Promise, Prayer, and Preparation

Take a moment to refresh, refocus, and refine your faith.

Sermon delivered 8 June, 2025

Have you ever experienced seasons in your life where it seemed like everyone around you was plagued with troubles at the same time and nobody had much good to say? And, chances are, it happened while you were in the middle of your own struggle, too. Over the last few months, I’ve found myself in just such a season. 

Message after message floods in with updates on one problem after another. Another disappointment. Another setback. Another complication. One person is trapped in a toxic work environment with no viable job leads in sight. Another person got diagnosed with a disease that disqualifies them from a long-awaited surgery to fix a different health problem. Someone else is grappling with becoming the new head-of-household after a death in their family. A different friend’s marriage is under strain. Issues of addiction, financial ruin, and injustice stack one by one, just to name a few. Each of these problems alone weighs heavy like granite. And if we just keep heaping them together in an unstable mound, we put ourselves at risk of being crushed under its collapse. So, what do we do instead? 

For those who put their hope in Jesus, we often find ourselves asking God to spare us from our problems altogether. We pray that he will resolve everything and supernaturally fix things so that we don’t have to put in so much energy, time, or resources. But how often does God totally and completely eliminate the things troubling us? It’s a rarity, isn’t it? He might roll away that central boulder but leave a path of rubble that still needs clearing up. 

If we can’t count on God’s driving in with the divine equivalent of a Bobcat to haul all our rock-heavy burdens away for us, then what can we count on? The answer, in my experience, is: his character and the promises that character extends to us. 

Promises of his presence and strength like in Isaiah 41:10, which says:

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

And promises of victory like in 1 Peter 1:13, saying:

"Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed."

But those promises, and the many others sprinkled throughout the bible, involve our preparation, as we’ll see in today’s scripture selection.

I invite you to open your bibles to Nehemiah chapter 4 with me. In it we find ourselves hauling both literal and figurative stones alongside Nehemiah and the returned Jews after their captivity under Babylonian rule. Jerusalem, the once gleaming and prosperous city, fell after a 30-month siege and has been neglected for the better part of a century. The damage is extensive, but now, the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls is underway. This isn’t simply a practical project to make the city more sound. It is a labor of passion, faith, patriotism, and reclaimed identity. But the going is tough and only getting tougher. Let’s read together beginning with verse 4.

NEHEMIAH 4:4-6

4 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. 

6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

For a bit of context, our story’s villain, Sanballat, is a governor of Samaria. The prospect of a fortified Jerusalem threatens him in several ways. One being that it would challenge his influence over the region. If this conquered people, the Jews, were to reclaim independence and dominance, it could undermine his standing among other regional rulers. Another threat is the potential shift in economic power. A restored Jerusalem would attract trade, possibly diverting it from Samarian markets over which he presides. Who would his citizens blame for not protecting their economy? Sanballat’s reputation and power are at stake. 

In his cocktail of insecurity, hubris, and anger, he derides the Jews’ efforts. A boulder in Nehemiah, our story’s narrator’s pile of problems. And Sanballat is not alone. Chiming in is Tobiah the Ammonite, another regional ruler. Tobiah has a unique weapon, though. He has family ties to Jewish nobility. You can read more about those specifics in chapter 6. Tobiah is an adversary with intimate intel and influence on leading Jewish families. Nehemiah saw to it that Tobiah was expelled from Jerusalem after exploiting relationships with priests to have a personal storeroom in the temple. Another stone in the growing heap. Both Sanballat and Tobiah have personal and political antagonism toward Nehemiah and all his efforts to restore the city, and so they collude. 

How easily could we transpose this situation into modern day contexts! How many of you have had an authority figure like a boss or manager make your work harder than it needed to be? Or maybe a family member projected their insecurity on you, forcing you into a competition you never agreed to. There is nothing new about this kind of petty conflict.

How does Nehemiah respond to this insult and impending threat to himself, his people, and their God-given work? Does he enter into a verbal sparring match with his enemies? Does he gather a militia to march on Sanballat’s house or take Tobiah to court? What does he do?

His response is two-fold. First, he prays. Then, he prepares. He sets the problem at God’s feet and then gets back to work with a fervor. Verse six describes for us that the people rallied and completed the city wall up to half its height, which is impressive. How? They put their whole heart in it. This is no casual obedience, no relaxed expectation that God would keep every possible danger at bay. This is active, dynamic, passionate faith in practice as they trust God to orchestrate their circumstances for his glory and their good according to his promises. It could very well cost them their lives, but they would carry on the work anyway.

In our own moments of conflict or distress, do we tend to only complete part of this process? Do we leave it at prayer, expecting God to do all the heavy lifting for us? Or perhaps we jump into action without stopping to consult the Lord’s direction or asking for his help with processing our inner turmoil. There’s a common tendency to see action as faithless and prayer as passive, but Nehemiah’s story exemplifies how faith and action work in tandem toward addressing mountains of troubles. Let’s continue reading with verse 7.

7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

Just as Nehemiah prayed then sprang into action as an individual, here we see God’s people doing so collectively. They prayed, and then they prepared. This is not preparation born from doubt about God’s sovereignty. This is a preparation to join God in defending his kingdom just as he promised. We should be careful about distinguishing the two in our own lives. 

