But this study is about leadership primarily, not history. So leaving the historical background behind, I ask the question: What makes a great leader? And since we want to become leaders ourselves: Where do we acquire the skills that characterize true leaders?
It is significant that when the problem of the broken walls of Jerusalem was presented to Nehemiah, the first priority of this great and (later) very successful leader was prayer. The first thing he did was unburden his heart to God. Why do you suppose Nehemiah started here? There may be several reasons. For one thing, he was a man who prayed frequently about everything. Prayer was a habit for him. But I suspect also that, in this case at least, Nehemiah prayed for the simple reason that no one but God could accomplish what needed to be accomplished if the walls of the city were to rise again.
Is this what makes a leader? The world may not think so, but the Bible teaches that this is the first and greatest dynamic: the leader and God. Chuck Swindoll has it right, I think, when he refers to Nehemiah as “A Leader – From the Knees Up!”1
We are going to be looking at Nehemiah’s mastery of prayer more than once in these studies, but there is no better way to be introduced to it than by a study of the prayer with which the book starts. Here are three important things about it.
1. The attitude with which one should pray (v. 4). Nehemiah was an important man even before his success in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. But Nehemiah does not show an arrogant spirit. He was a man of courage and bold action, as we will see later on in the story. But here he humbles himself before God even to the point of tears and fasting. He is not presumptuous, but he knows that God can do what he asks Him to do. Therefore he comes submissively and in all seriousness.
We need people who will pray like that today. Cyril J. Barber, the author of a study of Nehemiah, has written wisely, “The self-sufficient do not pray; they merely talk to themselves. The self-satisfied will not pray; they have no knowledge of their need. The self-righteous cannot pray; they have no basis on which to approach God.”2
A true leader is one who is neither self-sufficient, self-satisfied, nor self-righteous. On the contrary, he knows his need and is therefore ready to humble himself before the One who alone is sufficient for it. Great leaders are great prayer warriors.
2. The prayer itself (vv. 5-11). There is an acrostic for prayer which you have probably heard, the word ACTS. In this acrostic “A” stands for adoration, “C” for confession, “T” for thanksgiving, and “S” for supplication. Each of these is present in Nehemiah’s model prayer. Adoration is expressed in the sentence: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 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” (vv. 5-6). This is a summary of Nehemiah’s regular prayer worship, as is evident from his saying that he prayed like this “day and night.” It is a short statement, but it acknowledges several great attributes of God: His sovereignty, love, faithfulness, and His omniscience in seeing and hearing all that is going on, including Nehemiah’s prayer.
1 Charles R. Swindoll, Hand Me Another Brick (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1978), 30.
2 Cyril J, Barber, Nehemiah and the Dynamics of Effective Leadership (Neptune, N.J.: Loizeaux Brothers, 1976), 22-23.
