In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” ~ Nehemiah 2:1-5

~ On more than an occasion, I have heard people say that faith and fear cannot coexist – that they are mutually exclusive.

~ Nehemiah shows otherwise. You can be fearful – very fearful and things still move forward in life. It is God’s providence and prayer that move things forward.

– Even if you are fearful, if you are a praying person, prayer can still move things more forward.

If you read on in Nehemiah 2, you will see that he not only got a prayer answer, but got more than he asked or imagined:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).