Pray and Post

One of the blessings I enjoy is the ministry and leadership of my pastor, Dr Jeff Warren at Park Cities Baptist Church. Jeff and I were both trained at Southwestern Seminary and share a biblical worldview and Christ-centered focus in our ministries. One of the areas of his focus for the church is a simple plan of daily Bible reading. He calls it Dwell and provides members with a journal to use. While I don’t have consistent habits of journaling, the format he and Keith Lowry have developed is just what I needed. So, I take a few minutes each day to read the Scripture and jot down my reflections. It is enough to keep me engaged in the Scripture daily and has an impact on my thinking, my leadership, my family, and ministry.

Recently I read a passage in Nehemiah 4. In this chapter, Nehemiah is leading a project to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, the fallen city. He received permission from the king of his day to leave his post and travel to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls with protection and provision for the project. As you would expect, Nehemiah faced opposition and disinformation (lies) about his motive and work.

A few truths emerge from this story. First, when attempting to obey an assignment from God, in this case to rebuild their Holy City, its walls, and its majestic beauty, ministry leaders can expect to endure opposition. Nehemiah had a vision to rebuild the city walls and the city itself, to restore the buildings and the dwelling place of their faith. This was his mission in life. He obtained permission, protection for safe passage, and provision for the project. It is an excellent case study in leadership that starts with vision and translates into implementation.

The second principle that stood out to me was a sentence in chapter 4, verse 9, which said: “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” The point here is that Nehemiah led the people who were rebuilding the wall to pray to God for help, for protection, for favor, and blessing to complete the project. They also did what they could to defend themselves from threats and opposition by posting a guard to stand watch. It has been said, “pray as though it all depends on God and work as though it all depends on you.” God expects for us to appeal to him for issues out of our control, but he also expects to do our part for the things we know we can do in serving him. The same is true today.

I am thankful for the pastoral team at my church for encouraging me to develop a healthy dose of Bible intake as a habit. Here is another opportunity for Bible intake from Dr. NT Wright if you live in the DFW area https://pcbc.org/event/exploring-philippians-with-n-t-wright/.