Nehemiah's Secrets to Answered Prayer

Rick Warren in a recent article provides us with a model of prayer for leaders from the first book of Nehemiah. Upon hearing upon the downfall of Jerusalem, he prayed for four months.
This was not just a casual prayer. It gives us a pattern for successful praying.

Rick provides four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:

1. Base your request on God's character

Pray like you know God will answer you: "I'm expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. Nehemiah said three things about God:

1. You're great – that's God's position.


2. You're awesome – that shows his power.


3. You keep your promises – God's covenant.

2. Confess the sin in my life.

After Nehemiah based his prayer on who God is, he confessed his sins. Leaders accept the blame but losers pass the buck. If you want to be a leader, you accept the blame, and share the credit.

3. Claim the promises of God.

Nehemiah is praying to the Lord and saying, "I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses."He's reminding God what he had said in the past. If imperfect fathers know that they need to fulfill their promises to their children, how much more does a perfect Father, a heavenly Father, intend to keep the promises he's made in his Word.

4. Be very specific in what I ask for.

If you want specific answers to prayer you need to make specific requests. If you make general prayers, how will you know if they are answered?

If you can't ask God to make you a success at what you're doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn't want you to waste your life.