From Nehemiah’s Tears to the People Rising Up to Build

Today’s Main Verses for Pray-reading

Nehemiah heard of Jerusalem’s desolation and wept in prayer

Nehemiah 1:4

And when I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and I mourned for some days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,

Nehemiah came to Jerusalem and examined the situation

Nehemiah 2:11

Thus I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

Remember the great and awesome Lord, and fight for your families

Nehemiah 4:14

And when I saw the situation, I rose up and said to the nobles and the rulers and the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them; remember the great and awesome Lord, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses.

Nehemiah did not take the governor’s food allowance

Nehemiah 5:14

Moreover from the time that the king appointed me to be governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brothers did not eat the food appointed for the governor.

The wall was completed in fifty-two days

Nehemiah 6:15

So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty-two days.

God put it into Nehemiah’s heart to gather the people and enroll them

Nehemiah 7:5

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the rulers and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who had first come up, and I found this written in it:

The whole assembly dwelt in booths and rejoiced greatly

Nehemiah 8:17

And all the assembly of those who returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths, for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so; and there was very great rejoicing.

The people fasted and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers

Nehemiah 9:1–2

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, with earth on their heads.
And the descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

The people swore to walk in God’s law

Nehemiah 10:29

They joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath, to walk in the law of God, which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to keep and do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, as well as His ordinances and His statutes;

The people blessed those who willingly offered to dwell in Jerusalem

Nehemiah 11:2

And the people blessed all the men who offered themselves willingly to dwell in Jerusalem.

God caused the people to rejoice greatly, and Jerusalem’s joy was heard afar

Nehemiah 12:43

And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had caused them to rejoice greatly; and the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

Today’s Prayer Burden

From one man’s weeping prayer to a whole city rejoicing greatly in God: may the Lord raise up five thousand corporate Nehemiahs in the coming decade, making the vital groups high and beautiful and causing them to prevail throughout the earth for the building up of the Body. We are not reproducing one person’s ability; we are reproducing an organic way in which everyone can participate in building, be constituted, and exercise to overcome.

Today’s Prayer

1. From one man’s tears to the rejoicing of the whole people

Lord Jesus, we worship You! Today we come before You to review the book of Nehemiah and consecrate ourselves to You. Raise up five thousand corporate Nehemiahs!

Lord, in chapter 1 of Nehemiah, one man heard that Jerusalem was desolate and wept, fasted, and prayed. By chapter 12, the whole city of Jerusalem was rejoicing greatly in God!

Lord, from one man’s tears to a city’s rejoicing, from one man’s burden to the building up of the whole people, and from the desolation of the wall to the normal functioning of God’s house! Lord, forgive us. We see a need yet do not take it up actively; we know the truth yet do not act. New ones lack shepherding, saints lose their function, homes are not opened, and the church does not multiply, yet we have become accustomed to this condition.

Lord, give us the heart of Nehemiah! Save us from waiting for someone else to rise up first. Make us active in prayer, care, and bearing the burden. Lord, begin with me! Begin with our group! Here I am; send me!

2. Act when we see a need, and perfect everyone to build together

Lord, Nehemiah did not remain in prayer alone. In chapter 2 he actively asked to be sent, prepared the way and the materials, inspected the breaches, and encouraged the people to rise up and build. Give us an initiative that passes through the cross and lives in resurrection—not natural zeal or a desire for personal achievement, but action that comes from loving You, trusting You, and being one with You!

Lord, make us active to contact people when we see a need, support the weak when we see their weakness, and bear the burden when we see desolation! Save us from working alone. Nehemiah did not build the entire wall by himself; he stirred up the people so that everyone rose up to build.

May everyone who has a burden raise up more burdened ones, and may everyone who shepherds perfect more shepherds! Lord, bring us from one person’s “I will go” to the whole people’s “Let us rise up and build”!

Lord, chapter 3 of Nehemiah shows us that the priests, leaders, families, people of different occupations, and even the daughters rose up to build. Some built opposite their own houses. This was not a great work completed by a few; each household had a section, and all the sections were joined together. Here we see that we are not reproducing one person’s ability but a way in which everyone can participate—a platform on which everyone can exercise to overcome.

