In Nehemiah 2, we read of a conversation Nehemiah had with Artarxerxes, king of Persia. The work of rebuilding Jerusalem was not progressing, and Nehemiah was mourning the state of ruin the city and temple were in. His sadness was one he could not hide from the king. Presenting such sadness before the king was dangerous, and Nehemiah confessed, “So I became dreadfully afraid” (2:2).
The interesting verse is 4. “Then the king said to me, ‘What do you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven.” I have no doubt his prayer to God was a simple and quick one. It would be foolish to keep the king waiting. This did not preclude the prayer itself. Nehemiah felt the need to appeal to God before he appealed to the king. His prayer and request to Artexerxes was granted, and Nehemiah became a great leader of the Jews, overseeing the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Lord’s house. At the end of the book we find him praying to God again, “Remember me, O my God, for good!” (13:31).
Another significant prayer was that offered by Daniel. His prayer was much longer, and led to a message from God through the person of Gabriel, His angel. Consider Daniel’s words: “Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, ‘O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments’” (Daniel 9:3-5). We know Daniel was also mourning in this instance, as his prayer was accompanied “with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”
Daniel’s lengthy prayer was typical for him. He was a faithful man of prayer, willing to suffer any consequences that might befall him for his devotion (cf. 3:1). It seems a later time of prayer and fasting (Daniel 10:3,10) lasted a full three weeks. “I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled” (10:3).
In both prayers we are considering (Nehemiah 2; Daniel 9), there was just cause for mourning and petitioning God. Whether it be physical conditions or sin in our lives, such prayers bring us the hope of joy, reconciliation and restoration. May we use these two examples to see the power of laying our heart out before the Almighty!
