Morning by Morning—Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays: Standing Firm with Both Our Tools and Our Weapons

Friday, January 15, 2021

Standing Firm with Both Our Tools and Our Weapons - January 15, 2021

Morning by Morning, January 15 - Standing Firm with Both Our Tools and Our Weapons

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, as I seek Your face and listen for Your leading -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

Like many in our nation, I've been wrestling lately with the focus of my attention. Daily, we're in a spiritual battle for the soul of our nation. And daily, we're sent forth to fulfill our calling in the spheres of influence You've entrusted to us. So do we fight the battle or do we do our job? Do we spend so much time in prayer to engage in a realm we do not see with our natural eyes or do we make ourselves productive in the everyday realm to address the everyday needs we see set before us? ...

This morning, this Word came to my spirit to guide my heart and my thoughts, from the effort and the battle to restore the nation and rebuild the wall in the days of Israel and Nehemiah:

"Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews. He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, 'What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish-and burned ones at that?' Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, 'That stone wall they are building-any fox going up on it would break it down!' Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight; for they have hurled insults in the face of the builders.

So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height; for the people had a mind to work.

But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry, and all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. So we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

But Judah said, 'The strength of the burden bearers is failing, and there is too much rubbish so that we are unable to work on the wall.' And our enemies said, 'They will not know or see anything before we come upon them and kill them and stop the work.' When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, 'From all the places where they live they will come up against us.' So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, 'Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!'

When our enemies heard that their plot was known to us, and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and body-armor; and the leaders posted themselves behind the whole house of Judah, who were building the wall. The burden bearers carried their loads in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and with the other held a weapon. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, 'The work is great and widely spread out, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Rally to us wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet. Our God will fight for us!'" (Nehemiah 4:1-20)

Yes, Lord! "Our God will fight for us!" You are the God who is building the wall and restoring our nation. And You are the God who is fighting for us.

In Your wisdom and sovereignty, You choose to build and to fight through Your people who are called by Your name. So with the weapons of our warfare, let us pray in this spiritual battle of the unseen realm. And with the tools You've place in our hands to fulfill our calling to build up and retore what You've put in our hearts in the place You've positioned us on the "wall" of our community and our nation, for our families and for Your people, let us build. It's not either "fight" or "build;" it's both "fight" and "build" with both our tools and our weapons -- all by the power of Your grace and the Presence of Your Spirit at work within each one of us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be empowered by God's grace and God's Spirit to stand firm, to build and to fight, at your place on the "wall" as He rebuilds and restores in your life and your land, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!