How To Do Great Things For God
If God placed something great
in your heart for you to do and you are feeling overwhelmed because of the challenges
that are trying to stop you from accomplishing that purpose of God for your
life, follow these steps and emulate Nehemiah because he fulfilled God's
purpose for his life by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem since that was What
God had placed in his heart to do in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:12):
Pray
Nehemiah Was fasting
and praying before God. (Nehemiah 1:4)
Therefore pray and as you do
so, pray to confess sins and pray the promises of God.
1. Pray to
Confess Sins
Nehemiah prayed and
confessed The sins that we the children of Israel have sinned against
You. My ancestors and I have sinned against You for we have been corrupt and
broken Your commandments. (Nehemiah 1:6-7)
Therefore pray and ask God to
forgive you for your sins so that you can have a clean slate as you start doing
what He has called you to do since you will need His help for the Bible tells
us that The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save you, or
His ear heavy that He cannot hear you. But your iniquities have separated you
from your God and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not
hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2)
2. Pray the
Promises of God
Nehemiah prayed, Remember
O Lord Your Word which You gave Moses saying that if we return to You and keep
Your commandments You will gather us from where You scattered us because of our
sins. (Nehemiah 1:8-9)
Therefore as you pray remind
God of the promises in His Word that pertain to your situation.
***
Fast
Nehemiah Was fasting
and praying before God. (Nehemiah 1:4)
Therefore combine your prayers
with fasting before you begin doing what God has called you to do.
Ensure that you also fast and
pray whenever you encounter challenges as you try to fulfill your purpose
because some problems can only be solved by combining prayer with fasting
for Jesus said, This kind does not go out except by prayer and
fasting. (Matthew 17:21)
The type of fasting that you
can do is based on God's leading and your experience with fasting. For example,
if you have never fasted, consult your doctor and then miss lunch one day
and spend that time praying.
If you are more experienced
with fasting, you can do an Esther Fast by not eating food or drinking water
for 3 days. (Esther 4:16) You can also do a Daniel Fast by not eating
meat or desserts and not drinking wine for 3 weeks. (Daniel
10:2-3)
In addition to abstaining from food you should
also help the less fortunate and not publicize your fast.
***
A.S.K.
Nehemiah asked the king for leave of absence from his job as
a cupbearer so that he could Go to Judah and rebuild it.
He also asked for letters for the governors of the
regions he would have to pass through to get to Judah.
Nehemiah also asked for a letter for Asaph who was the
custodian of the king's forests so that he would be given wood for the
rebuilding process. (Nehemiah 2:5-8)
Therefore plan how you will do what God
has asked you to do by writing down the things you need and then schedule time
to A.S.K. - ask for assistance, seek for help and knock on the doors that you
need to be opened so that you can get the things you need since we are
told Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door
will be opened. (Matthew 7:7)
***
Know There Will Be Opposition
After Nehemiah motivated the
people and they agreed to begin rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah
2:18), their enemies heard of their plans and they immediately begun to oppose
them. (Nehemiah 2:19)
These enemies begun to attack
the Israelites and they harassed them in numerous days during the entire time
they spent rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
Therefore understand that once
you step up and start doing something great for God, the enemy will also step
up and start trying to stop you through various means. For example, the enemy
may:
1. Ridicule You
The enemy may ridicule you and
mock your plan.
In Nehemiah's case their
enemies Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem Laughed and ridiculed them. (Nehemiah
2:19)
Sanballat also became extremely
furious when he heard that the rebuilding of the wall had begun and he mocked
the Jews by asking, "What are these weak Jews doing? Will they
strengthen themselves? Will they finish building the wall in one day? Will they
make building stones from the burnt rubble?" (Nehemiah
4:1-2)
2. Create
Confusion
The enemy may try to create
confusion so that you are not able to proceed methodically and complete what
God has called you to do.
In Nehemiah's
case Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, the Ashdodite conspired
to attack Jerusalem and cause confusion (Nehemiah 4:7-8) when they
heard that Nehemiah and the Israelites were proceeding well with rebuilding of
the walls of Jerusalem.
Therefore if you find that you
are beset with confusion as you go about doing what God has called you to do,
understand that the confusion is an attack from the enemy because God
is not the author of confusion, but of peace. (1 Corinthians
14:33)
3. Accuse You
Falsely
The enemy may try to accuse you
falsely of things you have not done because He is a liar and the father
of lies. (John 8:44)
In Nehemiah's case his enemy
Sanballat sent him an open letter in which he quoted rumors and another of
Nehemia said that Nehemiah and the Jews were planning to rebel from the King and
the reason they were rebuilding the walls was so that Nehemiah could be their
king. Sanballat also said that Nehemiah had appointed prophets to declare
him the king in Jerusalem.
