Keys of the Kingdom - YOU -

God places a high value on the confession of your mouth.

The first thing he did was remember God’s goodness, His greatness, and His commitment to those who love Him.

He began to pray.

Nehemiah 1:6a NKJV 6a 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

The next thing he did was cry out to God with a prayer of repentance.

Nehemiah 1:6 b, 7 NKJV 6b, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned.   7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.

And then he stood in the gap.

He continued to get God’s heart on the matter He continued to get God’s heart on the matter. He continued to cry out to Him, and God gave him a strategy.

Nehemiah 2:1a NKJV 1a And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king.

Nehemiah 2:1b-2a NKJV 1b Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2a Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart."

Nehemiah 2:2b NKJV 2b So I became dreadfully afraid,

Nehemiah 2:3 NKJV 3 and said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?"

Nehemiah 2:4a NKJV 4a Then the king said to me, "What do you request?"

Nehemiah 2:4b NKJV 4b So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 2:5-8b NKJV 5 And I said to the king, "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."

6 Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), "How long will your journey be? And when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 

He was seeing in the spirit what would be, instead of what appeared to be

Nehemiah 2:16b NKJV I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.

Nehemiah 2:17 NKJV Then I said to them, "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."

Nehemiah 2:18a NKJV 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.

Nehemiah 2:18b NKJV So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to this good work. 

Nehemiah 2:14a NKJV And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them.”  

First of all, he spoke to the fear factor! DO NOT GIVE IN TO FEAR!!!! Do not be afraid of the words or the threats of the enemy!

Nehemiah 2:14b NKJV Remember the Lord, great and awesome,  

REMEMBER THE LORD!

Remember His greatness. How awesome He has already been Remember His greatness. How awesome He has already been. How sweet and kind and personal and faithful He is. Remember He made covenant with you. Remember how He loves you. How He has proven Himself over and over. Remember His promises!

Remember WHY you should continue 

Nehemiah 4:14c NKJV and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."  

We are fighting for · Our sons … · Our daughters · Our spouses ·        Our houses ·        Our territory ·        The ones sitting next to you, as well as our brethren all over the world.   

It’s time to take this personal.

It’s time to go to God and get a strategy for you to be the answer It’s time to go to God and get a strategy for you to be the answer! It’s time to fast and pray some more, and then do it afraid.

YOU are God’s greatest weapon to defeat the enemy YOU are God’s greatest weapon to defeat the enemy. You are vitally important.

We can’t live in the victories or memories of the past. 

The bigger picture is a BIGGER picture.

It’s time to assess and pray and fast and then arise and build again.

God’s way. First in the spirit. That is where it is won God’s way. First in the spirit. That is where it is won. And it will take commitment to pray. And to pray correctly with each other.