Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Day 19 - March 14, 2007

Nehemiah 4:9-23

Here’s a great example of exactly what it means to be ‘Watching the Wall’. V16 reads: “From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.”

There it is: Half the people are building the wall while half the people are watching, keeping guard. When we come to the New Testament, we realize that our enemies are not people – but spirits, animating either people or institutions. And it is against these spirits that we do battle. That’s why, as we draw near to the completion of our new facility, we’ll spend some time writing out prayers and setting them in each chair in the new room, praying for the people God will bring. We’ll write some prayers on the foundation, asking that God will do a work within these new walls that is worthy of His name, and that lives will be transformed through the power of Christ. We’ll ask that He’ll give us the grace to be a voice of hope and justice, mercy and beauty, celebration and holiness – in our city!

While some are working others are praying. That’s always been the way. I’m glad you’re praying today. May Christ make us, increasingly, a community in the business of praying – for we believe that this is how we are called to guard the work entrusted to us.

Spend some time today praying for those who are on the front lines of challenge – this could include your ministry and administrative staff at Bethany, the construction workers on our project, our missionaries, both locally and globally. May God grant that each of these groups find their way through all the challenges, to the end that God’s calling would be realized both in and through their lives.

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