“Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; and to You the vow shall be performed. O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come.” (Psalm 65:1–2, NKJV) 

Product placement is a thing nowadays. A sports figure will be interviewed on television and on the table beside her will be a bottle of Gatorade, label turned to face the camera. What can seem like an innocent setting is actually staged to promote a product. The one interviewed might even casually take a sip to draw attention to it. 

Nehemiah is counted among the historical books of the Old Testament, recording a period in the history of Israel. Joshua describes the people of God who had been delivered from slavery in Egypt now entering and taking possession of the land promised to Abraham. Samuel accounts for the establishment of the monarchy, while Kings lays out the divided kingdom and the exile, first of the northern kingdom of Israel and then the southern kingdom of Judah. 

The book of Nehemiah is included in this historical genre to describe the return of the exiles to the Promised Land, something the writer of Chronicles makes pains to explain is a result of the faithfulness of God to His covenant. Though His people were faithless, He would remain faithful. His steadfast love would endure, until it was fully realized in the giving of His Son who would be the sole covenant keeper but who would suffer the penalty of the covenant breaker for those He came to save. 

In including Nehemiah in the canon of Scripture, the Spirit of God could have simply given us the facts. He could have described the ins and outs of Nehemiah’s return from captivity to Jerusalem, with a healthy dose of intimation and exhibition of the sovereignty of God that brought it all about. 

But the Spirit did not do that. He did not want to simply give us a record. He wanted to display for the readers then and for the readers now the place of prayer. The promotion of prayer is like that product placement we described earlier. And in a way God is selling us something. He is intent on convincing us of the importance of prayer for the work to be done. 

We’ve surveyed two chapters of the book of Nehemiah so far, and they have been saturated in prayer. Even if that were not our focus in this series, we could not have missed it in our reading because it’s not only conspicuous, it is taken up for us to observe. 

Nehemiah’s reaction to the plight of Jerusalem was prayer. Another way to look at it is that Nehemiah’s first action in addressing the plight of his people was to pray (Neh. 1:11). The entire first chapter is dominated by prayer. 

When in chapter two Nehemiah has opportunity to approach the king to make his request to return to Jerusalem, his plea is punctuated with prayer. “Then the king said to me, ‘What do you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven” (Neh. 2:4). His time with the king concludes with answer to prayer. "And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me” (Neh. 2:8). 

Prayer continues its prominence when Nehemiah makes it to Jerusalem and begins his inspection of the city walls. He encounters dispiriting rubble, a relentless adversary, and a daunting task, yet Nehemiah maintains his lifeline to the One who is his refuge and strength. With humble bravado of faith, he asserts: “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build” (Neh. 2:20). 

God showcases prayer for us throughout His Word, in historical narrative, prophetic discourse, wisdom literature, and poetic verse. We find prayer prominent in Messianic biography, gospel proclamation, epistle, and apocalyptic revelation. 

Clearly, God wants us to take note of prayer and seize upon its practice for our walk with Him and work for Him. 

Why is prayer so prominent and pervasive throughout the Bible? What place does prayer play in your life? 

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15). 

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.