Sanballat then threatened to
report these matters to the king even though he called the sources of his
information rumors, and urged Nehemiah to come and meet him so that they would
talk. (Nehemiah 6:5-7)
Therefore do not be surprised
if your enemies start peddling rumors or reporting false things about you.
Do not also be surprised if
they threaten or actually bring charges against you for things you have not
done.
4. Try To Make
You Afraid
The enemy may try to make you
afraid since fear will paralyze you and stop you from completing what God has
called you to do.
In Nehemiah's case, Sanballat
sent him an open letter falsely accusing them of rebuilding the walls of
Jerusalem so that they could rebel against the king. The aim of his letter was
to make them afraid of the repercussions of being accused of planning a
rebellion so that they would stop rebuilding the walls. (Nehemiah 6:9)
5. Try To Make
You Sin
When the enemy sees that his
plans to stop you from doing the work God has called you to do have failed, he
tries to make you sin so that you can hinder your own progress.
In Nehemiah's case it was
Shemaiah who urged him to meet him inside the Holy Place in the Temple at night
by telling him that people were coming to kill Nehemiah. His aim was to make
Nehemiah afraid so that he could act that way and sin. (Nehemiah 6:10-13)
***
Respond Appropriately
When the enemies of Nehemiah and the Israelites tried to
stop them from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah responded
appropriately to their opposition by doing the following:
1. Confessing Your Trust in God
Nehemiah expressed his trust in God by telling his enemies
that, "The God of heaven Himself will give us success and so we His
servants, will arise and build." (Nehemiah 2:20)
Therefore if your enemies tell you that you are too inexperienced,
unqualified, old or whatever to do what God has placed in your heart
for you to do (Nehemiah 2:12) respond to them by telling them that God
Himself will give you success.
2. Pray to God
Nehemiah prayed saying, "Listen O our God because
we are despised and turn the reproach of our enemies on their own heads. Do not
forgive their sins. " (Nehemiah 4:4-5)
Nehemiah also prayed when Tobiah and Sanballat hired
Shemaiah to falsely prophecy and lie to him that men were coming to kill him
and advice him to go into the Temple to hide by saying, My God remember
Tobiah and Sanballat because of their evils works and the prophetess Noadiah
and all the other prophets who wanted to make me afraid. (Nehemiah
6:14)
Therefore pray and ask God to remember the people who are
causing problems in your life since by asking God to remember them, you can
delete them from your mind and focus on doing what He has called you to do
instead of focusing on them.
3. Wear Your Spiritual Armor
Nehemiah arranged the people with their family members with
their Swords, spears and bows. (Nehemiah 4:13)
He also ensured that Every builder worked on the
wall while his sword was girded on his side. (Nehemiah 4:18)
Therefore as you work on what God has called you to do
ensure that you are wearing your spiritual armor all the time. Put on the
whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having
done all, to continue standing. (Ephesians 6:13)
To wear your spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:14-17) do the
following:
1. Helmet of Salvation - Get saved by
saying with your mouth that "Jesus is Lord" and believing in
your heart that when He died for our sins God raised him from the dead. (Romans
10:9)
2. Breastplate of righteousness - Do the
right thing in the sight of God all the time.
3. Belt of truth - Speak the truth all the
time.
4. Shoes of the Gospel - Read the Bible
each day.
5. Shield of faith - Believe God and the
Bible.
6. Spiritual Sword - Speak the Word
of God over your situation.
4. Encourage Yourself
Nehemiah encouraged the Israelites by telling them, Do
not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord your God, great and awesome and fight
for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses. (Nehemiah
4:14)
He also reminded them that, "Our God will fight for
us." (Nehemiah 4:20)
Therefore if your enemies are trying to discourage you by
harassing you with different types of problems, encourage yourself.
Encourage yourself even if you have no one to encourage you
like David who Encouraged himself in the Lord. (1 Samuel 30:6)
To encourage yourself, speak fear-fighting Scriptures to remind
yourself of the greatness and awesomeness of God Who is with you and Who will
fight for you.
***
Work
Nehemiah and the Israelites were able to finish rebuilding the
walls of Jerusalem in the midst of all their problems because they had A mind to work. (Nehemiah 4:6)
Therefore focus your mind on completing
the job that God has placed in your heart for you to do and avoid people and
situations that leave you mentally fatigued.
In addition, focus your physical strength
on getting the job done and avoid engaging in activities that waste your energy
and leave you physically fatigued.
How To Do Great Things For God is part of our Free Christian Ebooks Series
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