Skip to main content

Be Aware, Be In Prayer And Be Prepared

Be aware, be in prayer and be prepared…

By one definition, to be aware is having knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists. 

In this situation, there was awareness.  They were engaged in a good work.  But in the midst of doing the work, they heard about insults that were being hurled at them from their enemies.[1]  But it didn’t just stop at insults; threats were being made by their enemies to come to stir up trouble in order to disrupt the work.[2]

By one definition, to be in prayer is to earnestly seek help.

In this same situation, given their awareness of the potential problems their enemies could cause, they knew they would need help.  Rather than turn to other nations for help, as was typical for that day, they chose to seek help from the one source that could provide what they needed.  That one source was God and prayer was how that source was accessed.  So they prayed to God and sought His help.[3]

By one definition, to be prepared is to be ready to do or deal with something.

In this very same situation mentioned so far, they were not only aware of danger and they not only prayed but they also did what seemed to be a very wise and appropriate response to danger; they posted a guard day and night to meet the threat.[4]   

The awareness, the prayers and the being prepared (posting of a guard) ended up being effective and the work was completed.  When their enemies heard about the completed work, they became afraid and lost their self-confidence because they realized that the work had been done with the help of God.[5]

But beware, this “be aware, be in prayer and be prepared” should not be seen as a magic fixit formula.  Awareness requires careful observation and discernment and magic is not at all a factor.  Being in prayer and seeking God’s help is not formulaic but is predicated on faith and humility.  In comparison to the planning and resourcing needed in the posting of a guard, a quick fixit approach is severely lacking.

However, this “be aware, be in prayer and be prepared” can be a reasonable approach to some situations in life.  After all, it can encourage us to be engaged in what is going on.  It can keep us dependent on God.  And it can remind us that even when relying on God’s help, sometimes there are still responsibilities for us to fulfill.

  


[1] Neh 4:1-3

[2] Neh 4:7-8

[3] Neh 4:9a

[4] Neh 4:9b

[5] Neh 6:15-16

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Year Trash or Treasure?

You probably know the old saying:  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  I am not going to try to prove or disprove it, just look at it from a different angle. Cheryl and I were recently walking on a beach in Florida .  A man was walking along with a bag and was picking up trash and putting it in the bag.  Was he picking up things of value? We also saw a different man walking along the same beach with a metal detector.  He would swing it back and forth and would occasionally stop and dig in the sand.  Was he looking for things of value? Both were intent.  Both were focused.  Both were diligent. I’m guessing that the one picking up trash was not looking for things of value.  I’m also guessing that, by picking up trash, he was valuing the beauty of the beach and didn’t want the trash to mar it.  The one with the metal detector, I’m guessing that he was not looking for metallic items of trash but was looking for...
1 comment
Read more

Beyond Understanding - It's a Wonderful Thing!

In my last post, I wrote that that God keeps certain things hidden (Deut 29:29).  In some cases, these hidden things are beyond our understanding.  In response to that, one Psalmist wrote that he did not occupy himself with things too great and too wonderful for him (Ps 131:1).  That’s a healthy response as we, as humans, are finite and cannot completely know everything about an infinite God. A quote attributed to American novelists, Philip Roth, speaks volumes on this:  “All that we don’t know is astonishing.  Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.” From a more spiritual perspective, one commentator put it this way:  "What God has thought proper to reveal, he has revealed what is essential to the well-being of man, and this revelation is intended not for the present time merely, nor for one people, but for all succeeding generations. The things which he has not revealed concern not man but God alone, and are therefore not to be inquired af...
Post a Comment
Read more

Don't Get Tripped Up

I do enjoy traveling and I keep an eye out for good prices. I also enjoy looking at trends in travel. For a while, the travel industry focused their advertising on taking those trips that might be on your bucket list.   That faded a bit and I started seeing ads about taking the trip of a lifetime. I guess both those campaigns have been waning since I’ve been seeing information about taking an “epic” trip.   Recently I noticed the phrase “unforgettable trip” in advertising.   More recently, I’ve been seeing promotions about taking “sustainable” trips and even “reconnecting to our roots” trips. As I’ve been pondering these advertising campaigns, I thought I’d consider what their ideas encompass and then look at them from a spiritual perspective: 1.   “ Bucket list trips ” are based on a list of the experiences a person might hope to have before they “kick the bucket” (i.e. die).   While I can certainly come up with a bucket list of trips, I’m thinking a bu...
Post a Comment
Read more