‬‬In the closing days of January this year, considerable attention was given to the subject of intimidation. We opined that unless we conquer intimidation, there isn’t much else that we can conquer. Nehemiah would be a good case to study on this subject. It took him fifty-two days to complete the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Within that time frame, he faced intimidation in various ways. He was ridiculed. He was lied against. He was accused of trying to impose himself as king. He was served wrong prophecy which was designed to lead him to a wrong cause of action and sin. Despite all these, Nehemiah prevailed and completed the task. Our interest in this meditation is to find out how he managed to pull through.

No matter how good the intention is, no one can pull through alone. There is need for divine collaboration…Getting God to collaborate with us is one reason we pray.

Though he was a careful planner and manager, his main strength was derived from his prayer life. Nehemiah had just one response to all that the enemies threw at him — prayer. When he was ridiculed and dismissed with a wave of hand, he prayed. When a false prophet was hired against him, he prayed. No matter how good the intention is, no one can pull through alone. There is need for divine collaboration. In other words, God has to be in the picture; otherwise all efforts will only produce weariness to the soul. Getting God to collaborate with us is one reason we pray.