Day 168: Nehemiah 4-6; Acts 2:14-47

Both Nehemiah and Acts remind us of the priority, privilege, and power of prayer. Our reading in Nehemiah begins with prayer (4:4 - indeed, the first thing Nehemiah does in response to the news of Jerusalem's predicament, is pray - 1:4f) and ends with a powerful testimony of the completion of the wall under great opposition: "...these tasks had been accomplished by God" (6:16). We know that Acts 2 was a direct answer to prayer (1:14; 2:1) and the great miracle of church birth and growth, concluding in church communion and community ends with this testimony: "Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).

E. M. Bounds, in the Power of Prayer, reminds us: "Prayer is a wonderful power placed by God in the hands of His people, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and achieve unusual results. Prayer reaches to everything, taking in all things that are great and small that are promised by God to His children." Amen! Let us keep availing ourselves of this great and powerful gift our Father has given us.