Lord, give every vital group a specific portion to bear, open every home, and cause every saint to function according to his measure! Do not let the vital groups become meetings where a few speak and everyone else watches. May everyone pray, preach the gospel, shepherd people, and minister Christ!

One new one receiving shepherding is a section of the wall; one home opened is a section of the wall; one saint recovering his function is a section of the wall! May countless such sections throughout the earth be joined together to become the reality of the organic building up of the Body of Christ!

3. Build and fight at the same time, bearing one another in our living

Lord, in chapter 4 the building met a crisis along the way. The people faced attack, weariness, and discouragement, but Nehemiah led them to pray and keep watch, fighting and building at the same time. Renew us when the vital group practice stalls; make us patient when shepherding seems fruitless; and cause us to support one another when our companions are discouraged!

Chapter 5 shows us that genuine building must pass through tests in family life, finances, interests, and relationships. Remove our selfishness, rivalry, and ambition. Make us not only work together but also love and bear one another in our daily living!

Chapter 6 shows us Nehemiah’s spirit of completion. He was not distracted but focused on completing God’s great work. Lord, give us this spirit of completion! Save us from beginning with zeal but lacking continued faithfulness; save us from launching activities while leaving the people we have contacted without shepherding. Enable us to begin, fight, and endure, and also to complete faithfully the great work You have entrusted to us!

4. Constitute, shepherd, and perfect every person to function

Lord, from chapter 7 onward, Your work enters a deeper stage. The wall was completed, producing a secure and constituted sphere in which God could fully gain the people in the city and reconstitute them with His word. Chapter 3 shows everyone having a section; chapter 7 shows that not one person should be missing! May we care not only for the completion of the work but also for every individual, so that new ones and saints who need to be recovered will receive continual shepherding!

In chapter 8 the people gathered as one. Ezra read God’s word, the Levites helped the people understand it, and Nehemiah coordinated with them in one accord, so that the whole people could be reconstituted with God’s word. Lord, bring us into this kind of blending! May we pray-read together, study the high peak truths together, speak Christ together, and experience and practice Your word together!

In chapter 9 the people recalled Your faithfulness and saw their own failures, and they repented thoroughly. Lord, shine on us today. Where have we lost our first love? Where have we lost our vitality? Where do we have only outward practices without the inward life? Make our repentance genuine and renew our consecration. Reconstitute us thoroughly with Your word so that we do not repeat the failures of the past!

Lord, in chapter 10 the people made a specific covenant, and in chapter 11 they put their consecration into practice in their dwelling, family, daily life, and coordination. May our consecration not remain a declaration in the meetings but enter into our daily living! May the way we arrange our time, family, and life meet the need of the Body and make the vital groups high and beautiful!

5. Go beyond a single occasion of rejoicing to the normal function of all the saints

Lord, how glorious chapter 12 is! The two companies of those who gave thanks finally came to the house of God. The whole people offered sacrifices of praise and rejoiced greatly. One man’s weeping in chapter 1 had become the rejoicing of the whole city in chapter 12! Yet the genuine recovery did not stop at one joyful gathering. At the end of chapter 12 the priests, Levites, singers, and gatekeepers were functioning normally, and the supply of God’s house was recovered. What You desire today is not one successful event but all the saints functioning normally every day in their New Testament priesthood! May new ones become shepherds after being shepherded, and may those who are perfected perfect others! Lord, cause all the saints to function normally, minister Christ, and build up Your Body organically!

Lord, chapter 13 reminds us that even after the great rejoicing of chapter 12, the recovery could still be damaged through people’s slackness. Make us continue in our exercise, continue reminding one another, and continue taking the initiative to bear the burden! Do not let us wait forever for one Nehemiah to move us. Raise up many, many corporate Nehemiahs!

Lord, produce corporate Nehemiahs! From chapters 3 through 13 we see Nehemiah leading the people to exercise and live together, blend and study together, run and overcome together. The burden is not with one person only; a company of people bears it. Shepherding is not done by one person only; everyone shepherds. Leadership is not limited to one person; more and more are perfected to bear responsibility. Bring us into the genuine exercising and living of the vital groups!

