I Will Set A Goal

A goal is a specific place in my life where I understand God wants me to be. It might be personal, or for a community of believers, something for God, or something for His people.

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4–5

God’s servant cares passionately for the well-being of God’s covenant people. He is distressed when they are not doing well, even if he is doing quite well himself. He remembers God’s promises and sets a goal in relation to the promises.

I Will Work Hard and Do My Part

I will pray and seek God’s direction. Then, I will work hard.

After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days, I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was riding. I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent’s Well and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. Nehemiah 2:11–13

As a servant, you plan with patience and with understanding of God’s enigmatic providence.

You do what is right and trust God.

You pray to God, and allow Him to make the call to use you or give the task to somebody else.

I Will Choose Determination

I will stay strong and pray for wisdom.

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4–5

A servant prays with a deep knowledge of God. He or she understands: God is sovereign, and He keeps His promise. This strengthens and establishes the necessity for obedient faith. Nehemiah prays on the basis of these covenantal terms.

In some ways, this is the crux of the entire prayer. It is based on what God Himself promised in passages in the book of Deuteronomy and elsewhere.

I Will Trust My Training from God’s Instructions

I will obey the word of God.

Nehemiah 2:11 After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days, I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. 6:1 When Sanballat, and Geshem sent me a message: “Come, let’s meet together in the villages of the Ono Valley.” But they were planning to harm me. So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Four times they sent me the same proposal, and I gave them the same reply: “I don’t have time to listen to you.”

I will follow God’s instructions, continue to pursue the goal, and not listen to those who try to distract me from my God-given direction and goal.

I Will Celebrate the Wins! In Which God Allows Me to Participate

I will celebrate what God accomplishes through His providence, my trust in His Word, obedience, and the hard work He gives me to do.

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. The singers gathered from the region around Jerusalem. Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large processions that gave thanks. Nehemiah 12:27–31

“At that time, men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites.” Nehemiah 12:44

The Goal was Change:
Getting People to the Place with God

The fact is, that whenever you have genuine reformation, if it is to be in any sense enduring, it includes
not only celebration and rejoicing but in renewal and/or reformed Structures. Otherwise, nothing is
preserved. A true change affects everything or really nothing has been accomplished. You can have a revival with a great deal of intensity. But unless there is transformation, including of the structure, nothing is preserved for the next generation. As we know, nothing lasts all that long in this broken world. But there is great hope and possibility when we embrace the FUNdamentals for achieving a true God thing with the way we order and structure our lives.You have to change the structures, or it’s more of the same.