One of the most inspiring and authorative examples of leadership and management
in all of scripture is Nehemiah. It would be well for us to consider the reasons for the obvious success of this eminent
man of God and draw comparisons and give applications for our own daily Christian walk.
Of utmost importance in anyone's life and in any sphere of time and activity
is a trait exemplified in this man; that of prayer! His prayer wasn't a perfunctory exercise but a part of his
living and working. This is verified in the following verses:
Nehemiah 1:4 & 6, 2:4, 4:4 & 9, 5:19, 6:14, 13:14,22 &29. John Bunyan states,
"It is better to have a heart without prayer than to have prayer without heart." Fenelon has said, "Pray simply
from the heart, from pure love, and not from the head, from intellect alone." What an encouragement
to pray as we ought
and not carelessly as we sometimes do with little thought to who we are speaking to. Leonard
Ravenhill, a modern day prophet, states unequivocally that "No man is greater than his prayer life." Can this be the
reason we are so lacking in power
and strength in our generation? Have we forgotten how to pray or have we ever really learned?
Another prominent man of God, E. M. Bounds is quoted as saying, "Every preacher who does not make prayer a mighty factor
in his own life and ministry is weak as a factor in God's work and is powerless to project God's cause in this world."
Everyone who ever was anything for God counted prayer to be the foremost of considerations in their lives. Failing to
pray we fail in every area of our lives. It is obvious that without communion with He alone who enables us; all else
is vain and fruitless. Nehemiah was not ignorant of this need and obviously took full advantage of it. Much more
could be said concerning this subject, but all we could write would still be insufficient to stress the importance of prayer.
"Practice makes perfect!"
Nehemiah also honored God's Word. He believed it and acted upon it
as observed in Nehemiah 1:8 & 9, 8:1-10, and 13:1-9. He reminded God of His word in Chapter one verse 8. I
believe that he was throoughly convinced of its validity and the power behind it because through it he accomplished much.
Martin Luther has stated, "The saints, indeed, know God's Word and can discourse of it, but the practice of it is another
matter; therin we shall ever remain scholars. He who loses sight of the Word of God falls into despair; the voice of
Heaven no longer sustains him; he follows only the disorderly tendency of his heart, and of worldly vanity, which leads him
on to his destruction." How terribly important it is that we adhere closely to God's Word and how utterly devastating
it is for those who depart from it or reject it altogether. We must emulate Nehemiah in this respect also! We
must thoroughly acknowledge and greedily consume God's Word to grow in Him and serve His purposes! There is a further
note of caution necessary here because of a practice which seems all too common among us today. Arthur T. Pierson in
his book "Godly Self Control" expresses this thought about honoring God's Word, "Thoughtless, irreverent quotations of scripture
and punning upon texts are profane, for the fun lies in connecting a ludicrous association with the utterances of he Holy
Spirit." We would do well to consider how we use God's Word. We are to read it, study it, believe it and obey
it!
Nehemiah was not only a man of prayer and the word but also a witness of
God's faithfulness and one who gave God the glory due Him as shown in verses 1:5, 2:18, 4:20, 6:16, 7:15 and 8:10. Management
is substantially improved in any area of life as we seek God and His Word and credit Him for His work. No man
or woman of God can ever manage to his or her fullest capacity apart from these three things. Glorifying
God and witnessing of Him in all things good is of extreme importance, and Nehemiah did this well.
I believe aside from the above traits that no man can possess any other
characteristic of true and lasting value toward God or man. Because of these three things Nehemiah was also a man of
many other necessary attributes of leadership and management. The second part of this treatise will examine and consider
them.
