For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed
before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 1:4
Because Nehemiah’s heart was broken by the news of the “great trouble” the people of Jerusalem were in (Nehemiah 1:2), it led him to weep, to mourn, to fast and to pray!
What was the last thing that so broke your heart that you couldn’t eat? That you wept? That it drove you to your knees in prayer?
There are a lot of heartbreaking things in the world, and it would wipe us out if we felt the pain of these things everyday of our lives. This was a unique situation for Nehemiah. He didn’t become hard to it. He let it settle into his heart – and let it lead him to pray.
Hopefully we all pray. But what do we pray about? What do we pray for? Are we so in tuned to our God that our hearts are broken by what breaks his?
