"...The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire. So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven." (Nehemiah 1:3,4)

The men who came from Judah told Nehemiah, the cupbearer for king Artaxerxes of Persia, of the terrible conditions that existed for the exiles who had returned from their Babylonian captivity. Earlier, Zerubabbel and Ezra had led two groups back from captivity. Yet, the city walls were still not rebuilt, and Jerusalem was not yet repopulated. What could Nehemiah do to alter the grave situation of his kinsmen?

First he prayed to God. "Please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.'" (Nehemiah 1:6-9) Nehemiah confessed their sins, asked for forgiveness, and requested God's help in rebuilding the holy city.

He sought the king's help. "...If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." (Nehemiah 2:5) Nehemiah petitioned the king to allow him to go back and rebuild. He also asked the king to send the keeper of his forest a letter instructing him to provide Nehemiah with the materials needed to rebuild.

Convinced the people to help. "...You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach. And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. So they said, 'Let us rise up and build.' Then they set their hands to this good work." (Nehemiah 2:17,18)

Study the book of Nehemiah and the actions of this great servant. Every problem he faced, he first took to the Lord. He determined a course to purse and then acted to ensure that course was followed. He enlisted the help of others who joined in the work and led by his own personal example. What a wonderful example of true dependence on God. Let us have the same mindset in doing His work!