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Favor

"And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me." Nehemiah 2:8 (NLT)

Nehemiah took on the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding Jerusalem's walls.  Extraordinarily, Nehemiah wasn't a political, religious, or military leader; he was a cup bearer.  Yet he experienced God's favor.  Here are some thoughts why Nehemiah experienced the favor of God (taken from Nehemiah 1-3):

• He prayed: prayer recognizes that favor comes from God.  In Jewish culture the recipient of favor and blessing would be on his knees.  The giver of the blessing would stand over the recipient and place his hand on the person.  When we pray we "bend our knee" and recognize that favor comes from God who is stronger and higher than us.  Nehemiah's prayers also came with a deep realization of his own sinfulness followed by repentance.

• He was scared:  Nehemiah says he was "badly frightened."  I don't know too many men who would admit that.  Approaching the king Artaxerxes could mean death for Nehemiah.  Protocol demanded that one must be summoned to have an audience with the king.  Breaking protocol meant death.  I think favor and fear go hand-in-hand.  That is, we ask for favor because the situation is fearful.  If you think, How is this going to happen? or Failure seems just around the corner or I don't know how this will turn out, then let the fear you feel prompt you to pray for favor.

• He asked:  Nehemiah asked for favor from God (1:11), but he also needed to ask Artaxerxes for favor to be released to go back to  Jerusalem and rebuild the walls.  Favor means we take action.  Nehemiah didn't sit back and wait for God's favor.  He needed to ask the king.  Asking for favor is the first step in a series of action steps we need to take.  We ask for God's favor in prayer, we experience God's favor by taking action.

• He wasn't about "me":  Nehemiah experienced God's favor as he set out to rebuild Jerusalem's walls.  I think we experience God's favor when there's a greater cause.  Favor comes into our lives to bless others, it goes beyond a "bless me" mindset.

• He told others about God's favor:  Nehemiah wasn't bragging, he was celebrating.  However, notice how his testimony inspired others to get involved in the work.  Favor is attractive.  Favor will attract people to the mission.  Using favor to attract people to oneself is offensive to God and is idolatrous.  Celebrate the "wins" in life to show how great God is.