Have you ever prayed for something repeatedly and felt like God wasn’t answering? Could it be that God wants you to take the first step? I was reading Nehemiah in my morning time this week, and it reminded me of this concept.

Nehemiah’s Task

Nehemiah decided to take on an enormous project. God put on his heart to rebuild the wall surrounding Jerusalem. With the wall down, the inhabitants of the city were open to attack. Nehemiah knew the importance of the wall.

He gathered a team of men together and started the enormous project. He got the heart of the people behind him. The Bible says the people had a mind to work. They got started building the wall.

Critics Show Up

Whenever there is a great work for God, critics always show up. That’s exactly what happened. Four guys took it on themselves to try to destroy the work Nehemiah was doing. After continually being laughed at, critcized, and openly attacked, Nehemiah gathered the people. You can read what happens next.

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. (Nehemiah 4:7-9)

Nehemiah Makes a Plan

If we look closely at verse nine, we see that Nehemiah and the people prayed. It didn’t stop there, though. After they prayed, they made a plan. One-half of the people worked; the other half stood guard.

Nehemiah understood that in this case, it wasn’t enough to just pray. They needed to pray and trust God to lead them; then they needed to use the skills and wisdom God had gifted them with to make the plan work.

Taking the First Step

Too often, we pray and beg God to intervene in a situation or answer a prayer; then we sit back and wait for Him to answer that prayer. I wonder how often God doesn’t come through on our prayer, simply because He is waiting for us to take the first step. He is waiting to see that we are serious, waiting to see that we trust Him enough to take the first step. The Bible is full of examples of God working miracles and answering prayers after somebody took the first step of faith.

David prayed, then ran towards Goliath with a stone and a sling. Joshua and the people walked around the walls of Jericho for seven days before the walls came down. Moses had to demonstrate God’s power in ten different ways, ten different times to Pharoah before God led them out of Egypt. In each of these accounts, God had promised victory; but His people still had to act. God couldn’t give the victory until they stepped out in faith and took the first step.

Maybe the reason God isn’t answering your prayer is that He is waiting for you to make the first move. For more encouragement on taking the first step, read Stepping into the Water and Waiting for a Miracle. What step is God waiting for you to take today?