Peniel Pentecostal Holiness Church

3239 Rosebud Road Walnut Cove NC 27052
Pastor: Dr. Tim Nelson -  Church Office 336-591-36112
A Place To Encounter God Face To Face. Gen. 32:3

A Word From The Pastor Archives 2025
May 2025
 

"The words of Nehemiah... ...one of my brethren, come, he and certain men of Judah: and I asked them concerning the Jews... and concerning Jerusalem." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Before Nehemiah became a rebuilder of walls, he demonstrated that he was a man of concern and a man of God.  This story also revealed that Nehemiah was a man of prayer.  He too was a man, driven by a God ordained purpose, with the persistence to see the job done.

Is there a lesson from Nehemiah that we can learn and apply?  Nehemiah heard about the present condition in Jerusalem and was moved to take action.  He heard about the need and prayed for God's direction and guidance.  As we look at our community, there are signs of growth and with growth comes the need to reach the unchurched and the unsaved.  Will you pray for God's guidance and direction as we join together as a congregation and rebuild the walls of ministry at Peniel by reaching people with the Good New of Jesus Christ?

"So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept..., and praying before the God of heaven."  Nehemiah 4:1

Only heaven's records can reveal the impact the prayers of mothers have had on the hearts and lives of their children and family.  If you follow the greatest men of God back to their beginnings, you will often find yourself in a hidden closet or lonely pew, where a mother kneels to pray.  Look behind Augustine, and you will find Monica.  Look behind Spurgeon, and you will find Eliza.  Look behind Hudson Taylor, and you will find Amelia.  And look at each of these mothers, and you will find earnest prayer.

The stories of God's redemptive movements often lead us to a home where a woman, a mother, hidden from the great ones of the earth, holds onto the "horns of the altar" and calls on a God who can make the impossible possible.  In the prayers of a mother, awakenings are born and peoples won, idols are toppled and devils undone, dry bones are raised and prodigals rescued.  Again and again, before God laid his hand on a man, he laid it on his mother.  And mybe it was the prayers of a mother that had so shaped the life of Nehemiah, that when he heard the news for Jerusalem, he sat down and wept and prayed.  Thank God for praying mothers.

Adapted from:  https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-power-of-a-praying-mother

"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.  For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.  5 Then I said:  'Lord, the God of heaven.'"  Nehemiah 4:4-5a

We asked several weeks ago, "What is it time for?"  Consider asking this question another way, "What burden has God placed on your heart?"  In this season of ministry for the Peniel church, have you seen or sensed the needs as we seek to reach out to the unchurched and unsaved in our community?

Just as Nehemiah had a burden for his people and for the broken city of Jerusalem, may we see the brokenness around us and have a burden.  Just as Nehemiah wept and cared with a passion.  Just as he had a vision of what could be, may we cry out to God and catch a vision for what could be done in our community.

We can learn from Nehemiah as we consider his first step - an important step.  He didn't race to Jerusalem and try to go at it alone.  He didn't start mapping out a plan to find the solution.  He did not take the burden to people.  He knew where the burden came from and he took the burden to the only one who knew it fully and had power to see it through.  Nehemiah went to the Lord and prayed and so must we.  Pray the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers (Matthew 9:38), and then be willing to be the answer to your prayer.

Adapted from:  https://theway2serve.org/nehemiah-chapter-1-devotional/

"Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thour art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.  Then I was very sore afraid."  Nehemiah 2:2

Nehemiah had heard the devastating news about the people and condition of Jerusalem.  His heart was broken and he prayed over a period of four months.  He eventually came to the place where he could hide the weight of the burden no longer.  He was seized with anxiety as he waited patiently for the right time to make an appeal to the king to release him to go to Jerusalem.  Nehemiah was anxious, but he was also bold in his speech.  In Nehemiah 2:3, he spoke to the king, "Let the king live forever!"  Following this acknowledgement to honor the king, Nehemiah prayed another prayer - a brief prayer - and then he made his request and explained his plan to the king.

God divinely intervened for Nehemiah and the Nehemiah Plan began to unfold.  Maybe like Nehemiah, you too are strugling with needs that seem greater than the supply and greater than the strength to meet the demands.  God is with you and He will provide what you need to accomplish the tasks.  Like Nehemiah, may we be encouraged to pray and then patiently wait until God opens the door of opportunity.  Will you be a Nehemiah?