Nehemiah had a vision for rebuilding the walls. Step one for getting things done for God is prayer. His prayers were:

• Motivated by Concern
• Marked by Compassion
• A Prayer of Confession
• A Prayer of Conviction
• A Prayer of Commitment 

From prayer we can...

Nehemiah used the word remember often in prayer (1:8; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29, 31). In his opening prayer, Nehemiah asked God to remember, not because he thought God might forget, but as a way of saying, "I'm...

When reading Ezra and Nehemiah (and associated prophetic books: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) it is easy to miss the chronological markers that separate the main events. Here is a brief chronology with approximate dates:

• 538 B.C. First exiles leave...

Great vision inspires generous giving. Throughout the OT, an awareness of God at work unleashes a torrent of generosity from the people of God.

• Moses' Great Tabernacle Offering (Ex. 35—36). Once God provided the detailed plan for the movable tent where His...

Giving the "sense" of a passage involves three things:

1. Seeing what the text says (observation)
2. Learning what it means in its original context (interpretation)
3. Understanding what it means for today (application). 

Without the final step of...

Casting lots was common among ancient cultures. It was practiced by the Persians (Esth. 3:7), the pagan sailors on whose ship Jonah was running from God (Jonah 1:7), and the Roman soldiers vying for Christ's clothes at the crucifixion (Matt. 27:35). It is also...