Nehemiah 4:7-9 – After praying we still need to do what we can do

The Jews who were rebuilding the wall were first ridiculed, demeaned, and mocked. But they were not discouraged by them. Instead, they propelled them to continue with their task. It was clearly stated in Nehemiah 4:6 that every man had set his heart and mind to work. So the rebuilding of the wall progressed to half its height.

As the work progressed so did the number of opposers increased. Nehemiah tells us in chapter 4 and verses 7-8 that the list of opposers was not just confined to Sanballat and Tobiah. It now included the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites. When they realized that the initial derogatory remarks did not work. They became even angrier. But the Jews were not at all discouraged and continued repairing the wall. They had done so much that even the breaches were beginning to be closed. So verse 8 said that the enemies, “All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.” They came to Jerusalem to create some chaos and disturbances.

Now the Jews were enclosed by hostility. Their adversaries came up with a new strategy to thwart and stall their work.  They would attack the city and disrupt their work. Even that did not prevent them from working. Verse 9 reveals what they did to deal with this second wave of attack. They got into prayer again. But prayer was not the only thing they did, they also went on to organize guards to keep vigil over the work, day and night.

What we take away from here is this: after praying over a matter, we need also to take definitive steps to do what we humanly can do. Trusting God is one part but acting after prayer is also needed. We must do what we can do and leave God to do what we cannot. Remember our journey is a collaborative effort between God and us.  We have said so often that “Without God, we cannot, but without us, God will not.”  After prayer, we must act on God’s word and trust Him.