There is an account of a man in the book of Zechariah who is planning to measure Jerusalem and calculate it's width and length.  Then two angels intervene, one passes the other a special message to deliver to this man.  The message of the angels is that Jerusalem will be a bustling city WITHOUT WALLS...(in other words, no need to measure and calculate, I guess).....

"For I,' says the Lord, 'will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.'"

~Zechariah 2:5~

  

We studied Nehemiah again tonight in our Bible Study.  Last week, we learned how distraught he had been when he learned the walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed.  Though it had never been his home, his heart's passion was there and was for his people and, most importantly, THE WILL of HIS GOD.  He fasted and prayed for days and God gave him a burning passion to rebuild.

Tonight, we talked about prayer and the importance of our connection with GOD.  More specifically, we discussed the importance of having intentional time set aside to pray in earnest and listen to GOD as well as keeping the connection going all throughout our days as situations arise that we can surrender to GOD in quick prayers for wisdom, right attitude, humility....etc.  The scripture passage we were studying actually described how Nehemiah had prayed in earnest about his burden....then he went about his ordinary job.  God opened up an opportunity for his prayer to be answered through a conversation Nehemiah had with the king (while working).  The king asked him a question, but before the scripture tells us what Nehemiah responded, the Bible says he prayed.  That was probably a really quick prayer since we are not given the words and I am sure no one would want to keep a king waiting very long :)  BUT, I think it is important that we know Nehemiah prayed before answering.

God does desire to give us these holy burdens....these burning desires to see His Will accomplished in our lives and the lives of those we can influence....BUT, we will not experience His holy fire without prayerfully seeking after His heart.