Exercise together—to pray, exercise the spirit, preach the gospel, and shepherd people together!

Live together—open our homes to one another and support one another in our daily living!

Blend together—blend across vital groups, supplying and perfecting one another!

Study together—enter into the high peak truths together and be constituted with the truth!

Run together—share one vision and bear one commission!

Overcome together—may all grow and overcome together for the building up of the Body of Christ!

Lord, make us a corporate God-man living, joined to one another, living together, and functioning together!

6. Consecrate the coming decade and establish a platform for continual multiplication

Lord Jesus, today we accept a greater burden before You! We do not ask only for one vital group to be recovered or for one locality to have a revival. We ask You to raise up five thousand corporate Nehemiahs throughout the earth! This is not a number achieved by human effort but a goal of consecration we place before You, responding to Brother Lee’s 1994 fellowship concerning the hope that the Lord’s recovery would have five thousand Nehemiahs. Gain more corporate Nehemiahs who truly love You, are one with You, exercise normally, continue to multiply, and help others to be raised up and to keep burning!

Lord, may our group be the first genuine corporate Nehemiah group!

Lord, make this our testimony: with us here, the vital groups keep exercising, keep burning, exercise and live together, break through, and reproduce without ceasing. With us here, the new ones continue to burn and reproduce; new ones beget new ones, generation after generation, exercising and living together without end. With us here, more saints in our locality and in other places are stirred up to receive the vision and burden and to exercise and live together with us, so that the vital groups in every place keep burning and multiplying. With us here, we not only help others rise up but also help their new ones rise up, shepherding, perfecting, and reproducing from generation to generation. With us here, the vital groups keep spreading outward, exercising and living, blending and studying, running and overcoming together in every new place, continually burning and multiplying. With us here, establish an organic platform for the building up of the Body—the reality of the Body—into which everyone can enter, exercise, function, and reproduce, so that the vital groups prevail throughout the earth and the reality of the Body spreads throughout the earth. With us here, cause all who exercise, including the new ones, to exercise and live together in the high peak truths, the God-man living, and shepherding according to God, hastening to maturity as overcomers, preparing the bride, and welcoming the Bridegroom!

Amen! May we all be corporate Nehemiahs, with the Lord’s fully strengthening presence!

With us here, there is fire! With us here, there is the exercising and living together! With us here, there is reproduction from generation to generation! With us here, there is continual spreading! With us here, there is a move throughout the earth! With us here, the building is completed! With us here, overcomers are produced and the bride is prepared!

Lord, make this coming decade a decade of continual consecration, exercise, perfecting, and building!

Nehemiah’s greatest achievement was not how great he was personally, but that he caused the whole people to rise up and build. He also knew that his leadership could not replace the supply of the word through Ezra, the function of the priests and Levites, or the consecration and functioning of the whole people. Lord Jesus, once again we consecrate ourselves, our families, companions, vital groups, and local churches to You! Make us people with Nehemiah’s tears, initiative, wisdom, discernment, righteousness without self-interest, humble coordination, and spirit of completion!

May the new ones we contact continue to contact others; may the saints we shepherd continue to shepherd others; and may the members we perfect continue to perfect more members! May life be passed on from generation to generation, the vital groups multiply continually, and all the saints exercise together in the high peak truths, the God-man living, and shepherding according to God. May they mature gradually as overcomers and prepare the bride of Christ!

Lord, may we see this glorious scene: not just one Nehemiah weeping but all God’s people rejoicing together; not just a few laboring but everyone building a section and functioning; not just an outward wall completed but the people inwardly reconstituted with the truth; not just one consecration meeting but all the priests functioning normally every day; not just one vital group overcoming but corporate Nehemiahs throughout the earth exercising and living, blending and studying, running and overcoming together!

Lord, may You use one person’s prayer to produce a company’s consecration, a company’s consecration to produce the building up of all the saints, and the building up of all the saints to produce a priesthood functioning normally. Produce Your overcomers, prepare the bride, and build up the Body of Christ, so that You may find on earth enough resting places from which to return!

Lord Jesus, we love You! May the whole earth be filled with Your testimony! May Your kingdom come! May Your will be done! Lord Jesus, we want You to come! Amen!