One way to discern what drives our actions is by asking: Is your preparation fueling anxiety, worry, and distress, or does it add to your peace, hope, and conviction? Am I preparing because I am afraid, or am I preparing because I know God will act for his glory and my good according to his promises? 

Imagine two builders, each tasked with constructing a watchtower.

The first builder works anxiously, driven by fear. They doubt whether the tower will stand, second-guessing every stone they place. Their minds race with worst-case scenarios—what if the walls crumble, what if the tower isn’t high enough, what if an enemy arrives before it's finished? In their panic, they rush the work, cutting corners, stacking stones unevenly, and exhausting themselves with frantic effort. Their preparation is fueled by distrust—distrust in the materials, distrust in the plan, and even distrust in the protection that God has already promised.

The second builder approaches their work differently. They lay each stone with steady hands, confident that the foundation is strong because they have learned from the Master Builder and trust his blueprints. They measure carefully, build methodically, and trust that the tower will stand when needed. They aren’t ignorant of the risks, but their preparation is not marked by desperation. So, instead of exhausting themselves in fear, they labor with endurance and confidence.

Both builders are preparing, but the belief driving their preparation makes all the difference. But even preparation from a fully trusting heart is not without its complications, as we see in verse 10:

10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”

11 Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.”

12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

Not only is the task at hand growing in difficulty as they’re trying to fortify the city, but they’re also expecting ambush at any second. Morale is wavering under the weight of frustration, uncertainty, fear, and exhaustion. Though their whole heart was in the work, the people are dangerously close to adopting a defeatist mentality. Every aspect of life is under strain. What’s a common phrase uttered when our troubles compound like this? When it rains it pours. Nehemiah and Jerusalem’s people are drenched. And what’s worse than carrying a rough, craggy boulder across a rubble-strewn work site? Carrying a wet, slippery, rough, craggy boulder across a rubble-strewn work site. 

Have you ever felt like this – like a host of forces were conspiring against you leaving you nowhere to run? Have you looked up in the shadow of that mound of granite-heavy problems and saw the top begin to wobble? Can you remember that feeling of impending avalanche? What message did your heart need to hear in that moment? Let’s read what Nehemiah speaks to the people as their problems near tipping point:

13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

Again, we see that two-fold response. Nehemiah first focuses on who God is and then prepares for action. He stages the people in defensive positions at the most vulnerable points of the wall. Instead of taking cover or fleeing, they face the trouble head-on while remembering the Lord’s character. 

Here the people take their stand, demoralized and weary as they are, gazing over their unfinished wall at the desert horizon, waiting for a sign of one of their many enemies’ inevitable approach – shoulder to shoulder with their children, parents, neighbors and friends, wondering if today they will witness each other’s demise. And yet, despite that suffocating weight, they take courage from the promises of God and the hope they have in him.

Are we not likewise called to stand firm against dark forces today? We are each gifted with God-given work, and this is worth fighting for. Consider: What is your Jerusalem to defend? Is it your professional influence; your ministry through your craft like music, woodwork, art, or writing; perhaps it's your friendships; your family; or maybe your advocacy for the vulnerable and marginalized? Wherever there is good, evil will rise against it. Are you prepared to make a stand? Perhaps you’re peering over that wall right now, wondering if you might as well let it fall, asking yourself: Is this rubble worth the risk?

When tempted to give up and abandon the challenges set before us – dire as they might be – Nehemiah reminds us that we have no reason to fear. God is great and awesome, and the work he has given us to do is worth protecting. But is prayer and preparation enough? Let’s continue with verse 15:

15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.

16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”

21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and as workers by day.” 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

What could have very easily become a massacre becomes the story’s anti-climax instead. Sanballat, Tobiah, and their cohorts’ plan is foiled by word of mouth. The element of surprise is lost and Jesusalem’s citizens are spared. And yet, the preparation does not cease. They maintain their defenses while continuing the work. God is deservedly credited for their salvation, yet they remain vigilant and actively obedient.

The wall has not become any easier to rebuild. Those stones are not any lighter and the workday no shorter. Their enemies could regroup and attack at any moment. Their troubles are not eliminated, but God sustained them, he orchestrated on their behalf, and continues to do so until the wall is finished in a remarkably quick span of only 52 days (ch. 6). Nehemiah goes on to tell us in chapter 12 that the sound of the people’s praise and celebration of God could be heard from afar. I like to picture Sanballat and Tobiah sulking in a great hall as a breeze wafts in the distant cheering and music from over Jerusalem’s new fortifications. The work wasn’t safe. It wasn’t easy. But it was worth it.

So, what granite-heavy stone are you carrying? Are you standing in the shadow of a towering pile of life’s rubble, afraid to move lest it all comes crashing down? Are you wearying in the labor of love God has called you to? Does it seem as though forces conspire against you?

Pray and prepare. Remember who God is and the gift of his promises, then take action. Preparation for you might look like offering an apology to restore a relationship. It might be accepting a leadership role you don’t feel fully qualified for. Perhaps it's setting a boundary with someone or starting a new project as a vehicle for ministry. Whatever good you are called to do – though evil opposes it – keep working and do not fear because God is great and awesome. His promises stand from everlasting to everlasting. The work he sets before you is worth defending. His kingdom is worth building. As King David concludes in Psalm 55:22:

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

I encourage you to think about your Jerusalem. What have you been trusted with to build and defend? How might God be calling you into more strategic prayer and preparation today as you stand on his promises?