1. Read the prayers of Nehemiah out loud.
2. Time how long it takes you to read them. You will find them in the following verses:
Nehemiah 1:4-11
4:4-5
5:19
6:9
6:14
13:14
13:22
13:29
3. Pick one prayer to study and write down something that God shows you personally.
Discoveries we made through our discussion:
1. The first prayer takes only 2 minutes to pray. The reminder take less then 1 minute each. Conclusions: We do not have to pray long prayers for God to hear us and act on our behalf. We asked, "Why were these prayers so effective?" The answer was found in 1:4- He had a habit of regular daily time with God in prayer and the Word. It was out of this consistency that he was able to give extra time and passion in praying for this need. Because he was always "prayed up," he could offer up short "popcorn prayers" that moved mountains. We can do the same if we daily read the Bible and pray.
2. We noticed that in every prayer the word "remember" was used. This is an example of the Bible Study method of looking for repeated words. The question we asked each time was, "What was he asking God to remember and why?"
3. It was pointed out that we could not understand the prayers by just reading them alone. We had to read the chapter in order to understand the context. Very good observation!!
4. We also noted a softening of his attitude as the prayers progressed in the book.
5. What other things did you notice?
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