Bullet Prayers & Nehemiah
A habit I have adopted over the years is saying and writing bullet prayers.
These are exactly what they sound like. In the morning, I have quiet time with the Lord and I pray - sharing what I am thankful for, praising Him, asking for help and guidance. This is a longer form of prayer and it is when I lay it all out with God. Later in the morning, when I make my to-do list for the day, the left column of the paper has my tasks I need to do and the right column is a bullet list of prayers. It is a way for me to quickly hand over to God the things that are occupying my mind and keeping me from doing the next right thing. As the day goes on, if new thoughts/worries/needs pop up that I need to hand over to God then I just add them to the list. This has worked wonders for my anxiety (something I wrote about in the last blog post). It is also very neat to look back through my notebook and reflect on how our days are progressing — both the things on my to-do list and the bullet prayers reflect a lot about my priorities and needs…
And it reveals God’s sovereignty and care for our family.
We have started to teach our children how to say bullet prayers and while I have yet to hear it in action, I know God will be faithful and the habit will greatly benefit our children’s relationship with God over the years. We have longer times of prayer at the dinner table and before naps and bed time; that is when we model to the children how to pray and cultivate their faith in God and we also teach them how to say bullet prayers in the heat of the moment. For example, when they are struggling to serve others first, or maybe tame their temper, or speak kindly there are a variety of bullet prayers we teach depending on their age. Here are a few:
Please help me.
Please help me use a strong voice.
Please help me be kind.
Lately in our home church we have been studying the book of Nehemiah and this past Sunday one of the pastor's takeaways was directly related to bullet prayers, so I am going to expand on that a little to give the habit biblical backing.
Nehemiah 1:11 - 2: 5 (ESV)
“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king. In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of the the King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ grave, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favour in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”
Nehemiah would like to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its walls. He is currently serving King Artaxerxes as his cupbearer. Nehemiah needed the kings permission to leave and go rebuild Jerusalem’s walls.
Nehemiah knew how unlikely it was that the king would grant him permission to leave, so he prayed “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man [King Artaxerxes].” (Nehemiah 1:11) — This is the long form prayer, what you might expect to be prayed during your quiet time.
And then, one day when Nehemiah brought wine to King Artaxerxes, the king noted Nehemiah’s sadness and in a chit-chat sort of manner he asked Nehemiah why he was sad. Here was the moment Nehemiah had been waiting for, to ask permission to head to Jerusalem. I also have to add, the sermon explained that Nehemiah had been waiting 5 months for the perfect opportunity to ask the king.
He was praying, watching, waiting, and faithfully serving for 5 months, waiting for God’s timing.
When the moment arrived and the king started a casual conversation with Nehemiah, chapter 2:4 writes that Nehemiah, “prayed to the God of heaven.” In the midst of the conversation, he recognized the opportunity and he prayed — a bullet prayer. It was likely quick because the king was waiting for his response, but he prayed. He had been praying for months to God and in that moment he needed to quickly touch base with God.
This is a gut reaction I hope to develop and teach our children. It is just like Paul wrote, “to pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) I hope they can see and learn that we can take everything on our mind to God, trust him with it, and move on with our daily life serving him faithfully. And when we need that in-the-moment support He is there, always.
If you would like to listen/watch the sermon for yourself, you can watch it here.
Rebecca