Moved to Tears!

Nehemiah 1:4-Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. NASB

Welcome to 2024! We made it, even though the enemy of our souls didn’t want us to make it! But God is so faithful that He kept us and allowed us to see another day and another year! I am beginning the new year with a study in the book of Nehemiah. I hope you will be a part of it!

January has become the traditional month for church-wide fasting. I’m sure it has a lot to do with pastors wanting their congregations to start the year off with a spiritual bang, but is that happening? As an individual who has participated in this tradition for decades, I have decided to address this tradition based on my understanding of scriptural fasting and prayer.

Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king of Persia while he was in exile with his countrymen.

Now I was the cupbearer to the king

Nehemiah 1:11b NASB

Charles Stanley, in his Life Principles Bible Notes explained the responsibilities that Nehemiah, the cupbearer possibly held:

As cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia, Nehemiah held a prominent position in the royal court. Nehemiah was far more than a mere servant—his duties included advising the king and acting as his bodyguard and food taster (to make sure no one had poisoned the king’s food). All of these were high-level positions requiring loyalty and trustworthiness.

Charles Stanley, Life Principles Bible Notes

In the first chapter of Nehemiah, he begins to recount an event that changed the course of his life. Nehemiah was in the capital of Persia, a city called Susa. There he saw Hanani, a man he referred to as one of his brothers, and some men who were from Judah. As they chatted, Nehemiah asked them about Jerusalem. Nehemiah was engaging in conversation about his homeland, not realizing his life was about to change. I’m from Louisiana, and whenever I meet someone from Louisiana we talk about life in Louisiana: the food, the weather, the attitudes of the people, etc. So I can imagine that although he really wanted to know how things were going in Judah, he was merely checking on the state of his home. The men shared what they knew about Judah with Nehemiah:

 “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”

Nehemiah 1:3 NASB

In other words, they told Nehemiah that things weren’t going very well. The people in Jerusalem weren’t happy and prosperous, they were miserable, ashamed of the way things had turned out, and stressed out over their living conditions. The walls of the city were broken down, the gates had burned down, and the people were living in fear because they felt unprotected.

Now if this had happened to you or me, we probably would have responded, “That’s so sad!” Or maybe we would have said something like, “I’m so glad I don’t live there anymore!” But that wasn’t how Nehemiah responded.

Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 1:4 NASB

Did Nehemiah literally sit down in the streets of Susa and begin to weep? I don’t know. But I do know that he was so grieved in his spirit that it caused him to not only weep over the state of Jerusalem but to fast and pray about the situation and the people in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah didn’t just decide to fast and pray, although you can just decide to. Hearing the news from his countrymen pierced his heart and moved him to tears, which led him to fasting and prayer. He either wasn’t with the king at this time, or he was only taking in food when he was tasting it before the king. We don’t know. But we do know by his own admission that he was compelled to spend time with God after he heard the news.

When I think of fasting and prayer, it is my belief that it is done with a purpose. I have heard pastors tell their congregations to fast without telling them why the fast is taking place. I personally don’t agree with that. I have heard congregants be told to fast television, social media, or other activities. However, that is not biblical fasting.

Biblical fasting means that we are to abstain from food for a set amount of time to connect with God. It isn’t just a time of not eating, or removing certain foods from our diet, it is a time of focusing our attention on God so that we can hear from Him. Does that mean that you should probably leave the television off or limit your time on social media? Yes, because that is time that can be spent in prayer or reading God’s word. However, if you stop only those things for a few days, that is not fasting.

Corporate and individual fasting are recorded in scripture in both the Old and New Testaments. Jehoshaphat called a fast in Judah when he heard that a great multitude of enemies were on their way to attack his city. This was definitely a time to get everybody fasting and praying because all of their lives were in jeopardy (see 2 Chronicles 20). They needed God to intervene on their behalf or they could have been destroyed. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need anyone to tell me that I need to fast and pray when danger is headed my way. I’m jumping in with both feet! If a church is under siege for any reason: there have been a lot of illnesses, the finances are lacking to continue ministry, the pastor is under attack, God is changing the direction of the ministry, etc., I can understand the need to call for a corporate fast, and I’m on it!

In Acts 13, we see fasting and prayer in the church at Antioch. As they are fasting and praying, the Holy Spirit tells them that He has an assignment for Saul and Barnabas. They fast and pray, lay hands on them, and send them out to obey God. It was during their time of fasting and praying, that they got direction from the Holy Spirit. So a time of corporate fasting and praying can be beneficial to the church. It just needs to have direction and not just be happening for the sake of saying it is being done.

Personally, I lean more toward Nehemiah’s example of fasting and prayer. I have found that my time of fasting and praying is more effective when I have been moved by God to do it, with or without tears!

I remember a time when a woman in my church was experiencing marital difficulties. One day God spoke to me and told me the exact timeframe when the husband would return home after years of separation. Then He instructed me to fast and pray for three days. I told her what God said to me, and on her own, she decided that she would also fast and pray for those three days. God did exactly what He said He would do.

On the other side of that issue, I have been involved in corporate prayer when God has given me a specific direction that changed my life. I believe in corporate fasting and prayer.

Although we aren’t told that others were fasting, he makes clear that he wasn’t the only one praying.

Please, Lord, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.”

Nehemiah 1:11 NASB

As Nehemiah prayed, he began to realize that he needed to not just pray about the situations in Jerusalem, he needed to do something! That’s the beauty of fasting and prayer. You may start out confused, burdened, unsure of the next steps; but God has a way of bringing clarity to a situation. Nehemiah understood that he needed to take action and he would need God to touch the heart of the king.

It’s January! We are in a new year with new challenges, new hopes, and new experiences to face. If you are in a church that practices fasting in January, it really is a personal choice whether you fast or not. Because you are the one who knows if you are actually fasting or not. Not only that, if you are not seeking God during that time, you are really just missing meals and it holds no spiritual value whatsoever, so you may as well eat! But should you decide to participate, do so expecting God to meet you and your church during that time! Wonderful Jesus!