Nehemiah 1:11 & 2:9 - Lead, Serve and Pray (Bible Journal)
"'O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.' In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer (Nehemiah 1:11 NLT)."
"When I came to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, I delivered the king’s letters to them. The king, I should add, had sent along army officers and horsemen to protect me (Nehemiah 2:9 NLT)."
In this chapter, King Artaxerxes sounded like the kind of king I would be happy to serve under. He asked his servant Nehemiah what was troubling him, asked him how he could help, honored his servant's request to return to Judah, arranged for letters to give him safe travel, and even sent army officers and horsemen to protect Nehemiah on his journey. Nehemiah likely received this treatment because he was a top notch cup-bearer, the king was being a caring king towards one of his people, God had answered Nehemiah's prayers, or all of these things. Lord, thank You for speaking to me through Nehemiah's story. Please help me to be kind to those I interact with, including those I may act in a leadership role for as an educator. Please help me to also be a good servant to those I work with, and please help me to be better at turning to You for help in prayer often. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.