and Harris. 

In the first service after Campbell’s arrival, it seemed nothing extraordinary happened. Afterward, the church emptied and only the evangelist and one young deacon remained. That young man told Campbell: “God is hovering over us, and He will break through any moment.” The two went back to prayer, and less than an hour later, a man entered the church and said, “Mr. Campbell, something wonderful is happening! Will you come outside and see?” When Campbell went to the church door, he discovered the entire congregation gathered outside. Others had joined them as well, drawn from their homes to the church by an irresistible power they couldn’t explain. 

The crowd streamed back into the church and everyone immediately went to prayer. A witness later recalled that the presence of God brought a wave of conviction of sin, resulting in groans of distress and prayers of repentance from the unconverted. Strong men crumpled to their knees under the weight of sin, and cries for mercy were mingled with shouts of joy from others. The revival that broke out that night on the Isle of Lewis and Harris spread quickly to neighboring districts and lasted for about two years.¹ 

The revival in the Hebrides did not come about because Duncan Campbell was there, but because people prayed. In today’s text, Nehemiah was deeply grieved about the condition of Jerusalem, but he did not merely mourn about it. He prayed! In subsequent chapters, we will see how God worked in response to those prayers. 

Do you have burdens on your heart today? Go to God about those needs, and do not cease to bring them before Him. Nehemiah as well as Peggy and Christine Smith proved that He will never fail to respond to the fervent prayers of His people, and so can you. God still answers prayer!

^1. William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen, 100 Amazing Answers to Prayer, (Grand Rapids: Revell, 2003) 49-51.

BACKGROUND

The Book of Nehemiah opens with a record of when and how Nehemiah, cupbearer to the Persian King Artaxerxes, received news about the desolate condition of Jerusalem and the unrepaired state of the city’s walls and gates. It continues with a description of his reaction to the news and his heartfelt prayers for the people of Israel. 

While Nehemiah was not of priestly lineage nor a descendant of David, he was from a prominent Judahite family in Babylon. His role as the king’s cupbearer was a prestigious one. Historians of Persian culture note that in addition to ensuring the safety and quality of the king’s food and drink, the cupbearer’s duties would have been similar to those of a prime minister and master of ceremonies. The person holding such a position would have been a trusted royal favorite, and likely very wealthy. 

The heading in chapter 1—the first sentence of the book—indicates that the following report was from Nehemiah’s own contemporaneous records. In that same verse, Nehemiah identified his location as Shushan, which was the capital city of the Persians.

Hanani, mentioned in verse 2 as one of the men who brought news of Jerusalem’s condition to Nehemiah, may have been Nehemiah’s brother (see also Nehemiah 7:2).

The description of Jerusalem’s walls and gates in verse 3 includes the words “broken down” and “burned with fire.” City walls in that era had both a physical and psychological function: they were essential for protection from enemy raids or attacks and were also symbolic of strength and peace. The destruction of a city’s wall meant both vulnerability and shame for the residents. Those residing in an unwalled city lived with constant stress and tension because they never knew when they might be attacked. 

The news about conditions in Jerusalem affected Nehemiah deeply. His response is recorded in verse 4: he sat down and wept, mourned certain days, fasted, and prayed. His actions indicate that he was a godly man who had an ever-deepening sense of responsibility toward his suffering countrymen, though they were eight hundred miles away from him and likely were people he had never met. 

Nehemiah’s prayer, recorded in verses 5-11, began with words of praise of God’s nature. In the phrase “great and terrible God” in verse 5, the word “terrible” has the sense of awe-inspiring rather than dreadful. Nehemiah went on to confess the sins of his people without any attempt to excuse them, and included himself in the acknowledgement of culpability. In verses 8-9 he reminded God of His promise of restoration if the people would repent. Verse 11 makes it apparent that Nehemiah prayed with a heart that was ready to take personal action, asking God to give him favor with the king of Persia concerning the matter.

AMPLIFIED OUTLINE

I. The arrival in Jerusalem of Nehemiah
    A. The tragic news from Jerusalem (1:1-3)
    B. The confession and prayer of Nehemiah (1:4-11)

A CLOSER LOOK

1. How did Hanani and the men of Judah describe the condition of Jerusalem to Nehemiah?
2. Why do you think Nehemiah responded as he did to the news?
3. What aspects of Nehemiah’s prayer provide a pattern for us to follow as we bring our petitions before God?

CONCLUSION

Situations that seem impossible can be turned around when God’s people bring their needs before Him!