“Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.”
My Notes
What Does Nehemiah 1:6 Mean?
Nehemiah's prayer opens with a request for God's attentive ear and open eyes — then confesses: we sinned. Israel sinned. I sinned. My father's house sinned. The confession is personal, familial, and national. Nehemiah doesn't stand apart from the failure. He includes himself.
The phrase "which I pray before thee now, day and night" reveals the duration: this isn't one prayer. It's continuous. Day and night. Around the clock. Nehemiah has been praying about Jerusalem's condition non-stop since he heard the news (1:4 — he wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed "certain days").
"Both I and my father's house have sinned" — Nehemiah identifies with the guilt. He's not praying as an innocent bystander petitioning for guilty people. He's praying as a guilty participant in a guilty nation. The prayer works because the pray-er isn't above the problem. He's inside it.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you pray from 'above' (pointing at others' problems) or from 'inside' (identifying with the guilt)?
- 2.How does including yourself in the confession ('I sinned') change the quality and power of your intercession?
- 3.Is your prayer for your community continuous ('day and night') or occasional?
- 4.What 'wall' needs rebuilding in your life that should start with prayer long before the first stone is laid?
Devotional
We sinned. I sinned. My father's house sinned. Nehemiah doesn't point at the problem. He includes himself in it.
The prayer is continuous — day and night — and the confession is comprehensive. Nehemiah doesn't stand at a distance and pray for "those people" who failed. He says: we. I. My family. The prayer works because the one praying is as guilty as the ones he's praying for.
This is the model for intercessory prayer: you don't pray from above. You pray from inside. You don't petition God about someone else's sin while keeping your own record clean. You confess together. We sinned. I sinned. My house sinned. The identification with the failure is what gives the prayer its power.
Daniel prayed the same way (Daniel 9:5-6: "we have sinned, and have committed iniquity"). Moses prayed the same way (Exodus 32:31: "this people have sinned"). The greatest intercessors in the Bible don't stand above the people they're interceding for. They stand with them. In the guilt. In the failure. In the confession.
"Day and night" — the praying hasn't stopped since the news came. Nehemiah's prayer isn't a moment. It's a lifestyle. The wall that will eventually be rebuilt was first built in prayer — prayer that ran around the clock, that confessed without excusing, that identified with the failure rather than distancing from it.
The rebuilding started in Nehemiah's prayer closet. Long before the first stone was laid. Before the first trip to Jerusalem. Before the first conversation with the king. The foundation was prayer — continuous, confessing, inclusive prayer.
Before you rebuild anything, pray like Nehemiah: day and night. Including yourself in the confession.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Let thine ear be now attentive,.... To his prayer, as in Neh 1:11,
and thine eyes open; to behold with pity and…
Let thine ear - Hear what we say and confess.
Thine eyes open - see what we suffer.
We have here Nehemiah's prayer, a prayer that has reference to all the prayers which he had for some time before been…
The humble access leading to the confession of sin.
let thine ear now be attentive The word -attentive" is not very…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture