The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king. (Neh. 2:4–5)
Expanded Passage: Nehemiah 2:4-5
My daughter had her heart set on a certain boy at school. They had been friends since the first day of school and often enjoyed each other’s company. He was kind, attentive, and even sort of protective of Rachael. “I just don’t know why he won’t ask me out!” Rachael said. She had given him all the signs that she liked him: laughing at his jokes, complimenting him, singling him out for her attention. She had even gone so far as to let her friends drop obvious hints. He assured them that he knew and that he reciprocated the feelings, but he was nervous. “She’s so pretty,” he said. “Why would she want to go out with me?”
We can sometimes act like a scared boy around a pretty girl when it comes to our prayer lives. God is giving us signals that we can ask him to empower us to do great things in his name—more than that, he’s giving direct promises and encouragement! But we hardly believe it. We know we don’t deserve what he is offering us and somehow think his grace is measured.
After Nehemiah prayed for forgiveness on behalf of the people, he boldly asked God to empower him to begin reuniting the exiles. When we align our will with God’s, we don’t need to be afraid to ask for the impossible.
Ask God to give you the skills to accomplish a task that seems impossible.
L. Wilson lives in rural Indiana where he enjoys cycling, yardwork, and reading a wide assortment of books.
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
